Free Promises by Belva Plain Page B

crystal-gazer? You don’t know the first thing about me, Randi. So don’t make a fool of yourself.”
    She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment beforesaying, “You’re right. Seriously, I do need some advice again. I’m going to have a small pizza and tell you my problem—unless you’re in a hurry. Are you?”
    Adam pushed his sleeve up from his watch. It was half past twelve. He had been planning to get home quickly, having promised Danny to help give shaggy Rufus a badly needed bath; he was also supposed to bring Julie home from a friend’s house while Margaret and Megan took the other car to go shopping.
    When he hesitated, she said, “It’ll take ten minutes. Here it is. I think I mentioned that my apartment’s a sublet. It’s a nice apartment, just around the corner at the next intersection with this street, very convenient, but my lease is up and there are no more apartments for rent.”
    She paused to take a bite of the pizza. He liked the fact that she waited until the food was wholly swallowed before resuming speech, for he was critical, and it disgusted him to see half-eaten food in someone’s mouth. Randi was fastidious, from her polished toenails to her pink fingernails. But Margaret’s hands were pretty, too, though in a different way. Her hands were more useful. And he pictured her strong hands that cooked, worked in a chemistry laboratory, and planted vegetables. They were so unlike, these two women. They even ate differently. Margaret ate moderately, while Randi ate hungrily; she did everything hungrily.… So, haphazardly, his thoughts raced.
    Randi came to a conclusion. “The minute I heard about this house going to foreclosure, I realized that it would be a great buy. It’s not too far away, and yet it’s like being in the woods.”
    “Woods? Where?”
    “Weren’t you listening? I’ve just been describing that little group of houses in what we call The Grove. We’re the agents for it, and I’m wondering whether a woman alone should make an investment and take on the responsibility of a house. I need some practical advice from a practical man.”
    “If you like it that much and can afford it, do it. You won’t always be alone, anyway.”
    “You don’t know that.”
    “Yes, I do. You’re a good-looking woman. Don’t be coy about it.”
    “My mailbox hasn’t been exactly stuffed with marriage proposals lately. I remind you again, I’m thirty-seven.”
    Margaret was thirty-eight. Why did his brain keep signaling these comparisons? It was as if a line had been drawn down the middle of a piece of paper with a name on either side. It’s—it’s
sick
, he thought, now furious with himself.
    “Be that as it may,” she said briskly now, “I really need an impartial opinion about the house. My firm naturally wants the commission, and I understand that, but it does mean that I can’t rely on their opinion. I was wondering—I mean, now that you happen to be here—whether you would take a look at the house for me.”
    Again he consulted his watch. It was undoubtedly very foolish of him to involve himself with her, even so far as to go look at a house. Innocent as that was, it would probably entail future conversations over the telephone, and he didn’t need that, didn’t want that.
    “It’s only a stone’s throw away,” she urged, and, when he still hesitated, burst out laughing. “I swear you think I’m going to seduce you! How dumb can you be,Adam? That business is ancient history. It hasn’t got the slightest connection with your doing me a friendly favor.”
    “Okay, okay, let’s go. My car’s outside.”
    They rode back in the direction from which he had come earlier and branched off the highway. He kept glancing uneasily at the clock on the dashboard, calculating the time it would take to reach home. He should not have let her talk him into this business! He should not!
    Randi inquired, “Is that an antique you have back there?”
    “No, a good copy. A man