Indiscretions - Elizabeth Adler [117]
“Like?” suggested Bob.
“Oh, tonight with the pizza—he didn’t forget, he just wanted to punish me for talking about Jenny. He’s real sensitive about her, you know, especially since …” Margie pushed another section of pancake into her mouth, chewing, thinking.
“You mean because he was with her that night?” said Bob, taking a chance on her reaction.
Margie stopped chewing and stared at him in surprise. “Y’mean he told you?”
Bob shrugged. “We’re good friends.”
Margie remembered the half ounce of coke. “Right, of course. Well, I don’t know what went on there, but he came back in a hell of a state. He was sure stoned when he left, but he was straight by the time he got back.”
She laughed, remembering.
“What time was that?” asked Bob, pushing the apple pie toward her. “About three-thirty, I guess?”
“Yeah, it must have been … I remember she called about twelve-thirty and I was real mad. We’d been having such a great time up until then, and then Rory said he’d have to go and talk to her. Shit.” She sucked the strawberry milkshake up through her straw, biting on the end so that it slurped. “Y’know how that made me feel? I mean, we were in bed, and then he goes out to meet this old woman! Jesus, Bob, he even took my car—said his Ferrari was too conspicuous. I thought that’s why he bought it in the first place.”
Out of the mouths of babes, thought Bob, calling for the check. He’d got all the wisdom he needed from Margie tonight. Now he knew how to tackle Rory.
“Come on,” he said, reaching in his pocket for his car keys, “I’ll drive you home. You look as though you could use some rest.”
“Home?” Margie gazed at him in dismay from beneath her childish fringe. “But I thought …”
“Forget it,” said Bob, striding toward the door. “I only go for older women.”
“Oh.” Margie picked up her bag and followed him quickly. Home! But it was only one-thirty. God, what a dud tonight had turned out to be after all.
18
The village of Marina di Montefiore lay in a pocket of Campania’s rocky blue coastline, fringed by a curve of clean white sand to the south and a small natural harbor to the north. A thin ribbon of road snaked up the pine and chestnut-clad hillside behind, linking the village to the main coast road, far away in the distance. Too far for the tourist hordes in their buses and caravans yet to have bothered to discover it. Only those lucky enough to have spotted, in passing, the perfect curve of white beach, the little fishing boats in the harbor, and the faded ochre walls and terra cotta-tiled roofs of the ancient palazzo perched on its hill overlooking the sea, and who had been curious enough to take the time to inch their way down the treacherous track, had been fortunate enough to discover its charms.
India had fallen in love with Marina di Montefiore the moment she saw it. The village had a timeless quality, with its tree-shaded square, gushing fountain, and old whitewashed fishermen’s houses. She loved the cool dimness and the pungent smells of the little shops that sold salamis and sausages, wines and cheeses, and freshly baked bread, and she enjoyed poking around the drapery shop, unchanged since the beginning of the century. It sold wonderful hats, ancient straws in biscuit and cream, some of which had been there for sixty years, some perky with floating ribbons, or masculine with a trim band. In the back room there were glass-fronted drawers filled with serviceable underwear, voluminous white and pink knickers with elastic in the legs, demure camisoles of tucked cotton in sizes meant to cover ample bosoms, and shelves of the black nylon stockings that were worn by every woman in the village. Only visitors and children went bare legged, even on the hottest days. Cafes sprawled outward across the pavement beneath cool blue and green awnings, their rickety tables covered in scarlet oilcloth, each topped with its large white Cinzano ashtray, and fishermen and visitors sipped cappuccino and Peroni beer, comfortably soaking up the sunshine and the peace.
That was the trouble, thought India. Love always trapped you.