Abby smiled and said, “Of course,” and
went to the dance floor with him. Over Comden’s shoulder on the floor, she stuck her tongue out at Jesse. Jesse smiled at her and sipped his scotch. Hasty Hathaway came to the bar.
“Wild Turkey,” he said to the bartender.
“Straight, one ice cube.”
He got his drink and mined and put an arm around Jesse’s shoulder.
“Wife gets a little giddy,” he said,
“when she drinks.”
“Sure,” Jesse said.
Hasty took a drink.
“Mother’s milk,” he said.
- Jesse nodded. The dancers labored about the floor. Most people were terrible dancers, Jesse thought. He wondered if Comden had been dispatched to dance with Abby, so that Hasty and he could talk man to man. He didn’t see Cissy anywhere.
“Women are hard to figure, aren’t they, Jesse?”
“Yes,” Jesse said, “they
are.”
“I guess you’ve had your share of trying to figure them out.”
“Un huh.”
“Being divorced and all.”
“Still trying to figure that out,” Jesse said.
“Well,” Hasty said,
“that’s just how women are, I guess. When you want faster, they want slower. And when you want slower, they want fast.”
Hasty shook his head.
“You and Cissy seem happy,” Jesse said.
“Ciss? Oh hell, sure we are. But even a happy marriage isn’t easy, is it. There are adjustments.”
Hasty drank the rest of his Wild Turkey and ordered another.
“Sexuai problems?” Hasty said.
“Who?” Jesse said.
“In your first marriage. It’s usually
sexuai stuff that makes a marriage hit the reef.”
“No,” Jesse said. “We
didn’t have sexuai problems.”
Unless, Jesse thought, your wife boffing a producer could be consider’ed a sexuai problem.
“What was your deal,” Hasty said.
Jesse shrugged.
“I’m not sure I know,” he said.
“We didn’t seem to want the same things.”
“Let’s get some air,” Hasty
said.
With his arm still on Jesse’s shoulder Hasty steered him toward the sliders and out onto the deck over the water.
The strong sait smell reminded Jesse again of how far he was from home. The pacific never smelled like this that he could remember.
Maybe it was the cold weather made the ocean smell different. The light from the ballroom spilled out for a little way onto the black water.
There was a small chop. Across the harbor the lights of the town were strung along the coastline and rose up from the water to Indian Hill, where the park was.
They leaned on the deck rail. Below them, Jesse could hear the water moving over the rocks.
“Man to man,” Hasty said.
Jesse nodded to himself. Comden had been dispatched.
He was not a good choice. He was too dull to carry on a conversation. Poor Abby.
“Your ex ever fool around?” Hasty said.
