«Do you think I’d allow that? Do you think any of us would?»
«You need copy. You always need copy! There are times when you don’t understand!» Tremayne’s voice grew louder.
Virginia stood up. «Our John wouldn’t do that, darling… I’m for another cup of coffee.»
«I’ll get it,» said Alice, rising from the sofa. She’d been watching Tremayne, startled by his sudden vehemence.
«Don’t be silly,» answered Ginny going into the hallway.
«I’d like a drink.» Cardone held out his glass, expecting someone to take it.
«Sure, Joe.» Tanner took his glass. «Gin and tonic?»
«That’s what I’ve been drinking.»
«Too much of,» added his wife.
Tanner walked into the kitchen and began making Cardone’s drink. Ginny was at the stove.
«I’m heating the Chemex; the candle burned out.»
«Thanks.»
«I always have the same problem. The damn candles go out and the coffee’s cold.»
Tanner chuckled and poured the tonic. Then he realized that Ginny was making a comment, a rather unattractive comment. «I told Ali to get an electric pot, but she refuses.»
«John?»
«Yes?»
«It’s a beautiful night. Why don’t we all take a swim?»
«Sure. Good idea. I’ll backwash the filter. Let me get this to Joe.» Tanner returned to the living room in time to hear the opening bars of «Tangerine.» Ali had put on an album called «Hits of Yesterday.»
There were the proper responses, the laughs of recognition.
«Here you are, Joe. Anyone else for anything?»
There was a chorus of no-thanks. Betty had gotten up and was facing Dick Tremayne by the mantle. Tanner thought they looked as though they’d been arguing. Ali was at the stereo showing Bernie the back of the album cover; Leila Osterman sat opposite Cardone, watching him drink his gin and tonic, seemingly annoyed that he drank so quickly.
«Ginny and I are going to backwash the pool. We’ll take a swim, okay? You’ve all got suits here; if not, there’re a dozen extras in the garage.»
Dick looked at Tanner. It was a curious look, thought the news editor. «Don’t teach Ginny too much about that damned filter. I’m holding firm. No pool.»
«Why not?» asked Cardone.
«Too many kids around.»
«Build a fence,» said Joe with a degree of disdain.
Tanner started out toward the kitchen and the back door. He heard a sudden burst of laughter behind him, but it wasn’t the laughter of people enjoying themselves. It was forced, somehow unkind.
Was Fassett right? Was Omega showing the signs? Were the hostilities slowly coming to the surface?
Outside he walked to the edge of the pool, to the filter box. «Ginny?»
«I’m over here, by Ali’s tomato plants. This stake fell down and I can’t retie the vine.»
«Okay.» He turned and walked over to her. «Which one? I can’t see it.»
«Here,» said Ginny, pointing.
Tanner knelt down and saw the stake. It hadn’t fallen over, it had been snapped. «One of the kids must have run through here.» He pulled up the thin broken dowel and placed the tomato vine carefully on the ground. «I’ll fix it tomorrow.»
He got up. Ginny stood very close to him and put her hand on his arm. He realized they couldn’t be seen from the house.
«I broke it,» Ginny said.
«Why?»
«I wanted to talk to you. Alone.»
She had undone several buttons of her blouse below the neckline. He could see the swell of her breasts. Tanner wondered if Ginny was drunk. But Ginny never got drunk, or if she did, no one ever knew it.
«What do you want to talk about?»
«Dick, for one thing. I apologize for him. He can become gross … rude, when he’s upset.»
«Was he rude? Upset? I didn’t notice.»
«Of course you did. I was watching you.»
«You were wrong.»
«I don’t think so.»
«Let’s get the pool done.»
«Wait a minute.» Ginny laughed softly. «I don’t frighten you, do I?»
«My friends don’t frighten me,» Tanner said, smiling.
«We know a great deal about each other.»
Tanner watched Ginny’s face closely, her eyes, the slight pinching of her lips. He wondered if this was the moment the unbelievable was about to be revealed to him. If it was, he’d help her say it. «I suppose we always think we know our friends. I sometimes wonder if we ever do.»
«I’m very attracted … physically attracted to you. Did you know that?»
«No, I didn’t,» said Tanner, surprised.
«It shouldn’t bother you. I wouldn’t hurt Ali for the world. I don’t think physical attraction necessarily means a commitment, do you?»
«Everyone has fantasies.»
«You’re sidestepping.»
«I certainly am.»
«I told you, I wouldn’t harm your commitments.»
«I’m human. They’d be harmed.»
«I’m human, too. May I kiss you? At least I deserve a kiss.»
Ginny put her arms around the startled Tanner’s neck and pressed her lips against his, opening her mouth. Tanner knew she was doing her best to arouse him. He couldn’t understand it. If she meant what she was doing, there was nowhere to complete the act.
Then he did understand. She was promising.
She meant that.
«Oh, Johnny! Oh, God, Johnny!»
«All right, Ginny. All right. Don’t…» Perhaps she really was drunk, thought Tanner. She’d feel like a fool tomorrow. «We’ll talk later.»
Ginny pulled slightly back. Her lips to the side of his. «Of course, we’ll talk later… Johnny?… Who is Blackstone?»
«Blackstone?»
«Please! I’ve got to know! Nothing will change, I promise you that! Who is Blackstone?»
Tanner held her shoulders, forcing her face in front of his own.
She was crying.
«I don’t know any Blackstone.»
«Don’t do this!» she whispered. «Please, for God’s sake, don’t do this! Tell Blackstone to stop it!»
«Did Dick send you out here?»
«He’d kill me,» she said softly.
«Let me get it straight. You’re offering me …»
«Anything you want! Just leave him alone… My husband’s a good man. A very, very decent man. He’s been a good friend to you! Please, don’t hurt him!»
«You love him.»
«More than my life. So please, don’t hurt him. And tell Blackstone to stop!»
She rushed off into the garage.
He wanted to go after her and be kind, but the specter of Omega prevented him. He kept wondering whether Ginny, who was capable of offering herself as a whore, was also capable of things far more dangerous.
But Ginny wasn’t a whore. Careless, perhaps, even provocative in a humorous, harmless way, but it had never occurred to Tanner or anybody Tanner knew that she would share her bed with anyone but Dick. She wasn’t like that.
Unless she was Omega’s whore.
There was the forced laughter again from inside the house. Tanner heard the opening clarinet strains of «Amapola.» He knelt down and picked the thermometer out of the water.
Suddenly he was aware that he wasn’t alone. Leila Osterman was standing several feet behind him on the grass. She’d come outside silently; or perhaps he was too preoccupied to hear the kitchen door or the sound of her footsteps.
«Oh, hi! You startled me.»
«I thought Ginny was helping you.»
«She … spilled filter powder on her skirt… Look, the temperature’s eighty-three. Joe’ll say it’s too warm.»