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‘Who is it, anyway?’
‘Someone you know.’
‘Really?’
‘It’s Ms Judd.’
Pippa burst out laughing. She stopped just as suddenly. ‘It’s ludicrous,’ she said. ‘My father and my school principal. Sorry I laughed. It’s not funny. Except it is.’
‘I know what you mean. There’s something grotesque about the whole thing.’
‘When did it start?’
‘Maybe during that trip to Boston.’
‘In that crappy hotel? Imagine that!’
‘I’d rather not dwell on the details, honey, if you don’t mind.’
‘It just feels like everything is falling apart. Nuclear war, and Daddy leaving us, what next?’
‘We still have each other,’ Pauline said. ‘I promise you, that isn’t going to change.’
Their food arrived. Despite her distress Pippa ate a cheeseburger and fries and drank a chocolate shake. Then she went back to her room.
Pauline finally got Gerry on the phone. ‘Couple of things I need to talk to you about,’ she said. She felt stiffly formal, which was strange with the man she had been sleeping with for fifteen years. She wondered whether Ms Judd was in the room with him. Where was he, anyway? Her place? A hotel? Perhaps they had both gone to her friend’s winery in Middleburg. It would be less dangerous than downtown Washington, though not much.
‘Okay,’ he said warily. ‘I’m listening.’
She could tell from his voice that he was happy. Happy without me. Is it my fault? What did I do wrong?
She shoved those foolish thoughts aside. ‘I’ve told Pippa what’s happening,’ she said. ‘I had to. She couldn’t understand why you weren’t here with us.’
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to dump that responsibility on you.’ He did not sound very sorry. ‘I’ve told the Secret Service, not that they hadn’t guessed.’
She said: ‘You still need to talk to her. She has a lot of questions and I can’t answer them all.’
‘Is she with you now?’
‘No, she’s in her own room, but she has her phone, you could call her.’
‘I will. What was the other thing? You said you had two.’
‘Yes.’ Pauline was determined not to quarrel with the man she had loved for years. If it was possible, she wanted them both to think fondly of their time together. ‘I just wanted to say thank you,’ she said. ‘Thank you for the good times. Thank you for loving me as long as you did.’
There was a short silence, and when he spoke he sounded choked up. ‘That’s a wonderful thing to say.’
‘You supported me for years. You deserved more time and attention than I could spare. Too late now, I know, but I’m sorry about that.’
‘You don’t have anything to apologize for. I was privileged to be with you. It was mostly good, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ said Pauline. ‘It was mostly good.’
***
Some people could not tear themselves away from the TV. Others were partying like it was the end of the world. Tamara and Tab were partying.
Against all the odds they had managed to get married within hours of making the decision and had also organized a wedding party.
