Finding Isadora(27)

“If the woman survives, he won’t.”

I shivered. “It’s so awful, what happened to her. And here we are, hoping she survives so the Crown won’t charge Jimmy Lee with a more serious offence.”

He shook his head. “None of us is that selfish. We all want her to survive for her own sake as well as your father’s.”

It was true. I knew it as well as he did, and the thought was reassuring.

“You going to be okay tonight?” he asked.

I nodded. “Like you told Grace, there’s no point worrying yet.” I thought again of the way he and my mother had connected. “You two got along well.”

“She’s a fine woman.”

“Yes, she is. And she and Jimmy Lee are a wonderful couple. They’ve been together for more than thirty-five years, and they’re as much in love as ever.” Grace would be mad if she knew I was warning Gabriel away from her, but I couldn’t help myself.

“On the subject of couples,” he said, “I’m surprised about you and Richard.”

Immediately defensive, I said, “Why?”

“You’re not his usual type of woman.”

“Oh? And what’s his usual type? Bright young lawyers with classy clothes?”

He chuckled. “Well, yeah, maybe. But what I was really thinking was, someone whose parents are pretty much the opposite of Grace and Jimmy Lee.”

The comment defused my annoyance. “I’m sure that’s true.”

“With me as a father, he got enough of that anti-establishment stuff to last him a lifetime.” We had stopped at a red light and he turned to me. “So, I’m curious. He’s met your parents, right? How do they get along?”

I bit my lip, then chewed on it. “You know what it’s like at a zoo? The people stare in at the animals, and the animals stare out at the humans?”

“Two different species with mutual curiosity?” The light turned green and he pulled away.

“Uh-huh. I’m sure my parents will come to see what a great guy Richard is, but he’s not the type of person they’re used to. You’re the kind of man they hang with. As for him, he thinks they’re eccentric. Holdovers from a different age.”

“Dinosaurs. Your parents and me.”

I glanced quickly at him. The panther thought he was a dinosaur? “Hardly that.”

“From a different age, you said. Eccentric, curiosities, no longer relevant.” There was an edge to his voice.

“You’re not. I mean, look at you. You do valuable work representing low income people and working for the Multicultural Center. As for Jimmy Lee and Grace, okay, some of their strategies are straight out of the sixties, but the causes they’re fighting are topical and important. I mean, the animal testing thing in cosmetics is reprehensible and—”

He held up a hand. “Hey, you can stop with the argument. I’m on your side. I’m only glad you can see the relevance of what your parents and I are doing. I wish Richard did.”

“He does,” I protested. “It’s just that—” Oops. Would I ever learn to shut my mouth around him?

“What?”

“Nothing. That’s between the two of you.”

“Tell me.”

I shrugged. “It’s no big news, I’m sure. Richard’s problem isn’t with the work you do, it’s with the fact that you… I mean, that he felt as if you put your causes ahead of him.”

He didn’t turn to look at me but, in the light from a streetlight, I saw his jaw tighten. “Diane was always there to look after him.”

“He wanted you, too,” I defended my fiancé. “You didn’t even show up when he graduated from law school.”

Now he did turn toward me, his expression flat. “Of course he’d have told you that.”

“Why didn’t you attend? What was more important?”

A light flared in his eyes. “You really want to know?”

“Yes.”

“A welfare mother was arrested for murdering her abusive boyfriend. It was an emergency.”

“Did you tell Richard that? Did you apologize?”

He shook his head impatiently. “Apologies and explanations don’t do any good.”

I gaped at him. “That’s not true. They help a person understand, and feel less hurt. Like right now, when you explained it to me, that changed my perspective.”

“I explained it to you,” he echoed, under his breath. And then, even more softly, so softly I wasn’t sure I heard correctly, “Why did I do that?”

Why did he? As I stared out the window, wondering, I realized we were nearing my apartment. “Turn left here.”

“I’m no good at apologies or explanations,” he said.

“You could learn.”

“Old dog.”

“Don’t try that one on a vet. Dogs, like people, are never too old to learn.”

Too late, I realized I’d probably lost any hope of making my future father-in-law like me. But to my astonishment he gave a low chuckle. “Score one for the vet. The lawyer must be tired tonight.”

I opened my mouth then closed it again, and we rode in silence until I said, “It’s just up here. The lighted entrance on your right.”