Read Online Do You Want to Know a Secret? by Mary Jane Clark - Free Book Online
Authors: Mary Jane Clark
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prepare some sort of easy dinner for Eliza to slide in the oven. It was important to Eliza that Mrs. Twomey be at the apartment while Janie was in school, available to drop everything if an emergency call came. At 11:30, Mrs. Twomey, often with a sandwich and juice box packed in her bag, waited patiently on the sidewalk as Janie came swaggering proudly out of her morning session. They headed right to the park, for lunch, fresh air and a ride on the swings. Then it was home for a nap and, on the days when it was possible, Eliza could be home by 2:30 when Janie awoke, warm, quiet and sleepy-eyed. Once Eliza was safely back, Mrs. Twomey went home to her own place.
Though most of her counterparts had nannies and housekeepers who lived in, Eliza was happy with the situation she and Mrs. Twomey had worked out. Mrs. Twomey stayed whenever Eliza needed her. Mrs. Twomey made it possible to go to KEY and concentrate on her work. Mrs. Twomey made it possible to make a living. Mrs. Twomey made it possible to leave Janie without too much guilt. Eliza supposed that she could somehow survive without Mrs. Twomey, but she couldn’t imagine how.
Mrs. Twomey was standing in the kitchen doorway.
“I was thinking about that poor Mr. Kendall all night. Such a shame, it is. Him so young and all. I remember that cocktail party you gave that he came to. I don’t mind telling you it was a real thrill to meet the man after watching him for so many years on television. He stood and talked to me like I was the most important person in the whole world. Imagine! Him so grand and all! I told all my relatives about it.”
“You are the most important. . . . I don’t know what Janie and I would do if we didn’t have you.”
“Ah, go on with ya.” Despite her protestations, Mrs. Twomey was pleased.
“You’re right, Mrs. Twomey. It is a shame about Mr. Kendall, a real shame. When someone dies in the prime of life, it seems so unfair.” She stopped, the inevitable thought of John creeping into her mind. Protectively, she rose from her chair. Keep moving, she thought. Don’t think about it now.
Eliza went into Janie’s 101 Dalmations–decorated bedroom and kissed the head with hair the exact shade as her own. It was amazing how much Janie looked like John as she slept. Like everything else Janie did in her life, the little girl even slept purposefully, getting her rest for another busy day of nursery school, lunch, Riverside Park and the merry crew of preschoolers who played there in the afternoons. With a little luck, by the time Janie and Mrs. Twomey got back from the park, Eliza would be home.
The driver had the car radio on. Shock-jock Howard Stern was in full throttle. “What the hell’s going on over at that place? KEY News is falling apart. First Kendall bites the dust. Now, you’re telling me, Robin, that Eliza Blake is loony?”
Robin Quivers, Stern’s on-air sidekick, laughed. “No, Howard. It doesn’t say loony . It says that she spent some time in a hospital that treats substance abusers and people with mental problems.”
“So what is she anyway? A junkie?”
The driver snapped off the radio.
When she arrived at the KEY to America offices, the day’s newspapers were already piled on her desk. The headlines all trumpeted the anchorman’s death.
Harry Granger handed her a cup of coffee.
“Unreal, huh?” he shuddered.
Teaming Harry Granger with Eliza Blake had been the network’s attempt to break the morning co-host mold followed by the other networks. KEY took a chance that viewers would want an alternative to the thirty- and early forty-something teams on the other shows.
Granger was in his late fifties and on first impression would be described as craggy. He had a way of saying what others were thinking but hesitated to say aloud. This tendency had, on more than one occasion, gotten him into controversial situations. On any given morning viewers, as well as the show’s producers, were never quite sure what
Though most of her counterparts had nannies and housekeepers who lived in, Eliza was happy with the situation she and Mrs. Twomey had worked out. Mrs. Twomey stayed whenever Eliza needed her. Mrs. Twomey made it possible to go to KEY and concentrate on her work. Mrs. Twomey made it possible to make a living. Mrs. Twomey made it possible to leave Janie without too much guilt. Eliza supposed that she could somehow survive without Mrs. Twomey, but she couldn’t imagine how.
Mrs. Twomey was standing in the kitchen doorway.
“I was thinking about that poor Mr. Kendall all night. Such a shame, it is. Him so young and all. I remember that cocktail party you gave that he came to. I don’t mind telling you it was a real thrill to meet the man after watching him for so many years on television. He stood and talked to me like I was the most important person in the whole world. Imagine! Him so grand and all! I told all my relatives about it.”
“You are the most important. . . . I don’t know what Janie and I would do if we didn’t have you.”
“Ah, go on with ya.” Despite her protestations, Mrs. Twomey was pleased.
“You’re right, Mrs. Twomey. It is a shame about Mr. Kendall, a real shame. When someone dies in the prime of life, it seems so unfair.” She stopped, the inevitable thought of John creeping into her mind. Protectively, she rose from her chair. Keep moving, she thought. Don’t think about it now.
Eliza went into Janie’s 101 Dalmations–decorated bedroom and kissed the head with hair the exact shade as her own. It was amazing how much Janie looked like John as she slept. Like everything else Janie did in her life, the little girl even slept purposefully, getting her rest for another busy day of nursery school, lunch, Riverside Park and the merry crew of preschoolers who played there in the afternoons. With a little luck, by the time Janie and Mrs. Twomey got back from the park, Eliza would be home.
The driver had the car radio on. Shock-jock Howard Stern was in full throttle. “What the hell’s going on over at that place? KEY News is falling apart. First Kendall bites the dust. Now, you’re telling me, Robin, that Eliza Blake is loony?”
Robin Quivers, Stern’s on-air sidekick, laughed. “No, Howard. It doesn’t say loony . It says that she spent some time in a hospital that treats substance abusers and people with mental problems.”
“So what is she anyway? A junkie?”
The driver snapped off the radio.
When she arrived at the KEY to America offices, the day’s newspapers were already piled on her desk. The headlines all trumpeted the anchorman’s death.
Harry Granger handed her a cup of coffee.
“Unreal, huh?” he shuddered.
Teaming Harry Granger with Eliza Blake had been the network’s attempt to break the morning co-host mold followed by the other networks. KEY took a chance that viewers would want an alternative to the thirty- and early forty-something teams on the other shows.
Granger was in his late fifties and on first impression would be described as craggy. He had a way of saying what others were thinking but hesitated to say aloud. This tendency had, on more than one occasion, gotten him into controversial situations. On any given morning viewers, as well as the show’s producers, were never quite sure what
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