“But what about—”
“Jack, shut up. Please,” she added.
“Yes, dear.” Ryan led his wife into the room.
Cathy was gratified to see that her instructions had been carried out as perfectly as the staff of this most excellent of hotels could arrange. A light dinner was set on the table, along with a chilled bottle of Moet. She draped her coat on the sofa in confidence that everything else was as it should be.
“Could you pour the champagne? I'll be back in a moment. You might want to take your coat off and relax,” she said over her shoulder on the way into the bedroom.
“Sure,” Jack said to himself. He didn't know what was going on, or what Cathy had in mind, but he didn't really care all that much either. After dropping his dinner jacket atop his wife's mink, he peeled the foil off the champagne, then twisted off the wire, and gently worked the cork free. He poured two glasses, and set the bottle back in the silver bucket. He decided to trust the wine untasted, then walked to look out the window at the White House. Jack didn't hear her come back into the room. He felt it, felt the air change somehow. When he turned she was standing there in the doorway.
It was the second time she'd worn it, the floor-length gown of white silk. The first time had been their honeymoon. Cathy walked barefoot across the carpet to her husband, gliding through space like an apparition.
“Your headache must have gone away.”
“I'm still thirsty, though,” Cathy said, smiling up at Jack's face.
“I think I can handle that.” Jack lifted the glass and held it to her lips. She took a single sip, then moved it to his.
“Hungry?”
“No.”
She leaned against him, taking both his hands in hers. “I love you, Jack. Shall we?”
Jack turned her around, and walked behind, his hands at her waist. The bed, he saw, was turned down, and the light out, though the glare from the flood-lit White House washed in through the windows.
“Remember the first time, the first night we were married?”
Jack chuckled. “I remember both, Cathy.”
“This is going to be another first time, Jack.” She reached behind him and flipped off the cummerbund. Her husband took the cue. When he was naked, she embraced him as fiercely as she could manage, and the silk of her nightgown rustled against his skin. “Lie down.”
“You're more beautiful than ever, Cathy.”
“I wouldn't want anyone to steal you from me.” Cathy joined him on the bed. He was ready, and so was she. Caroline pulled the nightgown up to her waist and mounted him, then let it fall down around her. His hands found her breasts. She held them in place, rocking up and down on him, knowing that he couldn't last very long, but neither could she.
No man should be so lucky, Jack told himself, straining, trying to control himself, and though he failed miserably, he was rewarded with a smile that nearly broke his heart.
“Not bad,” Cathy said a minute later, kissing his hands.
“Out of practice.”
“The night is young,” she said, as she lay down beside him, “and that's the best I've had in a while, too. Now, are you hungry?”
Ryan looked around the room. “I, uh…”
“Wait.” She left the bed and returned with a bathrobe with the hotel monogram. I want you to stay warm.'
Dinner passed in silence. There was nothing that needed to be said, and for the following hour they silently pretended that they were both in their twenties again, young enough to experiment in love, to explore it like a new and wonderful place where every turn in the road revealed something never before seen. It had been far too long, Jack told himself, but he dismissed the thought from a mind that for once was untroubled. Dessert was finished, and he poured the last of the champagne.
“I have to stop drinking.” But not tonight.
Cathy finished off her glass, and set it on the table. “It wouldn't hurt you to stop, but you're not an alcoholic. We proved that last week. You needed rest, and you got your rest. And now, I want more of you.”
“If there's any left.”
Cathy stood and took his hand. “There's plenty more where that came from.”
This time Jack did the leading. Once in the bedroom, he reached down and pulled the nightgown over her head, then tossed his robe on the floor next to it.
The first kiss lasted for some eternal period of time. He lifted her in his arms and laid her on the bed, joining her a moment later. The urgency had not passed for either of them. Soon he was atop her, feeling her warmth under and around him. He did better this time, controlling himself until her back arched and her face took on the curious look of pain that every man wants to give his wife. At the end, his arms reached under her and lifted her off the bed, up against his chest. Cathy loved it when he did that, loved her man's strength almost as much as his goodness. And then it was over, and he lay at her side. Cathy pulled him against her, his face to her regrettably flat chest.
“There never was anything wrong with you,” she whispered into his ear. She was not surprised by what came next. She knew the man so well, though she'd been foolish enough to forget the fact. She hoped that she'd be able to forgive herself for that. Jack's whole body shook with his sobs. Cathy held him fast to her, feeling his tears on her breasts. Such a fine, strong man.
“I've been a lousy husband, and a lousy father.”
Her cheek came down on the top of his head. “Neither one of us has set any records lately, Jack, but that's over, isn't it?”
“Yeah.” He kissed her breast. “How did I ever find you?”
“You won me, Jack. In the great lottery of life, you got me. I got you. Do you think that married people always deserve each other? All the ones I see at work who just can't make it. Maybe they just don't try, maybe they just forget.”
“Forget?”
What I almost forgot. “'For richer, for poorer, for better, for worse; in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live.' Remember? I made the promise, too. Jack, I know how good you can be, and that's plenty good enough. I was so bitchy to you last week… I'm sorry for all the terrible things I did. But that's all over.”
Presently the weeping stopped. “Thanks, babe.”
“Thank you, Jack.” She ran a finger down his back.
“You mean?” His head moved back to see her face. He got another smile, the gentle kind that a woman saves for her husband.
“I think so. Maybe this one will be another girl.”
“That might be nice.”
“Go to sleep.”
“In a minute.” Jack rose to head for the bathroom, then into the sitting room before coming back. Ten minutes later, he was still. Cathy rose to put her nightie back on, and on her way back from the bathroom she cancelled the wake-up call that Jack had just ordered. It was her turn to stare out the windows at the home of the President. The world had never seemed prettier. Now, if she could just get Jack to quit working for those people…
The truck made a fuel stop outside of Lexington, Kentucky. The driver paused ten minutes to load up on coffee and pancakes — he found breakfasts best for staying awake on the road — then pressed on. The thousand- dollar bonus sounded pretty good, and to be sure of it he had to cross the Mississippi before the rush hour in St Louis.
31
