“Well!” Alec Train stopped with his hand near the phone. “Roomie, I thought that Brother Schmidt had driven all other thoughts out of your mind. Or did I misunderstand?”
“Let’s phrase it this way: It would be pleasant to discuss Brother Schmidt in intimate detail with some sympathetic person who appreciates her as much as 1 do.”
“In that case, mix those drinks and start a lukewarm shower. I’ll join you as fast as I can.”
14
Jake Salomon handed Joan Eunice into the Judge’s copter, got in beside her and locked the door. Quickly they were airborne. The passenger compartment was separate from the pilot’s space and well soundproofed; conversation was possible. But he said nothing and tended to keep his eyes away from her.
Joan let it go on only a short time. “Jake dear? Are you angry?”
“Eh? Heavens, no. What made you think so?”
“You seemed quite distant. I thought you might be annoyed with me for having kissed Judge McCampbell and dear Mr. Train.”
“Your business.”
“Oh, Jake. Please don’t scold me even by your manner. I’ve had a difficult day, especially the time I had to spend with my goddam granddaughters. It hurts, lake, to- be hated. To know that someone wants you dead. Yet I had to try to appear serene and ladylike. Be a credit to Eunice. Jake, it isn’t easy to he a lady—after almost a century of being male. Do you know how I manage it at all? I say to myself, ‘What would Eunice do?’—then I try to do it. Kissing those sweet and helpful men— lake, Fm not used to kissing men. You could have trained me but you won’t give me more than a good-night peck. I said to myself, ‘I must thank them—and what would Eunice do?’ I decided that she would kiss them the best she knew how. So I tried, even though I don’t know how. Well? Is that what Eunice would have done?”
“Well…yes, Eunice would have kissed them.” (He knows darn well I would have, dear.) (I know. He’s being difficult.) (So keep punching. Tell him how wonderful he is. Joan, men always -believe it when you tell them they are wonderful.)
“Then I don’t see why you are being cold with me, Jake. I thought you were truly wonderful all day long, the way you handled things and protected me. I wanted to kiss you for being so wonderful—and would have, and will!—if only you would let me. Was it because I didn’t stop to put my robe on before I kissed them?”
“Well…it would have been more ladylike.”
(Punch hard on this one, dearie—for Jake knows darn well that I spread skin on him the very first time I kissed him. . . and later I kissed him bare naked the first time it was safe to. He didn’t fight—he was eager.) (I’ll try.)
Miss Smith looked worried, which did not suit her features. “I suppose so. But I don’t know how to be a lady, Jake; the rules have changed so much. Eunice often startled me by what she did and how she dressed—yet I am certain that she was always a perfect lady. Tell me this, Jake, honestly and candidly, and I’ll treat your answer as Gospel and use it as a yardstick for future behavior—because I do want to be a credit to Eunice; I want ‘Joan Eunice’ to be the perfect lady that Eunice was. Under those exact circumstances and being just as anxious to show appreciation to two sweet and wonderfully helpful gentlemen. . . would Eunice have put this street robe on first? Or would she have spread her sweet skin on them and let them cuddle her a bit if they wanted to—and they wanted to, I’m sure you noticed. Think about it, Jake. You knew Eunice better than I did; we know that—so give me a straight answer, because I’m going to use it as a guide in trying to be Eunice. Would she have played safe? Or would she have given herself?”
Jake Salomon gave a sigh that was almost a groan. “Hell, you did exactly what Eunice would have done. That’s what upset me.”