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friends,
defended her against the socials and debs and jocks, made her
appreciate them all the more.
    Kate sighed as if the world
were about to end.
    “ So what’s the
problem?”
    “ She likes Jonny,” Kate
said as if Isabel was dense. “She didn’t even go to that stupid
church thing. She just talked to him in the bar.”
    “ The accordion
player?”
    “ You know I like him. She
is such a bitch.”
    Maybe this was Melrose Place,
bleach blondes on the make. Isabel sat back and fixed the girl with
her stare.
    “ We’re here on a
scientific field study. To count bees. Not to hook up with locals.
Besides isn’t he married?”
    “ Separated. That midget
person who was here yesterday? His wife. But they’re separated.
That’s what they said at the bar.”
    “ You were in the
bar?”
    “ Oh, don’t get in a huff.
I’ll be 21 in four months. There is absolutely nothing else to do
here, really, Izzie. Where are we going to meet people?”
    If Isabel was going to
survive four more weeks here and keep the field crew happy, there
might be things she had to overlook. She frowned at Kate. “Try not
to get arrested.”
    “ They don’t even card us.
Anyway Jonny left the midget, like, months ago. That’s what
everybody says.”
    Talk about your one-track
mind. Isabel shook her head then realized she was mildly interested
in the locals too, at least for the entertainment value. “They
looked pretty married yesterday.”
    Kate perked up, leaning in
conspiratorially. “She wants him back, they say. I mean, yeah, who
wouldn’t? But he’s not taking her. And Alison doesn’t have a chance
in hell. He didn’t look twice at her at the bar last night. And he
asked me for a napkin.”
    Isabel frowned, trying to
follow her logic. “Maybe not taking his wife back means he’s got
somebody back home. Men usually have somebody else lined
up.” In my personal experience.
    Kate’s mouth dropped open.
“Oh, my God! I bet you’re right. I have to tell Alison.” She ran
out. “She will be so pissed!”
    Isabel lay back on the bed,
feeling the ache in her shoulders. She should finish logging the
spreadsheet, check for patterns, but she was beat. The pesticide
talk couldn’t have gone worse. She hadn’t convinced any of those
old farts to quit spraying and dusting everything that crawled. The
sex life of teenagers was way more fascinating than the sex life of
bees. How did Jonathan— that’s what he’d said his name was— fit
into that group? Would he be giggling on that sofa, fat and boring,
someday?
    Not
married . She closed her eyes and saw that
funny, disarming grin on his face, then sat up. Don’t be silly.
    A phone was ringing. Isabel
extracted the University’s cell phone from her backpack. Her
supervisor sometimes called to check up on her. But it wasn’t
Professor Mendel.
    She took a deep breath.
“Daria?”

Part Two
    In and Out
     
     
     

     
     
     
    Parents are sometimes a bit
of a disappointment
    to their
children.
    They don’t fulfill the
promise of their early years.
    — Anthony Powell
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter 7
     

     
     
    The Twins were
losing.
    Hardly a news flash. Artie
had convinced Jonny to make the drive back to Minneapolis for the
game, and now that the drive was over, Jonny was glad he had. Not
that baseball was his favorite pastime. It was just good to get out
of Red Vine. Being back in the city reminded him of his old life
though. Things he was neglecting, like his job, his future, not to
mention his divorce.
    Artie had gotten tickets
from somebody at his law firm back in March, before everything
changed. The Cleveland Indians were on the field and Jonny was on
his third beer. The evening was warm, the stars were out, the hot
dogs were steamy. Life was— momentarily— pretty damn
good.
    The bottom of the sixth.
Seven to nothing. Twins were up, one out. The tension was, well,
not palpable.
    “ So,” Artie said. “What’s
happening in good old Vine Town?”
    “ Thought