Read Online Muller, Marcia - [09] There's Something In A Sunday [v 1.0] (htm) - Free Book Online

down half-read, until they gathered dust and someone else put them away. Those in the know told me that such listlessness and inability to concentrate were common afflictions of the newly divorced, and I had no doubt that Jack would snap out of it soon—especially considering the amount of TLC being lavished on him by the rest of the staff.
    Now he ran a hand through his thick gray hair. His lean, bony face blanked as he tried to absorb what I'd just told him. He let his hand rest on top of his head for a few seconds, then placed it on mine.
    "Did you find his body?" he asked.
    "Sort of. I had an appointment to deliver my report to him and—"
    "Are you okay?"
    "Depressed, but I'll manage. It was a shock—but then it always is."
    Jack took his hand away and reached for his wine. "Are they certain Bob was responsible?"
    "No, but his pouch was at the scene. You know—that fringed leather thing he carries." I sampled my wine and took odd comfort from its bitterness. "Did you know Rudy well?"
    "Not too well, but I liked him a lot. What I handled for him was his business affairs—contracts with suppliers, the sewing union—so the situation didn't really invite closeness."
    "Did he tell you much about the job he wanted me for?"
    "Hardly anything. What was that all about, anyway?"
    I explained, then added, "You'll get a better picture when you read my report. Tell me—had you drawn up a will for him?"
    "No, but there is one. I don't know if Gilbert Thayer handled it, or Hank." Hank is our specialist on family law; most of the attorneys refer their clients to him for such work.
    "Speaking of Hank," I said, "have you noticed he hasn't been looking too well lately?"
    Jack hesitated. "Yes, I have."
    "The two of you were talking pretty seriously when I came in. Do you know what's wrong?"
    Again he paused. "Oh hell, there's no reason you shouldn't know—you're a better friend to either of them than I am. Hank's got trouble at home. That's why he was talking it out with me—because I've just been through it."
    "Trouble at home? But it's so soon! They're not thinking of getting a divorce—"
    "No, God no. They're both just at the stage of acknowledging that things have gone wrong."
    "But how?"
    "They're both very set in their ways. Hank's used to living casually—too casually, probably—like everybody does here at All Souls."
    "Anne-Marie used to live here. She was that way, too."
    "Then, yes. But once she bought that two-flat building over in Noe Valley, she developed her own way of doing things, and Hank's having trouble adjusting to it."
    "Adjusting to
what
?"
    "Well, nightly candlelit dinners. Weekly social evenings with the couple who rent the upstairs flat from them. Chores done on a regular basis. You know. It's nothing against Anne-Marie. Personally, I'd love that kind of life.
Did
love it. But Hank…"
    "I see." I'd always envied Anne-Marie her beautiful home, and I'd enjoyed many an elegant dinner there, but I could understand why her life-style might be incompatible with Hank's offhanded—face it, sometimes slovenly—existence.
    "She has everything systematized," Jack went on, "even down to who does what. She does the laundry, Hank cleans the bathroom. She cooks, all the time, and he misses making his spaghetti and chili. Each is responsible for buying different things: she pays for the paper goods and cleaning stuff and meat; he's supposed to take care of vegetables and staples and liquor."
    "Good Lord, how do they do their grocery shopping?"
    "Two carts."
    "When I used to shop with my boyfriend, we could hardly control one cart between us! What does Hank want to do about this situation?"
    "Nothing, so far. Like I said, he's just at the bitching stage. Frankly, I think part of the trouble is that he misses All Souls."
    "Well, everybody here misses him, too, but that marriage is important. Both of them took a risk later in life than most of us would have been brave enough to do, and they've invested a lot of themselves