Part 9 (1/2)
”No, really. I've had to cry like that. I'll take you to your friend's for the keys.”
Marian nodded and gathered her bags.
”You'll have to climb in through my door. I'm sorry I blocked you.”
All Marian said, when Liddy activated the slide out step was, ”How useful.”
”It's that or dislocate a shoulder climbing in.”
Very quietly, Marian replied, ”Dislocating a shoulder is not something I want to repeat, thank you.”
Liddy would have asked more about that, but Marian turned her face to the window.
After they were backed out of the parking s.p.a.ce, Marian said, ”She's in the Longfellow area.”
”You'll have to point me the right way.”
”I'm sorry. Head toward the university.”
”That I can do. I have found even when I'm not looking for it, I always end up at the university.”
”You could actually drop me at work. That's where I was going next. Ellie will drop off my keys if I leave her a message. I'm going to see her this evening, regardless.”
Marian had presumed Liddy knew where her work was, so she obviously remembered her. Liddy felt oddly relieved. ”Are you sure?”
56.
Marian nodded. ”I'm so sorry.”
”Stop apologizing.”
”It's a bad habit.”
Liddy turned toward the river and then stole a glance at her pa.s.senger. ”Did you want to stop somewhere to tidy up?”
”Do I need to? s.h.i.+t, I'm sorry. Of course I do. I look like a circus clown after I cry.”
”That's a little harsh,” Liddy offered, though the comment was somewhat true. Marian's eyes were puffy and red, and she had telltale blotches of pink across her forehead and cheeks. She looked unhappy, deeply unhappy. ”You could dash into the Java House.
Coffee and a face wash.”
Marian shrugged and Liddy had no idea what to make of that.
”Half the people I know hang out there, though it is early for the Friday meet.”
”Then where? Oh-look. I live a few blocks up on North Dodge, so it's no bother.”
”I couldn't impose.”
”Why not?”
Marian shrugged. ”Thank you, then.”
Liddy turned toward the house, then realized her offer meant she'd have to repark the Hummer in the driveway twice. She gritted her teeth as she waited for traffic to clear before risking the Scylla and Charybdis guarding the narrow entrance.
”Does it fit in the drive?”
”It would be easier without those posts.”
”Why don't you park in the back?”
For a long minute, Liddy was torn between not wanting to appear incredibly stupid because she had no idea what the h.e.l.l Marian was talking about, and a fervent desire to learn exactly what Marian meant. Practicality won. ”There's a, uh, back parking s.p.a.ce?”
”Didn't they tell you? A friend of mine dated the old owner, Marsha, who lives on Brookside now with her partner, Julie. Julie Y., not Julie S. Go up to the next street and turn left.”
57.
Liddy followed the instructions, then turned into the narrow alley that ran between the backyards of the houses. ”I drove down here once, but there's no gate. Climbing the fence wasn't all that appealing, and I thought I might get towed.”
”The realtor should have showed you. Marsha had a party and everyone came in the back way because Dodge is so busy.”
Liddy pulled into the cleared area behind her house. ”This is my parking s.p.a.ce?”
”Sure. Usually there's room for two cars, but this one is, um, a bit large.”
”Yeah, I know. It's a guilt gift from my biological father, heap big mountain macho man.”
Marian nodded as if that made perfect sense to her. ”The gate's buried under all that ivy. No wonder you didn't see it.”
”Ah, the Hidden Gate. Sounds positively Jane Eyre.”
Using bare hands, they stripped away a lot of the overgrowth.