“Be my guest,” he said.
I could sense her waking as I opened the door. I came in and sat on the edge of the bed. “You’re beautiful,” I said.
“Sure. It’s pitch black in here.” Bonnie stuck her hand out and groped for a lamp. She turned it on and squeezed her eyes shut at the light. She looked like Mr. Magoo. “Now say it.”
“You’re beautiful. I love you. What was the third thing?”
“I’m a truly fine person.” The base of the lamp was a big china chicken. She turned it off.
“You’re a truly fine person,” I said.
“I told Gideon not to let you up here.”
“I told him I was going to tell you I loved you, so I became his pal. Anything I want. His house is my house. His chicken lamp is my chicken lamp.” I turned it on again and pulled down the sheet a little. She’d taken off my T-shirt.
She pulled the sheet all the way up. “Listen, I guess you’ll be hearing this a lot, but I’m sorry about your brother. I’m sure it’s going to be very painful for your family, and it’s too bad you can’t be spared that.”
“Thank you. It’s too bad you couldn’t have been spared your pain.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I don’t want to seem insensitive, but I’d like you to leave now.”
“Why? Are you going to cry or something?”
Bonnie gave me an angry nudge. Some nudge. It 450 / SUSAN ISAACS
practically knocked me off the bed. “You want to hang around and watch?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I don’t want you to. I want you to go.”
“I can’t. I promised Gideon I’d ask you to marry me.”
“Well, ask me and then get out.”
“All right. Will you marry me?”
Somehow, all of a sudden, she knew. She didn’t make any wisecracks about my having a previous engagement. She didn’t tell me to leave. She just said “Yes,” but then she told me I couldn’t kiss her because she had sleep breath. I kissed her anyway. It was a sweet and beautiful kiss. After it was over, she asked, “Am I really beautiful? Objectively.”
“No.”
“Am I really a truly fine person?”
“You’re not bad.”
I stood up, took off my clothes and got into bed.
“Do you really love me?”
“More than anything in the world, Bonnie.”
“I’ve known that for years, Stephen.”
And together we turned off the chicken lamp, and we began our life.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I sought advice and information from the people listed below. All of them gave it freely and cheerfully. I want to thank Arlene Abramowitz, Janice Asher, Peter Corwith, Lawrence Goldman, Maddy Kahn, Susan Lawton, Neil Leinwohl, Tony Lepsis, Fr. Thomas McCarthy, Bob Mitchell, Catherine and Robert Morvillo, Saundra and Herschel Saperstein, Cynthia Scott, Abby Singer, Dustin Beall Smith, N. T. Thayer, Sr., William Wexler, and Frank and Lisa Cronin Wohl.
A hug and a kiss to my great pal Frank Perry who taught me about making movies.
A salute to the police officers who answered my technical questions. Unlike Detective Stephen Brady, they were all straight shooters and gentlemen. I apologize if I twisted the facts to fit my fiction. Thanks to Detective-Lieutenant Eugene Dolan of the Nassau County Police, Captain William Kilfoyle and Officer Alan Paxton of the Port Washington (New York) Police, Lieutenant William P. Kiley and Captain John McEl-hone of the Suffolk County Police, and Sergeant William Crowley of the Southampton Town Police.
The staffs of The Hampton Library in Bridgehampton and the Port Washington (New York) Public Library were unfailingly courteous and helpful.
A special thank you to Paul Brennan, who was generous enough to share his memories of growing up in Bridgehampton with me.
My assistant, AnneMarie Palmer, deserves cheers, bouquets, standing ovations, and whatever else she might want for her hard work and grace under pressure.
Owen Laster, my agent, manages to be both hard-headed and kindhearted. He is truly a class act.
Larry Ashmead is a great editor. All writers should be as lucky as I am.
My children, Andrew and Betsy Abramowitz, are no longer children. I thank them for their wise and perceptive editorial comments and, of course, for their love.
Finally, in case anyone is curious about who the best person in the world is, it is still my husband, Elkan Abramowitz.
About the Author
SUSAN ISAACS has written eight novels, including her latest, Red, White, and Blue. Her other bestselling books are After All These Years, Compromising Positions, Shining Through, Magic Hour, Close Relations, Almost Paradise, and Lily White. She lives on Long Island.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
BY SUSAN ISAACS
NOVELS
Compromising Positions
Close Relations*
Almost Paradise
Shining Through
Magic Hour*
After All These Years*
Lily White*
Red, White, and Blue*
SCREENPLAYS
Compromising Positions
Hello Again
*Published by HarperCollins Publishers
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
MAGIC HOUR. Copyright © 1991 by Susan Isaacs. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen.
No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader June 2008
ISBN 978-0-06-171291-3
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900
Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.uk.harpercollinsebooks.com United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com
Document Outline
Title Page
Dedication Page
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter
