The last secret_ a novel - Mary McGarry Morris [40]
Scribbling his name, Ken winces. “Max?” he and Nora say in unison. “What the hell?” Ken says.
“He's just giving me a ride, that's all.” Chloe snatches up the paper. “Jeez!” she cries with the closing door.
“Was that a slam?” Nora asks, seething.
“One one thousandth of a decibel shy.” Ken finishes his coffee. “But I'll tell you something, in my house that progress report would've called for a celebration.”
“Ken!”
“I know. Just trying to keep things in perspective, that's all.” He stands up to leave. “Goddamn Max Lafferty that's what really pisses me off.”
Nora isn't the first woman to wake up one morning to find her life tipped upside down, which seems to be Kay's theme with this second tale of adultery. Now it's Kay's older sister in Dallas. Married thirty-five years. One day she's hanging up her husband's pants and she finds it. In his pocket. Nora squirms with annoyance. Kay means well, but trivializing what Nora's going through makes her feel worse. Adultery, no big deal, it happens: the message here.
Kay continues cutting her asparagus. She and Nora are having lunch at Leanna's, which is halfway between the real estate office and the Chronicle. “So Ruthie looks at it, you know, trying to figure, toss it, or is it something Don needs? But damn, if it isn't some kind of condo receipt. Long story short: dear old Donnie's got himself a girlfriend half his age, and he's keeping her in fine style. Big, beautiful condo, parking fees you wouldn't believe, while my sister, well, you know Ruthie, she's so damn frugal she'll only buy a car every ten years. And then they have to be used.”
“Poor Ruth.” Nora last saw her a few years ago. Pretty, lively like Kay. Beyond Don's brogue she barely recalls the man. “What'd she do?”
“Had herself a messy little nervous breakdown. Two weeks on suicide watch in a mental hospital, and now with the Lexapro and counseling, she's better. Well, the knives are back in the block, anyway,” Kay says bitterly. “My nieces are having a tough time. Thirty and thirty-two, but they still won't speak to their father. In some ways, I think it's worse for the kids when they're older.”
Nora agrees, says she's heard that. Now Kay expects to hear how Chloe and Drew are bearing up. But that's where she draws the line. Her children won't be fodder for gossip. No matter how loyal a friend Kay is, it's human nature to tell more than one intends, to be a story's pivot person, the only one who can fill in all the blanks.
“Oh. Before I forget, the Sanders Gallery is showing Annette Rose-man next week,” she says to change the subject.
Kay holds up her hands. “Yes! I've been meaning to tell you! I saw her last week. At the symphony, with a very nice-looking man who, by the way, was not Oliver Hammond.”
Nora shrugs. “That's the arrangement. She has her life. He has his, and it works.”
Kay is staring at her. “Tell me something. You and Ken, you never suspected anything? Not even once?”
“Honestly? No. He enjoyed women, their company. He always did. I knew that.” She shrugs. “Just the way he was. Why? Why're you looking at me like that?” Kay obviously wants the salacious details.
“I'm worried about you. You can't just let it out. Even a little, can you?” Kay says.
“And do what? Have my own messy little breakdown?”
“I don't know, maybe. If you need to.”
“Well, guess what, Kay. I am. Only it's all in here,” she says, tapping her chest as Kay looks up.
“Hey, Nora, how're you doing?” the slender man says, then turns quickly to Kay. “Sorry. I'm Ed. Ed Hawkins. Nice to meet you,” he says, shaking Kay's hand. “Thought I'd grab a quick lunch, but all the tables are full.”
Nora glances out the window. There's still a waiting line. Please, sit with them then, Kay insists; they're almost done, but he might as well. Thanking her, Eddie pulls out the chair between them. The women at the next table smile watching him, and he grins at their attention. He's wearing an elegant dark suit and white shirt with trefoil onyx cuff links, his silk tie pale as his eyes. This is his second try here for