He wasnt, but he was curious to know why it mattered to her. His interest was short-lived. A few minutes later he had his laptop up and running in the bar of the restaurant where his clients would soon join him, doing the only thing he really felt comfortable doing. Work.
2
MISS YU WING to see you.
Send her up, Hope told the doorman. She checked out her apartment one more time. The magnificent view of Central Park and beyond it, the lights of the Upper East Side and the towers of midtown glittered through the huge plate-glass windows in both the living room and the bedroom. Bed made, aluminum foil from TV dinner in trash, pillows plumped, desk neatshe didnt know what an interior designer, even one of Yu Wings reputation, could find to change.
The bell jangled, she flung the door open in a hospitable mannerand took in a quick, startled breath.
The small, thin woman who waited in the hallway had the biggest head of bleached-blond hair Hope had ever seen. The coat she carried appeared to have been made from a number of Afghan hounds. She fluttered a Stetson from one hand like a Victorian lady fluttering her hanky.
It was obvious why she was holding her hat. Shed never have gotten it on top of the hair. The ice-blue eyes that sparkled out at Hope from a narrow, sharp-featured, weatherbeaten face held a quick intelligence, though, that got Hopes attention.
A white Western-style shirt, faded blue jeans that stretched over her bony hips and high-heeled, tooled boots completed the picture.
The hallucination.
Yu Wing? Hope said. She didnt smile. She was poised to slam the door at any moment.
The woman breezed right past Hope into the living room. Actually, sugah, the names E-w-i-n-g, Maybelle Ewing, but folks expect a feng shui expert to have a kinda Asian name.
Hope glommed onto the one thing the woman had said that she understood. Feng shui? she asked in a high, thin voice. She cleared her throat. You are the decorator.
Sure am. A licensed interior designer and feng shui goo-roo.
Hope was translating Maybelle Ewings deep Texas drawl into normal New York-speak as fast as her mind could function.
Oh, my land! Maybelle shrieked suddenly.
Of course. Ms. Ewing had noticed the view, the reason the small apartment was so expensive. All the chairs faced it. Her bed faced it. It didnt matter how you furnished an apartment when you had a view like this one.
Hope was so surprised she jolted backward when Maybelles hand pressed against her forehead. The hand was dry and as bony as the rest of the woman. You could make yourself sick in a place like this, Maybelle said in a hoarse whisper. She frowned. You dont feel feverish. You been havin any of them psychological problems?
No, Hope snapped. Look, Yu Wing, I mean
Just call me Maybelle.
Look, Maybelle, all I want is to make this place a little cozier, make it look a little more lived-in.
It will, hon, when you start living in it. Maybelles voice grew softer, lost its shrill quality. I bet you hate coming home, am I right?
Hope stared at her.
Well, dont you worry about it no more, because Maybelles going to fix everything.
How? Rope and tie it into submission? Of course I would need an estimate from you before we enter into any sort of agreement, Hope said. Recalling ones purpose in engaging in a dialogue was a good way to keep from getting rattled. Or perhaps youd rather I gave you a budget.
Whatever, Maybelle said with an airy wave of her hand. Were not to that point yet. Lets see what I can do for a couple hundred dollars first. Mind if I take some pictures?
Yes, Hope said. The cool, serene African head on the stand in one corner had cost as much as she earned in a month. The huge bowl, a piece of glass art, was worth almost as much. Good investments, both of them. For all she knew, this insane woman was here to case the joint.
Maybelle wouldnt have a problem getting the bowl out, either. All she had to do was wear it over her hair. Then she could put the Stetson on the African head and
Please sit down, she invited Maybelle. Remembering ones mannersthat was another good way to fight down rising hysteria. May I get you a drink?
Sure, Maybelle said. Some coffeed be real tasty about now with bedtime coming up.
Decaf?
Not if youve got the real stuff.
Hope headed for the kitchen to start a small pot of Hawaiian Kona, trying not to breathe the fumes in case they were enough to keep her awake. When she got back to the living room with Maybelles cup of deadly insomnia in hand and a glass of sparkling water for herself, she found her new decorator circling the room.
Hope fell into step behind her. It was interesting the way they circled a while before they chose seats. Last night Sam Sharkey had done the same thing. The few times shed entertained, her guests had done it, too, as though they were looking for a more comfortable spot from which to enjoy the view.
Just now, she was feeling a quite surprising need to make Sam comfortable. But not necessarily to enjoy the view. Something unfamiliar pinged inside her.
She quickly sat down, arbitrarily choosing one of the squishy taupe chenille armchairs and perching uneasily on its edge. Back to business. Where exactly did you get your training? she asked, narrowing her eyes.
A correspondence course, said Maybelle. She deposited her cup on an end table. Give me a hand with this, hon. She seemed intent on dragging the other armchair across the room where it faced the door with its back to the view.
Hope closed her eyes briefly, then hurried to help, just to save the floors. A correspondence course interior designer. Her sisters were right. Sheila was crazy, and if she ever saw her again, which she never intended to, shed throttle her. How did your interest in decorating come about, she said faintly, lowering her side of the chair to the floor. Thank goodness she hadnt signed anything yet.
Well, the woman began when shed settled into the chair, first off, I was stuck down there in Texas on my husbands family ranch when he up and died.
Oh, Im sorry, Hope murmured.
Dont be, Maybelle assured her. It was him or the bull and the bull had a hell of a lot more character. Cuter, too, in his way. Her gaze grew thoughtful.
Hopes mouth formed an O. Her eyes sought out the phone on the end table beside her. How fast could she dial 9-1-1? She was already reaching for the receiver when the phone rang. She grabbed for it. Maybe the police were calling to warn her that a madwoman was on the loose.
Hope? Sam.
Sam? Hearing from Sam wasnt on todays agenda. In fact, shed assumed Sam would hear from her, not the other way around. That way she would have been prepared for the sound of his voice. This way, she hadnt been, and she was annoyed by the stab of heat, the sudden heaviness in the pit of her stomach. She locked her knees tightly together and sat up very straight. Were scheduled to talk next week, I believe. I entered it in my Palm Pilot and synchronized it with my desktop calendar. The decorator is here now, so
Thisll just take a minute. Its an emergency.
He didnt sound as if he were dying, unaided, on a lightly traveled road. Hope drew her brows together. What kind of emergency?
Thisll just take a minute. Its an emergency.
He didnt sound as if he were dying, unaided, on a lightly traveled road. Hope drew her brows together. What kind of emergency?
Shed spent her hypothetical lunch hourten minutes eating yogurt and an apple at her desktrying to imagine having sex with him as a purely therapeutic measure. Have sex twice and call me in the morning if youre not better. And shed decidedmaybe. Or maybe not.
Out of the corner of one eye she watched Maybelle shaking her head and tsk-tsking. Meanwhile, Sam was delivering a staccato message into her left ear.
The firms executive partner is having a dinner party tomorrow night. One of the guests met his Maker this afternoon. The partners wife is deeply moved, but shes committed to the party. The problem is two empty spacesthe widows not in a party moodat a table set for sixteen at two-hundred-fifty dollars a plate. He paused. Are you following me?
Closely, Hope said. The caterers going to charge for sixteen regardless. As a junior member of the firm you have to fill those two spaces.
Youre familiar with the system.
Intimately. In fact, that was one of the reasons she might actually need Sam, or even better, somebody like him who didnt mention sex in their first meeting.
She had to admit shed like it if this new man, the one who didnt mention sex in their first meeting, had a voice like Sams. It was warm and deep, and it rolled over her like a soothing wave, although the way he sounded now was more like being in a stinging shower.
Maybelle wasnt in her chair any longer. Hope paced around with the phone until she sighted her in the bedroom, exploring the apartment uninvited and still tsk-tsking.
Will you fill one of those spaces?
What? Oh. She refocused on Sam. Is this important to you? Shed read the books, gone to retreats, attended seminars at company expense, and she knew what questions to ask. Shed almost said, Is this a step toward your goal? but somewhere in her head she heard the echoes of her sisters exasperated sighs.
Real important. The bosss wife is after me.
Your hostess tomorrow night? She was pretty impressed with herself for following the conversation. Maybelle was in the kitchen now, thumping the walls, looking for joists.
So far shes only managed to signal me by wiggling her eyebrows and running her tongue over her lips. But those big Connecticut estates have pool houses, conservatories, butlers pantries. Imagine what could happen if I said yes to her. Imagine what could happen if I said no to her.
