me?”
“Not at all. I work with a lot of pompous asses. You’re too honest to be in a room with them for any length of time, particularly if alcohol is served. These people don’t do well in mixed company. They either talk business all night or they try too hard to be the life of the party. Either way, you’d escape at the first opportunity.”
“You’re ashamed of them?”
“Not that, either. I enjoy their company because of our common interests.”
“So, you’re kind of like your wine collection.”
Her chuckle was truncated by a frown.
He settled into the seat and opened his window enough to put a hitch in his inhalations. The day was winding down around him.
“What kind of reporter are you?”
Her vacillating mood seemed to take a new form—a matter-of-fact, detached air. Jason pulled his head from the headrest.
“There’s more to the story,” she said. “Don’t you want to hear it?”
“Do you want to tell it?”
“I do this for a living. This time I need to be the patient. If it helps others, it should help me, too.”
“My fee is a six-pack an hour. And it’ll require multiple sessions.”
“Deal.” She backed off the accelerator but remained serious. “My father was a religious man. Very devout. My mother wasn’t. She believed in God, but she didn’t have much time for organized religion.”
“That’s not so unusual. You’re describing my family now, but with the genders reversed.”
“But my father was LDS. You know. Mormon. He wanted a large family—at least five children.”
“Are you religious?”
“Let me get this out. Ask me later.” The car lurched. “My mother was raised Catholic. And she liked to drink wine in the evenings. Not a lot—two or three glasses. Sometimes four. It drove my father nuts. He wanted her to adopt the LDS attitude about alcohol. He wanted her to convert. She wouldn’t.”
“An age-old conundrum.”
“When my brother was born—”
“Harry.”
She glanced over. “Yes, Harry. When Harry was born, my father blamed my mother. He wouldn’t get off her case. He said the wine did it—created Harry’s problems. She started drinking more and more. That’s when thefights started to get really bad. My father wouldn’t have anything to do with Harry. He said it was her problem. She caused it. It wasn’t his seed but her drinking that did it.”
“Jerk. Is that when he left?”
“No. He stayed for almost a year after that. He tried to get her to stop the wine. He wanted more children. But not as long as she was drinking. We had a lot of visits from people from the church. But as soon as they left, she headed for the wine again. My father would get furious. Eventually, he said he’d had enough. I think he divorced her, but she never talked about it.”
“Is your mother still alive?”
“No. She lived long enough to see me get into medical school. She worked so hard to make sure I could get there, and she didn’t make it long enough for me to pay her back. I think she died a lonely woman. It broke my heart.”
“I have a feeling she was happy in the end … seeing you get into medical school.”
The tires let out a muffled squeal as the BMW turned into the driveway of her condo complex and lined up with her garage. She stopped short of the door, which remained closed. “You coming in? I have a party in mind right now, and you’re invited.”
“Can I take a rain check? Wine always gives me a doozy of a headache, and this one’s just getting started. I think two aspirin and my pillow are the company I need right now. Unless you’re in need of unconscious company. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I should get the wine over to the locker right away. I’ll have to get into some of the good stuff tonight. It’ll be your loss.” She forced her lower lip out into a toddler pout.
He pulled the door handle, but froze. “So, are you? Religious?”
A slight smile escaped from her bowed head. “I believe in a supreme
“Not at all. I work with a lot of pompous asses. You’re too honest to be in a room with them for any length of time, particularly if alcohol is served. These people don’t do well in mixed company. They either talk business all night or they try too hard to be the life of the party. Either way, you’d escape at the first opportunity.”
“You’re ashamed of them?”
“Not that, either. I enjoy their company because of our common interests.”
“So, you’re kind of like your wine collection.”
Her chuckle was truncated by a frown.
He settled into the seat and opened his window enough to put a hitch in his inhalations. The day was winding down around him.
“What kind of reporter are you?”
Her vacillating mood seemed to take a new form—a matter-of-fact, detached air. Jason pulled his head from the headrest.
“There’s more to the story,” she said. “Don’t you want to hear it?”
“Do you want to tell it?”
“I do this for a living. This time I need to be the patient. If it helps others, it should help me, too.”
“My fee is a six-pack an hour. And it’ll require multiple sessions.”
“Deal.” She backed off the accelerator but remained serious. “My father was a religious man. Very devout. My mother wasn’t. She believed in God, but she didn’t have much time for organized religion.”
“That’s not so unusual. You’re describing my family now, but with the genders reversed.”
“But my father was LDS. You know. Mormon. He wanted a large family—at least five children.”
“Are you religious?”
“Let me get this out. Ask me later.” The car lurched. “My mother was raised Catholic. And she liked to drink wine in the evenings. Not a lot—two or three glasses. Sometimes four. It drove my father nuts. He wanted her to adopt the LDS attitude about alcohol. He wanted her to convert. She wouldn’t.”
“An age-old conundrum.”
“When my brother was born—”
“Harry.”
She glanced over. “Yes, Harry. When Harry was born, my father blamed my mother. He wouldn’t get off her case. He said the wine did it—created Harry’s problems. She started drinking more and more. That’s when thefights started to get really bad. My father wouldn’t have anything to do with Harry. He said it was her problem. She caused it. It wasn’t his seed but her drinking that did it.”
“Jerk. Is that when he left?”
“No. He stayed for almost a year after that. He tried to get her to stop the wine. He wanted more children. But not as long as she was drinking. We had a lot of visits from people from the church. But as soon as they left, she headed for the wine again. My father would get furious. Eventually, he said he’d had enough. I think he divorced her, but she never talked about it.”
“Is your mother still alive?”
“No. She lived long enough to see me get into medical school. She worked so hard to make sure I could get there, and she didn’t make it long enough for me to pay her back. I think she died a lonely woman. It broke my heart.”
“I have a feeling she was happy in the end … seeing you get into medical school.”
The tires let out a muffled squeal as the BMW turned into the driveway of her condo complex and lined up with her garage. She stopped short of the door, which remained closed. “You coming in? I have a party in mind right now, and you’re invited.”
“Can I take a rain check? Wine always gives me a doozy of a headache, and this one’s just getting started. I think two aspirin and my pillow are the company I need right now. Unless you’re in need of unconscious company. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I should get the wine over to the locker right away. I’ll have to get into some of the good stuff tonight. It’ll be your loss.” She forced her lower lip out into a toddler pout.
He pulled the door handle, but froze. “So, are you? Religious?”
A slight smile escaped from her bowed head. “I believe in a supreme
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