Swan Dive

woman and her daughter off J.J.’s hook.”
    Niño looked over to Salomé. I couldn’t see her, but I heard her habit rustle as though she was gesturing.
    Niño swung back to me and hitched at his robe near the crotch. ”You got a set, man. You real lucky you draw a softhearted kind like me, you know it?”
    I told him I knew it, and I meant it.

    What’s the occasion?
    I fanned the long-stemmed roses in front of her headstone and straightened back up. I told her about confronting Chris, setting up Niño, and seeing Eleni.
    Are you going to do anything about what Eleni told you?
    ”Like what? How much longer has she got? Besides, my credibility with the police is a little strained right now.”
    Not to mention you’re feeling responsible.
    ”I don’t. At least I don’t now. When Holt told me, I thought, ‘Jesus, it was me, me seeing Chris on Friday pushed him over the edge.’ But not now.”
    I didn’t mean so much that in particular. I mean in general, that it was you leaning on Marsh that started everything in motion.
    ”Niño already reminded me.”
    But you’re wrong, you know?
    ”About what?”
    About you starting everything. Marsh was a louse and Chris was weak, but you didn’t make Hanna marry one or Eleni marry the other.
    ”Spouse-lock.”
    What?
    I gave her Felicia Arnold’s explanation.
    Sounds like that could fit a lot ofpeople’s situations.
    I didn’t say anything.
    John, don’t you think it’s time?
    ”I don’t know.”
    Yes you do.

    ”Can I come up?”
    She was wearing a loose-fitting Emack and Bolio Ice Cream tee shirt, white tennis shorts, and sandals. She took in my face. ”Sure you weren’t looking for the first-aid station?”
    I followed her up the stairs and into her apartment. She motioned toward the couch and plopped herself on a throw pillow.
    ” Nancy —”
    ”No, I want to get this straight, okay? So you listen for a change. I don’t want to hear what you’ve been doing. I don’t care what you think your reasons were. I just want a decision from you, a decision about us and about what you want us to be.”
    I looked down at her. The widely spaced bluer-than-blue eyes, the upturned nose, the freckles sprinkled from one cheekbone to the other.
    ”I’ve decided.”
    Always the lawyer, she kept her face neutral. ”What is it, then?”
    I reached for her hand and inclined my head toward the bedroom. ”Let’s,” I said.
    And so we did.