Night Passage (A Jesse Stone Novel)

that makes a marriage hit the reef.”
    “No,” Jesse said. “We didn’t have sexual problems.”
    Unless, Jesse thought, your wife boffing a producer could be considered a sexual problem.
    “What was your deal?” Hasty said.
    Jesse shrugged.
    “I’m not sure I know,” he said. “We didn’t seem to want the same things.”
    “Let’s get some air,” Hasty said.
    With his arm still on Jesse’s shoulder Hasty steered him toward the sliders and out onto the deck over the water. The strong salt smell reminded Jesse again of how far he was from home. The Pacific never smelled like this that he could remember. Maybe it was the cold weather made the ocean smell different. The light from the ballroom spilled out for a little way onto the black water. There was a small chop. Across the harbor the lights of the town were strung along the coastline and rose up from the water to Indian Hill, where the park was.
    They leaned on the deck rail. Below them, Jesse could hear the water moving over the rocks.
    “Man to man,” Hasty said.
    Jesse nodded to himself. Comden had been dispatched. He was not a good choice. He was too dull to carry on a conversation. Poor Abby.
    “Your ex ever fool around?” Hasty said.
    He wasn’t looking at Jesse. Arms resting on the railing, he stared out across the water.
    “Yes.”
    “How’d it make you feel?”
    “Bad.”
    Hasty nodded.
    “You fool around?” he said.
    “Not till we separated,” Jesse said.
    “You ever wonder why you weren’t enough?”
    “Yes.”
    Hasty nodded again. He was silent for a time. Through the glass doors behind them the band had finished its set and the sound of conversation and glassware replaced the sound of music.
    “When we were dating,” Hasty said, “she was hotter than a cheap pistol. Part of the reason I married her, I suppose. I never had many girlfriends, and when I started dating her …” He shook his head at the memory. “But as soon as we got married she wasn’t interested anymore. The funny thing is when we dated we did everything but it, you know. Heavy petting, I guess you’d say. But never the dastardly deed itself. Didn’t want to cheapen the relationship.”
    Hasty laughed at himself derisively.
    “Talked a lot about saving it for marriage,” he said. “Then we got married and she wasn’t interested. You know? She’d lie back and close her eyes and think of England. But it was pretty much of a duty.”
    “I guess marriage is different from dating,” Jesse said.
    “I guess it is,” Hasty said.
    Across the harbor a small tender plugged in toward the town wharf from one of the yachts moored in deeper water. Its running lights looked like slow shooting stars in the dark. Hasty finished his drink. Jesse had already finished his.
    “I finally just decided that she was frigid and that the hot stuff before marriage was a way to get me. But you know how it is in a marriage. You figure you’re supposed to stick it out. After a while the way it is gets to seem like the way it’s supposed to be.”
    “Yes,” Jesse said. “I know.”
    “She seem frigid to you?” Hasty said.
    “Hard to say.”
    “Come on, Jesse. She embarrassed us both on the dance floor ten minutes ago. She seem frigid to you then?”
    “No.”
    “So how come she’s frigid at home, and hot with other men?”
    “I’m a cop, Hasty. That’s a shrink question.”
    “Aw, they’re all crazy themselves,” Hasty said.
    Jesse didn’t say anything.
    “Well, anyway, I’ve come to terms with it. We have our life together. Except for the sex, I like her. We get along good. What she does when I’m not home, I know she sees other men. I’m sure she’s hotter than Cleopatra with them. I … I …” Hasty made an aimless hand gesture. “We get along,” he said.
    “Whatever works,” Jesse said. “You have anyone?”
    “On the side, you mean? No.”
    Jesse nodded.
    “Anyway,” Hasty said, as if finishing a difficult chore, “I wanted you to know that I don’t blame you. I apologize for my wife.”
    “Sure,” Jesse said. “No problem.”
    Again they were quiet, the two men looking at the black harbor, forearms resting on the railing, each holding an empty plastic cup in his hand. The tender had reached the wharf and disappeared. Its running lights were out. The darkness between the men and the town across the water was unbroken and palpable. Hasty clapped Jesse on the back.
    “Well, look at all that food,” Hasty said. “Better go