Louise's Dilemma Read Online Free PDF Page A

said, ‘but what’s going on?’
    ‘I came home early,’ Joe said. ‘Finished my current project.’
    That meant a boatload of Jewish refugees had left a neutral port in Europe, probably Lisbon, and were bound for safety somewhere else in the world. Joe looked happy and relaxed, but it wouldn’t last. Soon he’d be scrounging money for escapes, travel, and ship berths again.
    ‘I want to celebrate,’ he said. ‘Let’s go out to eat somewhere we can talk. Is O’Donnell’s all right? I know you don’t like fish, but they’ve got lots more dishes on their menu.’
    ‘I’d love to,’ I said. ‘Can I have a martini?’
    ‘Of course. You can have two, in fact.’
    I felt the crick in my neck subside. An evening alone with Joe, where we could talk for a couple of hours without worrying that someone would sense our relationship, with martinis, and heat, sounded like pure heaven.
    Joe stopped at a light and turned to me, his eyes crinkling. ‘Best not to be home tonight for dinner anyway,’ he said.
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Guess what Dellaphine has fixed for dinner.’
    ‘What?’
    The light changed, and Joe changed gears, driving more slowly as we went past the White House, where the streetlamps weren’t lit and government buildings were blacked out.
    ‘Bologna casserole,’ he said. ‘I understand it’s layered bologna and potatoes, dotted with bacon fat.’
    ‘How awful!’
    ‘You should have heard Dellaphine! “I never would have thought that someday I would serve such trash at Miss Phoebe’s table,”’ he said, mimicking Dellaphine’s accent.
    ‘I can imagine what Henry will say!’ I said.
    We turned into O’Donnell’s Sea Grill and parked, Joe leaning out the open car door and peering at the ground so that he could see the white lines of the parking space.
    Inside, the large restaurant was warm and bright behind its blackout shades. The dining room was already packed, but there was room for us at the long bar counter and the two of us slid onto stools at one end of it.
    ‘The lady would like a martini,’ Joe said to the bartender.
    ‘With just a dash of Taylor’s vermouth,’ I said, ‘and no olive.’
    ‘A pint of whatever beer you’ve got on draft,’ Joe said, ‘and a menu.’
    The bartender brought our drinks, and we sat at the bar sipping and chatting.
    ‘You haven’t said anything about what I told you last night when I got home,’ Joe said. ‘If you’ve changed your mind …’
    ‘No,’ I said, squeezing his hand, ‘I haven’t, of course not!’ So why had my stomach cramped into a tiny ball? ‘Tell me all about it.’
    ‘A friend of mine at work, he lives on a houseboat on the Potomac. In the channel off Maine Street, a few docks south of the Yacht Club. Every few weeks he goes into Baltimore and spends a weekend with his mother. He said I could borrow the boat when he’s gone!’ It was Joe’s turn now to squeeze my hand. He leaned in toward me, and we almost kissed, but then the bartender slid a menu under our noses and we remembered where we were.
    We collected ourselves and scanned the menu. Joe wouldn’t allow me to pay for myself when we were out, and he hated it when I picked the cheapest item on a menu, so I settled on something in between.
    ‘I’ll have the oysters and Virginia ham Norfolk,’ I said, ‘with a beer.’
    ‘Don’t you want another martini?’ Joe asked.
    ‘Beer sounds good,’ I said.
    ‘Okay,’ Joe said. ‘I’ll have the Virginia crab cakes with French fries and another pint of draft beer.’
    The bartender went away to deliver our order to the kitchen, and Joe and I found ourselves leaning towards each other again.
    ‘We’ll have to leave the house separately,’ Joe said. ‘I’ll go one way, and you’ll have to go another.’
    ‘You know,’ I said, ‘I don’t think Phoebe would mind us having an affair as long as she doesn’t have to admit she knows about it.’
    An affair! I’d said the word out loud! Joe and I would be