Her Father's House by Belva Plain Read Free Book Online

to let himself be hurt by something as trivial as her relative indifference to
Tosca
. What, Donald, is she supposed to be? A carbon copy of you? Who do you think you are, anyway?
    Still, it was something that bothered him. By the time she woke up, he had decided to tell her.
    â€œI had a bad dream. I felt that you were drifting away from me.”
    â€œThat's crazy,” she said with her head on his shoulder. “Absolutely crazy.”
    â€œI guess it is. But I do wish you'd make some other friends besides people you've met through Chloe. I don't mean that you should give them up, only that it would be nice if you went out in the afternoons with some different people. A little variety . . . you know what I mean?”
    â€œIt's hard to make friends in this city. Everybody's too busy with their own affairs. I'm lucky that Chloe's done so much for me.”
    â€œWhat about my little group? Ed's wife. Or Susan. Or Polly. You especially liked Polly, you told me.”
    â€œI do see them now and then. But they all have a kid or two, or else they're pregnant and can't talk about anything else.”
    He felt himself smiling up at the ceiling. “Maybe that tells you something. Or is it too soon?”
    â€œDonald! We were married last September. What's the rush? Anyway, I'll be starting work on my degree. One thing at a time.”
    Something compelled him to keep holding on to the subject. With his next remark, he surprised himself, for he had not planned to make it.
    â€œYou see quite a good deal of Cindy, don't you?”
    â€œA good deal? No. But I do keep in touch with her. Why? Do you mind?”
    â€œI would have no right to mind whom you see. But as it happens, I don't mind. I think it's interesting that you can feel comfortable with two such extremes, Chloe Sanders and Cindy. By the way, how is she?”
    â€œThe same. She finds a lousy job, she keeps it for a week or two, and loses it. If she could stop drinking—but she can't.”
    â€œAnd you keep helping her.”
    â€œShe's a good soul. I can't stand by and let her drown.”
    Kindness like this could not help but touch one's heart. “You wonder,” he said, “if Cindy had come out of Chloe Sanders's home, would she have been different? A question that everybody asks, and it has no answer. But if there's any way I can help your friend, I will. Just tell me.”
    â€œYou're a good man, Donald. So good that you're making me sad.”
    â€œSad? Good Lord, I want you to be happy. I want you to be the happiest woman in New York.”
    Â Â Â 
    Spring was late that year. Cold rain, driven by powerful winds, sped through the gray streets.
    â€œEverything gray,” sighed Lillian, standing at the window. “It's depressing.”
    She had been making these remarks all week, and he was tired of hearing them. “No, it's just winter,” he said firmly. “And there's nothing we can do about it.”
    â€œEasy for you to talk. You'll get on a plane and fly away, come home, and fly out again.”
    â€œI don't always enjoy it. Not always,” Donald said. “But I have no choice.”
    â€œIt seems to me that once in a while you could say no.”
    â€œThat's too ridiculous to deserve an answer. You know better.”
    â€œAll right, I do know better. But you can't imagine what it's like being alone here. It's horrible. You look out of the window and all you see are walls. If we were higher up, at least, you'd have—”
    His thoughts interrupted her.
She never liked the apartment. She only pretended that she did.
    â€œWe miss so many things. I do, at least. Nobody asks a woman alone to go out for the evening. Those tickets for the Plaza dinner went to waste because they only gave you two days' notice to fly to Geneva.”
    It was true that he had been away unusually often during this, the first winter of their marriage. Orton and Pratt had among its clients a company