Dix was quiet. The only window in the small room opened onto a budding tree against a blue sky. They looked almost like trompe l’oeil painting. When he was in this room with Dix, everything seemed remote to Jesse.
“Which is, of course, the problem.”
“She can’t let go of her ex-husband?” Dix said.
“I can’t let go of Jenn,” Jesse said.
“Because?”
“Two possibilities,” Jesse said. “I still love her, or I’m pathological.”
Dix smiled again without speaking.
“Or both,” Jesse said.
“The two are not mutually exclusive,” Dix said.
“But I feel like I love Sunny, too. That’s her name, Sunny Randall.”
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R O B E R T B . P A R K E R
“One can have feelings for more than one person,” Dix said.
“And how does one resolve those feelings,” Jesse said.
“If they need to be resolved,” Dix said, “one would talk to one’s shrink about them.”
“Well, something needs to be resolved,” Jesse said. “I can’t just live with both of them.”
“There may be other options,” Dix said.
“Like what?”
“We’ll have to explore that,” Dix said. “Is Jenn with anyone else at the moment.”
“Jenn is usually with someone else at the moment.”
“Are you attempting to be monogamous with Sunny?”
“We haven’t talked about that yet.”
“Is she with anyone else at the moment?” Dix said.
“I don’t think so.”
Dix was silent. Jesse was silent. The faux-looking trees stirred in the light breeze outside the window. Then Jesse said, “Are you trying to inject a note of sweet reason into this discussion?”
“And me a licensed shrink,” Dix said. “How embarrassing.”
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5
Molly Crane came into Jesse’s office as he was making coffee. She carried a yellow cardboard folder.
“Forensics report is in,” she said. “I organized it for you and put it in a folder.”
“You wouldn’t consider living with me, would you?” Jesse said.
“Maybe,” Molly said. “I’ll discuss it with my husband.”
