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"How long were you ht and a half years" She hesitated "I’ll ad that I areement, if we divorced, he’d have paid me a pittance in alimony for the next ten years He was older He’d beenand I did what I could to protect h it didn’t a for a quick divorce so he’d be off the hook My attorney argued the prenup should be set aside because I’d signed under duress By the time the divorce became final, he’d been forced to settle for six al fees So here we are He’s stuck with me for life, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health"
"Do you work?"
"I don’t have a job, if that’s what you’re referring to I’m a part-tis a week at Santa Teresa Hospital in the newborn nursery"
"Is there any chance your daughter hadlike that? I’ht have happened to her"
"She’d had the occasional seizure since infancy and the pediatrician had her on Dilantin I take it you ask because you think so"
"Exactly I don’t believe those guys were hardened criminals Rain tellspills in her leot hyper and slept less and less Suppose they upped the dose, trying to induce sleep? If Mary Claire was already on an anticonvulsant, the coht have been fatal"
"I see what you’re saying, and it makes sense My poor little one," she said She covered her eyes for a ht block out the very idea I watched her work to cohed "What now? Is this as far as it goes?"
"I don’t knohat to tell you I’o I don’t like feeling I haven’t done ht"
She leaned forward and put her hands over ive up One of the reasons I came here was to tell you howa blank wall, don’t concede Please"
"I’ll dobeyond that"
29
WALKER MCNALLY
Wednesday afternoon, April 20, 1988
Walker pushed his cuff back discreetly and checked the ti and he was happy to have his right aro in yet another inter, this one sparsely attended, which ness to share all the eezer na half his teeth; a woh he could have sworn he’d been introduced to her at the club by another na dark-haired girl, thin as a snake, her eyes lined in kohl Her nails were clipped short and painted dark red She s, which he personally applauded as he intended to do the sah to drink and he wondered what had brought her to this sorry place No sign of Avis Jent, which was a relief He was nine days sober, a miracle in itself In the past, when he’d claione more than two days without alcohol of so ended he bypassed the bad coffee and headed for the side door, trying not to appear too thrilled to escape The girl was a few steps in front of hi an offhand coue-in-cheek to establish rapport It would be nice to co to understand why nondrinkers hung out together--hter than he expected and he raised a hand to shade his eyes It was close to three, co up on the treacherous five-hour stretch between happy hour and lights out This was the period in which his desire for a drink chafed and his resolve wore thin He could live without h he res when he was on vacation or invited to a brunch or out on so before noon was not only acceptable, but gleefully encouraged He didn’twithout beer or ith lunch Those were pleasures he’d sacrifice in a heartbeat if he could just have a cocktail or two in the late afternoon Every day he played the saaet right down to ithe was free to drink if he wanted He hadn’t signed an oath He wasn’t under doctor’s orders, forbidden to imbibe because of some dire medical condition He hadn’t been adh he knew if he were picked up for any reason while inebriated, things would go badly Still, he had a choice He could choose He could drink if he wanted to, especially if no one found out For nine days in a row, he’d behaved hiood about that Now the next cocktail hour glimmered on the horizon, and with it came the debate Should he or shouldn’t he? Would he or wouldn’t he?