Trust Me on This - Jennifer Crusie [44]
Victoria swallowed. “Easy to say.”
“I don’t see that she has any choice, really.” Dennie sat back. “She can try to pretend that nothing’s changed and live the rest of her life blind and alone, or she can realize she’s got a brand-new life ahead of her and embrace it no matter how rocky it is at first. And since she’s a smart, tough woman who’s come a long way in her life, I don’t see her choosing to be blind for long. I wouldn’t be surprised if she hadn’t been feeling uneasy long before this.”
“You’re right,” Victoria said, a faraway look in her eye. “I have been.”
Dennie blinked and kept going, sweeping Victoria along with her. “Stephen Sondheim said, ‘If you know where you’re going, you’ve gone. Move on.’ Seems to me Janice Meredith has known where she’s been going for too long. I bet her husband sensed it. I bet he bailed before she could.”
“What did you do, memorize Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations before breakfast?” Victoria asked a little more tartly than the conversation called for.
“I’ve been researching for this interview like crazy,” Dennie said. “I am prepared to get the greatest interview of all time. This is going to make my career, and it’s not entirely selfish. This could be a great thing for Janice. This could make her not look like a loser, this could help her recover her balance. If she moves first, she’s not the victim here, she’s the smart one, the classy one. You know the psychologist Erich Fromm? He gave a lecture once, and a student held up his hand and said, ‘But Professor Fromm, ten years ago you said A and now you’re saying B.’ And Fromm said, ‘Are you sure I said A?’ and the student nodded, and Fromm said, ‘Well, I was wrong.’ Isn’t that the classiest thing you’ve ever heard? Don’t you respect Fromm even more for coming out and saying it?” Dennie realized she was leaning over the table, almost flattening Victoria with her intensity, so she sat back. “I’m just giving Janice Meredith the chance to be a class act. She doesn’t even have to say, ‘I was wrong.’ She just has to say, ‘There’s more to learn.’ ”
Victoria sat there frozen, and just when Dennie was going to ask if she was all right, she realized that Victoria’s eyes were full of tears. Dennie sat dumbfounded for a moment before she moved to the chair beside her and handed her one of the damask napkins. “What did I say? I’m sorry.”
Victoria took the napkin and dabbed at her eyes and then blew her nose on it. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. Everything you said. There is more to learn. And I have known where I was going for too long. It’s just really frightening, giving it all up and starting over.”
“No kidding,” Dennie said. “My job’s on the line here, and I can’t afford to lose it. But I can’t stay where I’ve been either. That’s why I need this interview.”
“All right.” Victoria gave one final sniff and shoved the napkin down next to her plate. “You’re right. I’m seeing her this afternoon. I’ll talk to her then.”
Victoria stood, and Dennie felt a spurt of panic. “Listen, be careful, please. This woman is very serious about having me arrested.”
“Janice would never do that,” Victoria said.
“I think I may see a different side of her than you do,” Dennie said. “And I’m fairly sure it’s important to my career that I stay out of the slammer.”
“Risking is everything,” Victoria said, and headed for the door, and Dennie put her head down on the table and prayed that this was one risk that was going to pay off.
“I don’t know what’s holding up those checks I asked for,” Alec told Harry an hour later in his room. “I already know what the one on Dennie is going to say, but I’d be a lot happier if I knew the status of that land Bond’s selling.”
“Do you ever get tired of this?” Harry said.
“Hell, yes,” Alec said. “I was about finished on the road