Part 20 (1/2)
Cory raised an eyebrow. ”And Marty, I a.s.sume.”
”And Marty. She's a good friend.”
The phone rang, and Helen looked at Cory. Yoko? The time was past midnight, an odd hour for conversation. Probably a wrong number.
”Let the machine get it,” Helen said.
Two more rings and they recognized Stacey's insistent voice.
”Pick up. It's important.”
”What's wrong?” Helen asked when Cory hit the intercom.
”I've been listening to the conversations around the bar tonight. Someone talked to the press about the show.”
Helen watched Cory become very busy with straightening a bathroom that didn't need straightening.
”One of us?” Helen asked.
”Maybe Colgate's live-in. They broke up a couple days ago. I can't get Jenny on the phone.”
”Do you know who they talked to?”
”No, but sniff around to your colleagues. Maybe get a lid put on it. Whoever it was, they named names.”
”Thanks. I'll get on the phone tomorrow.”
Cory stood in the doorway. Helen recognized it as the same look she'd had when she was concerned about Marty.
”Come here,” Helen said and pulled back the blankets for her. Cory climbed under. ”Tell me what's going on behind your pretty green eyes.”
”I'm not ready for this.”
”Are you having second thoughts about the show?”
”I've realized that I don't want to wake up tomorrow and find myself named as someone's hot tip on page four.”
Helen reached for her. ”I can't do anything about it until the morning. Try to put it out of your mind.”
”How? My reputation is at stake.”
”It'll mean your reputation on show night as well.”
Cory looked at Helen. ”It happened when I was a senior in high school.”
”What happened?”
”I opened my locker and there was a note hanging there. It said 'Cory and Lisa are queer.' I wanted to climb inside the locker and never come out. That's the feeling I have now.”
”I know that feeling. We all do. That's why we need to come out. To make it easier for the next person. We can be each other's strength, baby.”
”How can you be so calm?”
”For the most part, I've stopped being afraid of who I am.”
”I'm not backing out, Helen.”
”Good. Try to sleep, then. I'll make some calls the first thing in the morning.”
Cory turned off the light. Helen held her closely, keeping her safe from whatever demons lurked in her mind. They didn't talk, but Cory was awake, tossing and turning, and probably seeing that locker open again and again.
When Helen finally slept, she dreamed of pus.h.i.+ng on Blair, but it was Cory in the seat next to her. Cory opened her belt and stood up. The plane dropped.
”This isn't safe,” Cory said.
Helen watched Cory walk down the aisle and into the fireball.
Chapter Twenty-two.
Helen hung up the phone, satisfied with the information Sam furnished. The leak was given to Amanda Read, and that told Helen two things: A, the big mouth knew little about Amanda's reporting style, and B, Cory would feel less threatened than if the leak had been told to anyone else.
The fact that it was Amanda was good fortune in its finest moment. It wasn't without reason that she was the biggest in the industry for her gossip column. Amanda wasn't a career breaker. She would sc.r.a.p an item if she felt it more slanderous than entertaining.
Helen motored herself to the kitchen alcove. Fresh coffee, toast, and fresh sliced pineapple waited on a table set for a queen. A crystal and silver morning was a wondrous change from the preceding night. Cory sat there, proud of herself. Helen pulled up beside her chair and gave her a kiss.
”You're sweet,” Helen said and kissed her again. ”I love you.”
”This is my thank-you-for-loving-me breakfast table.”
”And a fine table it is.”
Helen looked into Cory's eyes. Sparkle had replaced fear. Once more in her white sweats and with her hair tied back in a Peggy Sue ponytail, Cory was deliciously edible. Right after coffee, Helen would gobble her up. She'd crawl out of her casts and metal brace and that horrible scar on her chin and throat. She would take Cory into her arms and have her, bite after tender bite, leaving nothing but a lovely memory of the woman who had stolen her heart.
”What did Sam say?” Cory asked.
”He said it was Amanda Reed. I called and gave her our address. She'd already told Sam that she thought she should talk to me.”
Cory flashed her trademark f.a.n.n.y Brice smile. ”Our address?” She grabbed cream and sugar from the counter.
Helen rolled her eyes and laughed. ”Yes, our address. She'll be here at two.”
Cory danced over to Helen. ”Our address, as in yours and mine?” she asked eagerly. ”So you've moved in?”
”You're a pest.” Helen tweaked Cory's nose.