The Trouble With Eden - Lawrence Block [85]
He passed her room on the way downstairs, noting that her door was open. He paused on the stairs. The prospect of confrontation unsettled him, yet he never considered postponing the moment. He merely wanted to steady himself for a moment so that he would handle this well. It would be important to handle it well. Nor was it just a matter of handling things; at the same time he would have to be honest, and he was not entirely sure what words and attitudes on his part would constitute honesty.
She was alone at the kitchen table. She raised her eyes at his approach, and in the instant before she smiled he saw an expression on her face he had never noticed before. It struck him later that it might have been the face she had shown him in his dreams.
She said, “Hi. Is Linda coming down?”
“She didn’t stay.”
“Neither did Jeff.”
“Sleep well?”
“Okay. You?”
“Oh, not too bad.”
“She wasn’t quite what I expected.” The words came out less casually than she intended. “Linda, I mean.”
“How?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“She also wasn’t Linda.”
“Huh? You introduced—”
“No, you did, actually. You introduced yourself and told her she must be Linda, and she agreed with you.”
“Oh, wow! I just took it for granted—”
“No harm.”
“I mean that was pretty stupid of me, wasn’t it? I just thought—except I didn’t think.”
“Forget it.”
“Anyway, I’m sorry.”
She reached for her coffee cup, and he could very nearly read the unvoiced question in a comic strip balloon over her head. Then who was she?
He said, “Her name is Melanie Jaeger. She’s married; her husband runs the Barge Inn. I never spoke to her before last night. We ran into each other in Lambertville, and she came back here with me. It wasn’t anything important to either of us. It was uncomplicated and physical and we both seemed to require it.”
He couldn’t read her face. He wondered if he’d said too much, or if he ought to elaborate on what he’d told her. Why did he feel he had to justify himself?
She said, “I guess that’s why she wasn’t the way I expected Linda to be.”
“Why?”
“Oh, that it wasn’t important, that it didn’t mean anything. I got the impression—this is silly, what’s the difference what impression I got?”
“No, I’m interested.”
“Well, I had the feeling you and Linda had something heavy going on. And then meeting—what was name?”
“Melanie.”
“Well, I didn’t see her as your type, I guess. Don’t ask me why. And the general vibes. You know, it felt more casual than—oh, I don’t know.”
“‘Heavy,’” he said. “That’s a good word.”
“I probably overuse it.”
“You did get that impression about Linda and me? I didn’t know I’d said that much. You’re right. At least I think you might be. There’s a feeling of possibility between us.” He was not looking at Karen now, was talking as much to himself as to her. “I think I might be ready to … get involved. I’m not sure. And it’s questionable whether she’s ready for any sort of involvement. But what happened last night was certainly very light by comparison. Not heavy at all.”
“This is so far-out.”
“How do you mean?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She suddenly grinned at him. “A different woman every night. I thought men your age were supposed to slow down.”
He drew a blank for a moment. Then it dawned on him.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No, no. You made an assumption and I let you hang onto it. Linda and I never had sex.”
“But—”
“I brought her here. Primarily to meet you, as a matter of fact. Then sex did seem a possibility, but she decided she wasn’t ready for it. So I drove her home. You assumed I’d been to bed with her and it seemed easier to let it go at that than to get into an awkward conversation. Though it could hardly have been as awkward as the one we’re in right now.”
“I know. It’s so weird how we keep learning how to relate to each other.”
“Yes, it is. I’m enjoying it, kitten.”
“So am I.”
The conversation shifted to easier areas when Mrs. Kleinschmidt made an appearance. Over breakfast they talked easily,