The Second Mouse - Archer Mayor [36]
Joe was stunned by this last admission. He’d known next to nothing about Beverly’s private life but had made the unwarranted assumption that she had it under as tight control as she did her office. He felt like a fool for having thought so conveniently.
“I know this sounds trite, Beverly, but I am truly sorry.”
She made a small face, pressing her lips together. He could see the pain in her eyes as she said, “Thank you, Joe. People say it makes you feel better to talk about it, but I don’t think I agree.”
She suddenly leaned forward again and grabbed his hand for the third time. “Oh, Lord. And I just remembered hearing that you’ve just gone through the same thing. What was I thinking?”
He shook his head emphatically. “No, no. Not the same. I mean, Gail and I are no longer together, but we were never married and have no kids. Anyhow, don’t worry. We’re fine. We still talk all the time. She just needed the space to make a grab for the rest of her life. How’re you doing with it? No, that’s stupid. I mean, how long ago did this happen?”
This time, she left her hand in his, rubbing his fingers between her own as she stared at the table between them. For the first time ever, he saw her as other than just the medical examiner, even if a very attractive one. With the subject of both their relationships before them, he found himself looking at her as a woman, and even wondering what she might be like in that context.
“About a month ago,” she was saying. “I received information that there was possibly another woman. Daniel claims there isn’t, and I don’t want to know, but he is certainly attractive enough. I’m not sure I’d even blame him, given the little time I have for him.”
Joe shook her hand to make her look up. “You know what that sounds like, right? That’s no excuse.”
“I know, I know. I do get angry sometimes. It all seems so pointless, after everything we’ve gone through. We should be nearing our very best years together. Not this.”
“What is he actually saying?” Joe asked, hoping to steer her back to more solid footing.
She sighed and finally broke their contact, sitting back again. “All the usual midlife crisis one-liners. I need to be alone. I need time to think. It’s not you, it’s me. I still love you.” She tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling for a moment. “God almighty. Never in a thousand years . . .” She looked at him again. “I’m not saying he doesn’t mean what he’s saying. Maybe this will be the one time it will actually work out.” She paused to touch her cheek briefly. “It all sounds so trite . . .”
Joe had been struck by that very thought, harking back to his own conversations with Gail, where she’d said many of the same things. He, too, had never suspected another man, and still didn’t, but the language had been the same, along with the end result.
Was every one of us so unoriginal that in the end we all relied on the same script to set ourselves free? Given the supposedly unique effort that was put into these love affairs, the possibility of such commonality was downright depressing.
Perhaps to spare them both, Joe went back to an earlier topic, though not without an ironic smile. “Beverly, since we’re on the subject of irrational behavior, do you have any idea why Floyd Freeman has it in for you?”
She shifted to place her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand. “Jesus, I guess I do have a way with men, don’t I?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
She laughed then. “I was kidding. Well, kind of kidding. No, actually, my troubles with Freeman go back quite a ways. Remember when he made a run for governor?”
“Yeah. That’s when I first heard of him.”
“Same for most of us. Self-made millionaire, ready to inject even more ego into himself. He stepped out of the drab gray line of businessmen