Screwed, Hope said. Either way. You, I mean, not her. I mean She was glad he couldnt see her blush. Maybelle did, though, and gave Hope a knowing look before she trotted into the bathroom, brandishing a wrench.
Will you come? Be my bodyguard?
Hope could tell his problem was a serious one. So was hers. She had to get back to Maybelle before the woman started disassembling the plumbing. Okay, Ill help you out. Well call it a trial run.
Pick you up tomorrow at five.
Five oclock? In the afternoon? Even Maybelle faded from her mind. Hope did her best work after five.
Lots of traffic on Friday. Long way to Connecticut. Party starts at seven. Cant be late.
She thought about it. Okay, then. Pick me up at the office.
He was silent for a second. Its black tie.
No problem, said Hope.
Five.
The 48th Street entrance.
Ill be there.
It was sort of a relief knowing she could delay coming home tomorrow. What was it with this apartment?
What was it with Maybelle and all that tsk-tsking? Sorry for the interruption, she said, settling down again and feeling relieved when Maybelle followed suit. Lets see, wed gotten past the bull
Yeah. Anyhoo, Maybelle said, picking up the thread without difficulty, I got right bored that first winter after he was gone, what with nobody to fight with and only three channels on the television. But one morning I was watching this arithmetic program, Geometry, they call it
Hopes eyes widened.
You know, one of them college courses they do on TV? Anyway, right after that they was advertising these University of Texas She pronounced it Tegzis. correspondence courses and I sent off for the catalog. Whoo-ee, what a lot of junk you could learn without setting foot off the ranch!
Hope felt her brain whirling in slow ellipses. Getting a little closer to Earth, then spinning way out into space. So you sent off for a Geometry course.
Calculus. Id pretty much gotten the hang of Geometry and the catalog said take Calculus next.
Oh.
Then a course in lit-tra-chure.
Contemporary American literature?
Nope, Mid-yeeval. You know, them sexy Canterbury Tales? Whoo-ee, they sure made me wish I had Hadley back for a long weekend. Then I said to myself, Girl, your hands are way more bored than your head. And that was the truth, what with the ranch hands doing the outside work and their wives coming in to clean and cook. So I took a beautician course.
A correspondence course in hairdressing? The ellipse lengthened dramatically.
Yeah. Well, that was a bust, with nobody but the sheep to practice on. The ranch hands wives wouldnt let me get anywhere close to them with my shears. But I can do my own hair real good, she said cheerfully. Saved me many a penny, let me tell you.
I can see that, Hope murmured. How long did it take you to finish all those courses.
Almost six months! Them courses was hard! Maybelles gaze shot over her shoulder, then flitted from one corner of the room to the other. Honey, she said suddenly, have you got an extry mirror I could hang over there on that wall?
Mirror? Well, no, all the mirrors are sort of attached to things, or doing their various
No matter. Ill bring some by tomorrow. She frowned. Dont want to wait long, though. Anyways, next thing I did was try my hand at making dishes and stuff. Old man Abernathy brung the kiln out to the ranch in his big truck and I did that until the ladies got to complaining about dusting all the new crockery. Then landscape design, but I couldnt get nuthin much to grow out there in West Texas but cactus. This place sure could use some greenery, she added.
Hope wondered if Maybelle could be trying to hypnotize her. This was the most outrageousat least the most differentface it, the most interesting conversation shed had in ages. And she didnt have to say a word, just listen to Maybelles chirping voice, which went so well with her chicken-like appearance. She could listen to Maybelle and think about Sam Sharkey. She was going out with Sam tomorrow night. No, not really going out with Sam, just accompanying Sam, protecting him from the bosss wife, but still
feng shui, she heard Maybelle say.
Hope switched gears.
And I said what the heck is that? So naturally I had to find out. And you know what I found out? The question was clearly rhetorical, because Maybelle forged on. If Id known all that stuff before, Hadley and me might of got along a sight better.
How. It wasnt a question, just a polite murmur. How could anybody get along with this idiot savant? Poor Hadley must have thought hed died and gone to everlasting steam heat turned way up by the time the honeymoon was over. Hed apparently been desperate enough to engage in combat with a bull. Didnt that say something about the mood the man was in?