Bride & Groom

getting a puppy, I’d have wanted to throttle her. As it was, she said nothing. Instead of sitting in respectful silence, however, she got up and walked over to Uli, who was lying at Judith’s feet. Bending down, Claire stroked the dog’s head.
    “Claire, take your hands off Uli,” Judith told her. “I need you to get your hands off my dog.”
     

CHAPTER 29
     
    “Mac and Judith have separate bedrooms,” I said to Steve as I drove us home. “She sleeps in the master bedroom.”
    “And you found out where Mac sleeps, why he sleeps there, whether John and Olivia have separate rooms, what kind of birth control, if any, they use, and a whole lot of other intimate details of everyone else’s life?”
    “Olivia stores her wedding gown in a walk-in closet in what she calls ‘Mommy’s room.’ After Olivia said that, Judith looked embarrassed, and she said that she and Uli snore, and she has insomnia, and Uli gets restless in the morning and wakes Mac up. I didn’t pry. Besides, lots of couples have separate rooms. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”
    “Don’t let it give you any ideas.”
    “I won’t. And if all five dogs and I snored all night in your ears, it wouldn’t bother you. Speaking of which, Mac is the least animal-oriented veterinarian I’ve ever known. I’ve known a few who didn’t have animals because they didn’t have time to take care of them, but that’s always been temporary, and it’s pretty rare. Time isn’t an issue with Mac or Judith. With Mac, it’s got to be a lack of interest. I find that pathological.” |
    Steve laughed. “The Holly Winter One-Item Mental Health Assessment Instrument. If you don’t have dogs, you’re crazy.”
    “Exactly. Other than that, Steve, I have to admit that as I watched Mac, I was the one who felt crazy. Yes, he cheats on his wife. But Mac as a serial killer? He isn’t isolated. He isn’t depressed. He’s warm, connected, sociable... and he’s very successful. Also, he knows he’s successful. He doesn’t feel rejected or unrecognized or resentful. He’s self-confident. He doesn’t fit the profiles. But you know who does?”
    “Ian. In some ways.”
    “Ian. I hate the thought.”
    “He’s a genius. He’s the real thing.”
    “Largely unrecognized as such. Somewhat withdrawn. Odd. Shy. No relationships with women, at least that I’ve heard of. Or with men, although I don’t think he’s gay.”
    “He gets along okay with his sister and his mother. He helps with Uli. No one else in the family did, that I saw.”
    “Not that I saw, either. Actually, both children seem very devoted to Judith. After all, Olivia practically married her mother! John looks so much like Judith! It is really weird. But it’s a compliment to Judith, I guess.”
    “Logically, that gives them a motive. Ian and Olivia." “But wouldn’t the logical target be Mac? He’s the one who cheats on Judith.”
    “He’s their father.”
    “That didn’t stop Oedipus. But it might stop Olivia. And speaking of Olivia, she really cannot stand Claire. At the table, when Claire told her to move and started singing ‘Daddy’s Little Girl,’ I’ll bet that Olivia felt like killing her.”
    “What is it about Claire that you don’t like?” Steve sounded genuinely puzzled.
    ‘‘Her hostility. Her meanness to her perfectly nice husband. Her high-handedness. I could go on.”
    ‘‘I love you when you’re catty.”
    “Veterinarians have special dispensation to be catty, and you practically never are,” I said. “I love you anyway.”
    We were rescued from greater excesses by our arrival at home. As we walked to the door, Steve, who’d enjoyed Mac’s generosity with wine and spirits, wrapped his arms around me and began kissing my neck. I was midway between giggles and rapture when the back door flew open to reveal Rita, who called hoarsely out, “Thank God you’re home! Do you have any Valium?”
    The floodlights gave us a clear view of her. Her eyes were swollen, and her nose was running. For a second, I stupidly wondered why she wanted Valium for the common cold. Then I heard her sob. In no time, Steve and I were holding her, leading her to the kitchen, asking her what was wrong, and offering everything from Ovaltine to tea to brandy. Just as canine instinct compels dogs to lick the wounds of their own valued pack members, so human instinct apparently drives us to force beverages on our injured loved ones.
    Seated at the table, Rita blew her