Ken Grimwood Read Online Free PDF

had no idea who she was, probably some friend of Judy's whom he'd long since forgotten about, but he nodded and returned her smile. Eight or nine other young men sat scattered around the airy lounge, each a respectful distance from the others. Two of them carried bunches of cut flowers, and one held a heart-shaped box of Whitman's candies. All wore stoic expressions that did little to mask their eager but nervous anticipation: suitors at the gate of Aphrodite's temple, untested claimants to the favors of the nymphs within this fortress. Date Night, 1963.
    Jeff remembered the sensation all too well. In fact, he noted wryly, his own palms were damp with tension even now.
    Soprano laughter came from the stairwell, floated into the lobby. The young men straightened their ties, checked their watches, patted tufts of hair into place. Two girls found their escorts and led them through the door into the mysterious night.
    It was twenty minutes before Judy emerged, her face set in what was clearly intended to be a look of frosty determination. All Jeff could see, though, was her incredible youthfulness, a vernal tenderness that went beyond the fact that she was still in her teens. Girls—women—her age in the eighties didn't look like this, he realized. They simply weren't this young, this innocent; hadn't been since the days of Janis Joplin, and certainly weren't in the aftermath of Madonna.
    "So," Judy said. "I'm glad to see you could make it tonight."
    Jeff pulled himself awkwardly to his feet, gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry about last night," he said. "I—wasn't feeling very well; I was in a strange mood. You wouldn't have wanted to be with me."
    "You could have called," she said petulantly. Her arms were crossed under her breasts, highlighting those demure swells beneath the Peter Pan blouse. A beige cashmere sweater was slung over one arm, and she wore a Madras skirt, with low-heeled ankle-strap shoes. Jeff caught the mixed aromas of Lanvin perfume and a floral-scented shampoo, found himself entranced by the blond bangs that danced above her wide blue eyes.
    "I know," he said. "I wish I had."
    Her expression eased, the confrontation over before it had begun. She'd never been able to stay angry for long, Jeff recalled.
    "You missed a really good movie last night," she said without a trace of sullenness. "It starts off where this girl is buying these birds in a pet shop, and then Rod Taylor pretends like he works there, and … "
    She went on to recount most of the plot as they walked outside and got into Jeff s Chevy. He feigned unfamiliarity with the twists and turns of the story, even though he'd recently seen the movie on one of HBO's periodic Hitchcock retrospectives. And, of course, he'd seen it when it first came out, seen it with Judy. Seen it twenty-five years ago last night, in that other version of his life.
    " … and then this guy goes to light a cigar at this gas station, but—well, I don't want to tell you anything that happens after that; it'd spoil it for you. It's a really spooky movie. I wouldn't mind going to see it again, if you want to. Or we could go see Bye Bye Birdie. What do you feel like?"
    "I think I'd rather just sit and talk," he said. "Get a beer someplace, maybe a bite to eat?"
    "Sure." She smiled. "Moe's and Joe's?"
    "O.K. That's … on Ponce De Leon, right?"
    Judy wrinkled her brow. "No, that's Manuel's. Don't tell me you forgot—take a left, right here!" She turned in her seat, gave him an odd look. "Hey, you really are acting kind of weird. Is something wrong?"
    "Nothing serious. Like I told you, I've been feeling a little off kilter." He recognized the entrance of the old college hangout, parked around the corner.
    Inside, it didn't look quite the way Jeff remembered it. He'd thought the bar was on the left as you went in the door, not the right; and the booths seemed different somehow, too, higher or darker or something. He led Judy toward a booth in the back, and as they