The Boyfriend Read Online Free PDF Page A

disconcerting. He was unable to hide from himself the fact that Holly and her boyfriend Bill had a sexual relationship, because it had not occurred to her to hide it. At first he’d had to say to himself, “She’s over twenty-one. Would this bother me if she was like most people?” The thought made him say, “How’s Bill?”
    “He’s great,” she said. “He’ll be sorry he missed you. He has to work late tonight restocking the shelves for the Big Summer Blowout Sale.”
    “Well, I guess that happens. Can’t have a Blowout Sale without something to blow out. Give him my regards.”
    “‘Kindest Regards from Jack,’” she said, imitating his voice. “You and I can have dinner alone.”
    “Fine with me. Want to go to Redratto’s?”
    “No, I can make Italian food myself. We have it a lot. Can we go to Mo’s and get a burger?”
    “Sure, if that’s what you have a taste for.”
    “I do. With curly french fries. Where’s your car?”
    “Around the corner and on the next block. It’s a little walk.”
    “Oh-oh,” she said. “You’re going on a scary case again.”
    “You know that from where I parked the car?”
    “That and how you’re looking around all the time while we walk. You’re thinking about somebody watching us while we talk. You’re paying attention to the rules again.”
    “The rules. It’s funny” he said. “We used to say that when you were little. You remember that?”
    “Of course I do,” she said. “You told me the rules a hundred times. Don’t open the door just because somebody rings the bell. Don’t go out without Maria. Don’t tell anybody on the phone that my father isn’t home. When you were a cop I would be afraid that things were happening every day like they did on TV. Now it’s usually better.” She studied him. “So what’s up this time?”
    “It’s the sort of thing I used to do in those days. It’s a murder. A young woman about your age got shot in her apartment by a man. The police see it as a robbery. Her parents want to know more.”
    “That sounds okay for you, but poor them.”
    “I think it’s safe. But I have a feeling this might take me out of town. Will you be okay with that if it happens?”
    “Sure. I’m not alone. There are ten of us. And when you’re not busy you can call me.”
    “That’s right.”
    They went to the restaurant and got a booth in the bar. They talked about her job and his, the friends she lived with in the house, what a good thing an occasional helping of french fries was. She had the most lively, engaging blue eyes.
    He thought about Holly’s mother, Linda. The Tills had been twenty-one and twenty-two when Holly was born. The doctors hadn’t seen any reason for Linda to have amnio. That was recommended for women in their late thirties. When she’d learned that her child had Down syndrome, she had fallen apart. She had simply been unable to cope with it, to accept the amendment to her vision of what her life should be. She had not accepted it. She had filed for divorce, granted him full custody of Holly, and never come back. In the first years there had been a hundred thousand times when he had blamed her, resented her, or felt contempt for her for bailing out. But in recent years he’d felt a little sorry for her. As he’d gotten older he had realized that she’d probably felt horrible for a brief part of every day. And she’d never gotten to know the person Holly had become.
    He took her home, walked into the communal living room, and saw that dinner had just ended. “Come on, Jason,” one of the girls said. “It’s your turn.”
    “We can do the dishes later,” Jason said. “I just want to see this.”
    There was a Dodgers game in its eighth inning, and Jason looked as though he were taking a lead off first base. He was sideways, halfway between the television set and the kitchen, his eyes still on the game.
    “I’ll do it this time if you do it tomorrow,” Holly said. “You don’t mind, do