"Oh ... Jeff." A slight laugh. "Sorry. I wasn't thinking. How are you? Where are you?"
"I'm fine and I'm home, in California."
"Oh. I thought you might be in Danbury on business."
"Well, that's one of the reasons I'm calling. I am going to be in Danbury soon."
"Oh. That's nice." Another pause. She sounded friendly, but vague and distracted. A pendulum swinging back and forth, in and out of the conversation. "Jeff, I have to tell you something," Georgianne said reluctantly.
"Oh yeah, what's that?"
"I should have called you...."
Her voice, tiny and strangled now, faded again. She should be over it by now, Jeff thought anxiously. But raw grief billowed out of the telephone in his hand like some noxious gas.
"Georgianne, are you all right? What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry. I should have called you, Jeff, but I haven't been very efficient about anything lately." She spoke quietly, but she sounded more composed. "Jeff, I lost my husband. Sean is dead." A definite waver in the voice, followed by a brief gasp.
Jeff waited a couple of seconds. Then: "What?"
"It's true. Someone killed him last month."
Again the proper shocked pause. "Georgianne, no. I don't believe it. What on earth ... ?"
"I don't know, I really don't know. Someone shot him one morning while he was out jogging, and ... it's ... I still don't understand any of it."
"My God, that's terrible. Who did it?" Jeff demanded.
"I don't know. No one knows, except ..."
"Jesus, it's unbelievable. It must have been an absolute nightmare for you and Bonnie. You should have called me, Georgianne. I'd have come back right away."
"Thanks, Jeff, I know you would. But I didn't think ... Anyhow, my family was here, and Sean's of course...."
"And you say the police haven't found the bastard who did it? What are they doing?"
"No, they haven't, and I don't know what they're doing." Almost a whisper, but as cold and dry as a night wind coming out of the desert. "I'll tell you about it sometime, Jeff, but I really don't feel like talking about it now. Not on the phone."
.Of course, of course," Jeff said soothingly. "But tell me how you are now, and Bonnie."
"We're all right, I guess. Bonnie's at Harvard-she went last week. I think she's starting, just starting, to get over it. I hope her classes will help. Keep her busy."
"Sure."
"I call her every night. I have to; I'm so terrified of her being alone up there. I have to hear her voice before I can get any sleep ... not that I'm getting much anyway."
"She'll be all right," Jeff said authoritatively. "It may take her awhile, but I got the impression that she's a strong person, with a lot of character as well as intelligence."
"Yes ..."
"And you. How are you now?"
"Functioning, more or less. It's hard, Jeff, it's ... so damned ... hard."
"I can imagine. Listen, is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all? Don't ask, just tell me, and it'll be done at once."
"No, not really. But thanks, Jeff. Everyone's been very kind to us ... well, most people. And there are no real problems about money or the house, or anything like that."
"Good. You don't need any extra headaches."
Jeff wanted very much to cheer her up, but he couldn't find the right words, and it annoyed him. She was still deeply caught up in Sean's death. Time was the only thing that would haul her out of it. Jeff felt helpless, concerned.
"So, I just have to get myself back together," Georgianne said wanly. "I'm not as tough as Bonnie, you know. It devastated her, of course, both of us, but she was terrific all through the wake and the funeral. So good and strong and brave ..."
"That's good," Jeff said.
"Sean and I used to ask, Where did we get her from? You know? She's so much brighter than either of us, and so adult for her age. We were so ... lucky...."
There were muffled sounds as Georgianne tried to hold on to her composure. Jeff knew the telephone conversation wasn't doing her any good, and he decided to wrap it up briskly but gently. He couldn't bear to hear her this way.
"It'll get better, Georgianne, it will," he promised. "I don't want to give you the usual baloney about life going on and all that jazz. You know that, but it won't mean anything until you get over your loss-and you will, you will."
"I know," she said distantly.
"Listen. I'm going to be in Danbury soon."
"It'll be nice to see you again."
"You're going to be around?"
"My mother wants me to go down to Florida to spend some time with her, but I think I'll wait until Christmas, when Bonnie and I can go together."
"That's a good idea."
"And my brother wants me to go out to Chicago, but I'll think about that next spring or summer. Right now I'm just seeing how I feel a day at a time."
"That's perfectly natural. Anyhow, you will be there for the next few weeks."
"Oh. Yes."
"Okay, good. I'll call you again as soon as I've got my dates worked out. We'll get together, go out for dinner ... and talk."
"I'll look forward to it, Jeff."
"Me too."
When Jeff hung up, he lit another cigarette and paced the living-room floor. He couldn't sit still. He hated to think of Georgianne suffering this way. It was worse than he had expected. He might have to wait another two or three weeks for her to get over it.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
It added up. The Los Angeles-New York round trip was about fifty-six hundred miles. The first time was for his father's funeral, but Jeff reckoned the real reason was to find Georgianne. The second trip was exclusively for her, and this one was the third time in less than six months. It came to a little over seventeen thousand miles when you threw in the car trips between Danbury and the airport. It added up to an impressive amount of time, money, and distance, and Jeff wished he could tell Georgianne. A small matter, but another sign of the effort he was willing to invest for her.
And she wasn't even home.
Jeff couldn't believe it. He had checked in at the Ramada Inn and called her immediately. No answer. It was just before seven, Friday evening. Where could she be? He fidgeted over a large glass of Scotch and several cigarettes, and then tried her number again. Still no reply.
Georgianne knew he would be arriving in Danbury that evening. He had phoned her from Santa Susana earlier- in the week to tell her his plans. It had been a short and practical conversation, with neither of them much in a mood to chat. Georgianne had sounded as vague and absent as she had in their previous talk, but she was still glad to hear that she would see him soon. Now where was she?
Jeff showered and shaved, both for the second time that day. He remained confident that he could begin to pull Georgianne together, once he was with her in person. He had plans, ideas. He would take her out day and night. Movies, restaurants, galleries, antique shops. Relaxed, easy drives through the countryside. If all went well, he might even persuade her to spend a few days away-Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont. It was the season for picking apples, drinking fresh cider, and enjoying the autumn colors. If he needed a sweetener, he would dangle the possibility of going by way of Cambridge to see Bonnie, an idea that was as attractive to Jeff as he was sure it would be to Georgianne. He had no doubt that Bonnie was his natural ally.
There were a couple of minor problems, but he thought he would be able to handle them without too much difficulty. Georgianne had not yet renewed her invitation to him to stay at her house. He would remain at the Ramada as long as necessary, for the entire two weeks if it came to that. He didn't want to press her. It was obviously a very sensitive and different situation now, with Sean dead and Bonnie away at college. Even if Georgianne did offer him a room, he might be wiser to turn it down gracefully. But would he be able to resist the temptation?