Sticky Kisses by Greg Johnson

Author:Greg Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sticky Kisses
ISBN: 9781938103421
Publisher: Dzanc Books
Published: 2001-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

In this abrupt way the course of their evening changed: instead of leaving for Terra Cotta, Thom insisted on making them an impromptu dinner—and a delicious dinner it was—of fruit and cheese and sourdough rolls, along with the plentiful leftover hors d’oeuvres reheated in the oven. Valerie Patten insisted she could not eat, but she did accept a glass of champagne, from which she took ladylike sips as she told them about the ruination of her Christmas Eve.

After apologizing repeatedly for foisting her troubles on them—apologies they all dismissed energetically, especially Connie, who seemed rapturously fascinated by Valerie Patten from the first moment he saw her—Valerie haltingly told them about her revived marriage to her fourth husband, Marty, and how they’d planned a “special” evening together: a sumptuous dinner at the Hedgerose Heights Inn, followed by dancing at the Biltmore Room, and then a night at the Ritz-Carlton, where Marty had booked the twenty-second-floor Presidential Suite with its breathtaking view of the city. Around six o’clock she’d returned home from some last-minute shopping; Marty was not there, so she’d gone ahead and put on the new dress she’d bought at Parisian and had gone into the living room to slip under the tree yet another gift she’d bought him, a pair of cuff links from Tiffany’s. Then she’d wandered into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine and sipped at that while she waited. By then, it was past seven and she’d begun to worry: their dinner reservation was for eight. She’d started on her second glass of wine before she found the envelope.

Here Valerie succumbed to a fresh assault of tears, while the others made supportive, sympathetic noises. On the sofa, Abby and Warren sat on either side of Valerie (Warren was in his element, and Abby noticed how several times he had touched her hand and asked skillful, gently leading questions), while Thom and Connie listened intently, perched on dining room chairs pulled close to the sofa. Only Pace looked uncomfortable, cracking his knuckles in an armchair near the fireplace. But he listened, too, as Valerie told them what Marty’s note had said: that he’d gone to the airport, that he was flying home to Minneapolis to spend Christmas with his mother, that he couldn’t explain why but he felt their relationship could not work out, after all. He would call in a few days, he said. Unless she decided to leave for Philadelphia, which he would certainly understand. He hoped she didn’t hate him, he said. Goodbye.

“That was the last word. Goodbye,” Valerie sobbed. “Then just his name—not even ‘Love.’ Just…’Marty.’”

Abby wanted to criticize Marty’s behavior, but this wasn’t the moment for that; and Warren, who urged Valerie back to talking about how she felt, rather than about what Marty had done, seemed to confirm her instinct. As Valerie glanced around at the others, as if seeing them as individuals for the first time, she gave a tentative smile.

“Thank you all for being so nice,” she said, huskily.

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