“Up close and personal,” he said softly.
16
“For Christ’s
sake,” Marcy said. “You can’t have
someone to dinner and just plonk three cartons of Chinese food on the table.”
“Of course you can’t,” Jesse
said. “I just wanted to see if you
knew that.”
“Yeah, right,” Marcy said.
She was looking through his kitchen cabinets.
“You can make us a cocktail,” she said.
“While I set the
table.”
Without asking, Jesse made each of them a tall scotch and soda.
Holding two wineglasses, Marcy said, “What wine goes with
Chinese food?”
“Probably a muscular cabernet,” Jesse said.
“Do you have any?”
“No.”
“What have you got?”
“Black Label scotch, Absolut vodka, Budweiser beer.”
Marcy nodded and put the wineglasses away. She put the cartons of food in a low oven and brought her drink over to the couch.
“How’s it going with Jenn?” she
said.
Jesse shrugged.
“That well?” Marcy said.
“She came over the other night and cooked me dinner,” Jesse
said.
“Good dinner?”
“Fancy,” Jesse said.
“She’s taking cooking
classes.”
“Was the evening all right?”
“Sure,” Jesse said.
Marcy was quiet, holding her glass in both hands, sipping.
“This works out very well for her,” Marcy said
finally.
“What?”
“This arrangement. She has you when she wants you.
If she gets
in trouble you’re there. If she needs sympathy or support or understanding you’re there. If she wants to see somebody else,
she’s free to.”
“That’s probably true,” Jesse
said.
“What do you get?” Marcy said.
Jesse went to the kitchen counter and made himself another drink. He brought it back and stood and looked out his picture window at the harbor.
“I’m in this for the long haul,
Marce.”
“Which means?”
“Which means, I love her, and I’ll stick until she proves to me
