Read Online Eve's Men by Newton Thornburg - Free Book Online Page A

leave these two in each other’s capable hands. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”
    Belinda joined in the raillery, smiling sweetly at Eve. “Well, we’ll sure miss you two. We surely will.”
    “I know you will. But that’s life.”
    Standing now, Charley reached down and shook Belinda’s hand. “I don’t care what everybody says,” he told her. “You’re not that bad looking.”
    She laughed and bowed her head in gratitude. “Thank you, kind sir. I’ll try to remember that.”
    Charley had to hurry to catch up with Eve, who was moving toward the front door like a cruiser through calm water. When they went on outside, the cold and the silence settled over them. Not until they reached Charley’s car did either speak.
    “I don’t really have a headache,” Eve said.
    Charley smiled. “Well, that’s convenient. It’s not really past my bedtime.”
    As they drove away from the Purple Sage, Eve asked Charley about his phone calls, and he told her that he hadn’t been able to reach his son in Evanston, which wasn’t much of a surprise. Donna, however, had been at home.
    “And did she wonder why you’re still here?”
    “No, I told her that I had to stay one more day. I still think Brian needs a first-class lawyer, and that’s what I think we should do tomorrow—line one up and make him sit down and listen to the guy. If Brian’s not totally self-destructive, maybe he’ll hire him. Who knows?”
    “Not me, certainly.”
    Though Eve knew the town better than Charley did, she didn’t know it well enough to suggest a nice, quiet bar where they could have a few drinks before returning to the motel. So they tried to choose one by its appearance, twice parking and going inside only to discover that the places were, respectively, too loud and too gay. Returning to the car, they continued the search. And Charley finally decided that he would wait no longer for Eve to explain what was going on between her and Brian.
    “What happened?” he asked. “Did you two have a fight?”
    “What makes you think that?”
    “Well, cutting out this way. Leaving him there.”
    “With the sexy Miss Einhorn?”
    “No, I didn’t mean that.”
    “Sure, you did. But don’t worry about it, Charley. It’s just like I said. He wants to collar some of the movie people and find out what’s happening, which could take hours. And I hated it there. I hate cowboy bars.”
    “So that bit of Ping-Pong between you and Belinda, that didn’t mean anything?”
    “Nothing at all.”
    They kept driving around until Eve spotted a place named Rivera’s, a handsome Spanish-style tavern with potted plants bracketing the entrance and only a few cars in the parking lot.
    “It looks just right,” she said. “Unpopular.”
    And she was correct. Inside, the place proved to be quiet and nearly empty, possibly because there was no live music or jukeboxes, just the soft hum of latin Muzak. At one end of the bar there was a dark, cozy alcove with an open fire burning in a fireplace and some black vinyl love seats ranged around it, each with its own heavy oaken coffee table in front. Surprisingly, even this did not appear to be much of a drawing card, for there was only one other couple in the room, middle-aged and heavy, and so unabashedly hot for each other that Charley doubted they even knew he and Eve had entered.
    When the waitress came, Eve ordered a daiquiri and Charley a double Scotch instead of vodka, since he’d had beer at the Purple Sage and didn’t like to mix colors when he drank.
    “It certainly isn’t crowded,” Eve said.
    “And I can’t figure why not. Myself, I’ve always liked drinking on my back.”
    Eve smiled. “It’s not that bad.”
    But Charley wasn’t sure about that. The overstuffed love seats were so soft and slanted that he had to prop his feet on the coffee table, which meant that he would either have to hold the icy Scotch continuously or unwind himself every time he wanted to pick it up