An Indecent Marriage Read Online Free PDF Page A

vocabulary or in his genes. What he wanted he went after and got, and Jessica would not be an exception.
    “You’d better go inside,” he said, turning her face up to examine it in the glow from a streetlight.
    “Okay.” She smiled as he touched her cheek and then released her.
    Jessica astonished him by stepping back and diving into the bushes bordering the sidewalk, after a moment coming up with a book pack in her hands. “I stashed this on the way out,” she explained. “I couldn’t go to Maddy’s for a study session without the props.”
    Jack grinned. “What a woman.”
    Jessica curtsied. “Thank you.”
    They became serious again as Jessica shouldered the pack and Jack reached for her hand. He entwined his fingers with hers and said, “I’ll meet you on Monday after third period in 301. Mr. Markel leaves the room open, and it’s always empty. All right?”
    “Okay.”
    Jack wanted very much to kiss her, but wasn’t sure what her response would be. The timing and the location weren’t what he would have chosen. As he hesitated, Jessica made the decision for him, standing on tiptoe and touching her lips to his cheek. Not one to miss such an opportunity, Jack turned his head and captured her mouth with his. When she didn’t pull away, he put his hands on her shoulders and drew her closer, opening her lips with his tongue. She gasped, and he let her go, crashing back to earth with a thud. Her inexperience was obvious; she hadn’t a clue what she was doing. And yet that one brief embrace was to haunt him all his life, remaining in his mind like the refrain of a nostalgic song: the first time he kissed Jesse.
    “Good night,” she whispered, turning toward the house.
    “Good night,” he echoed as he watched her cross the lawn and unlock the side door. She glanced back at him, waved and disappeared inside. He stayed a moment longer, aware that something of singular importance had just taken place. Then he put his hands in his pockets and headed home, his thoughts on Monday, when he would see her again.
    October and November passed quickly, as time always does for people who are falling in love. Jack and Jessica grew remarkably adept at keeping their relationship a secret, frequently using Maddy, who reveled in the romance of the situation, as a go-between. They met often in school and at school sponsored activities, and occasionally managed trips out of town in Jack’s third-hand car. They were blissfully happy, despite their uncertain circumstances. Jessica deliberately did not consider what might happen in the future; she lived in the present and cherished every day. She and Jack rarely discussed the necessity for caution or for pretending that they were casual acquaintances when others were around. They just did what they had to do and tried to forget why they were doing it. And that autumn they seemed to lead a charmed life, engrossed in each other and oblivious to the outside world that might intrude upon them at any moment.
    One weekend just before Thanksgiving, Jessica’s father returned early from a business trip and found his house deserted. He had taken a taxi from the airport and called upstairs to see if he could locate his daughter. Jessica had told him that she would be studying for a midterm the whole time he was gone. He telephoned Madeline, whose mother said she was at swim practice, and then spent the afternoon and evening wondering if his child had lied to him. Finally he called the home where Jean was spending the night, and Jessica was not there, either. It grew late, and Portman wondered if he should alert the police. He knew that he was probably overreacting, but dealing with his children had never been easy for him. He had married in his forties, and now, approaching sixty, he was the sole custodian of a pair of girls he could neither understand nor control. Jean was a seven-year-old enigma, lost in a world of crayons and show-and-tell, and Jessica was a blossoming woman who