Iron Lake

31

WELL BEFORE DAWN, Jo left the bed where she’d barely slept a wink, dressed, and, in the cold black when the rest of Aurora still slept, drove to the home of Sandy Parrant.

She took a key from her purse, unlocked the front door, and stepped inside.

The house was deathly quiet. She made her way to the living room and stood a moment sunk in the thick white carpet. Sandy’s place was perfectly decorated in shades of white and was always kept in perfect order. Even though Rose was an excellent housekeeper, the rooms of the house on Gooseberry Lane usually carried evidence of the lives they contained, especially the thoughtless disarray of children. Sandy’s home always felt a little unreal to Jo, deliciously extravagant, like an excellent hotel.

Dawn was showing itself through the big sliding glass panes that overlooked the lake; a rat-gray light crawled the face of the eastern sky.

Jo walked down the long hallway to Sandy’s bedroom and pushed open the door. Sandy lay on his side in his big bed, the covers over him barely disturbed.

Jo envied him his peaceful sleep. She felt tired and afraid and dreaded what she was there for. She crossed silently to his bed and studied him in the dim, gray light. He was handsome, with a strong, resolute line to his jaw, a head of red-blond hair thick as a lion’s mane. When they were open, his eyes were alert and intelligent, but often Sandy hid their shrewdness behind a beguiling smile. There was an irresistible recklessness about him. Also a ruthlessness of purpose once he’d set his mind on something, and that was appealing, too, in a disturbing sort of way. In his lovemaking, he’d been adventurous and attentive. Although they’d made love dozens of times, she never felt he took it for granted. She was infatuated; there was no doubt about it. But she’d never let herself use the word “love” even in her thinking. Sandy Parrant was a man headed somewhere else, and Jo knew she was a woman bound by circumstance to Aurora.

She removed her gloves and touched the satin shoulder of his pajamas. He stirred. She sat carefully on the bed, ran her hand along his fine jawline, swept her palm lightly over the heavy stubble there. She’d never slept with him, never awakened beside him, never seen his hair tousled from sleep or smelled the stale breath of morning slip from his lips. For some reason, he seemed more real to her in that vulnerable moment before waking, while his face was still slack and his eyelids trembled with dreaming, and she felt something break inside her. Before she knew it, she was crying.

“What is it?” Sandy was instantly awake. He sat up and reached for the light beside the bed.

“No, don’t,” Jo said, stopping his hand.

“Are you all right? What are you doing here?”

She stood up and stepped away from the bed. “I didn’t sleep at all last night. I’ve been thinking.”

“Terrible thoughts, it sounds like.”

“Sandy, maybe we shouldn’t see each other anymore.”

“Why?”

“There’s no future in it. We’ve both known from the beginning.”

“No. We agreed not to talk about a future together. That’s different.”

“Because we knew it couldn’t be,” she insisted. She walked to the window. The sky had turned an empty white, still sunless. “My life is here. My family is here. In a couple of weeks you’re gone for good.”

“You can join me. After you take care of the divorce.”

“You make it sound easy.”

“It’s not as hard as you think.”

“What is it you see in me?” She turned and faced him. “I’m not young. I have children.”

“I see you beside me in the White House.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.” Sandy threw aside the covers and stood up. He wore blue satin pajamas and with his red-brown hair a little ruffled looked like an exotic bird. “Jo, no one in Aurora would blame you for leaving Cork. He’s a man disgraced, falling apart. He hasn’t been a fit husband or father for a long time. You’ve said so yourself. And have you taken a good look at him lately?”

“He’s been terribly hurt.”

“You don’t have to defend him.”

“It’s the children I’m worried about.”

“My parents divorced and I survived. Your mother raised you alone and you turned out beautifully. Children are resilient.”

The long night felt heavy on her. She sighed. “Why does everything have to be so complicated?”

“It doesn’t, believe me.” He stepped toward her and took her hand. “Look, Jo, I have one more exhibit to offer in evidence. Something that might make everything easier for you. Come with me.”

Sandy led her from the bedroom to his office. He switched on his desk lamp, opened a drawer, and took out a large photo, eight by ten.

“I recently came into possession of this. I wasn’t sure if I should show you, but I think it’s for the best now.”

“What is it?”

“Something Dad gave me. He was trying to be helpful.”

Sandy handed it over. Jo took a good look. The photograph showed Cork naked, embracing another woman. They were outside somewhere. Near a small building by a lake.

“Who is she?” Jo asked.

“Molly Nurmi.”

“Nurmi?” Jo was surprised and stung. Molly Nurmi? She was only a waitress. A woman with a reputation. A girl everyone knew had broken her father’s heart. Was that the kind of woman Cork wanted?

“From what I gather, they’ve been at it quite a while. He’s playing you for a sucker, Jo. Acting the victim while he commits the crime.”

“That son of a bitch,” Jo said. Anger climbed inside her like fire up a dry tree. It flared in her brain, brilliant and blinding. “Making me feel like some kind of coldhearted snake. And all the time he’s the snake.” She flung the photograph away. “God, he was good. He had me convinced.”

“Jo, this is going to sound strange, I know,” Sandy said calmly. “But give him a break. He’s a man after all. You didn’t expect him to stay celibate forever.”

“He’s not a man!” she hissed. “He’s a—a—worm.”

“Jo—”

“What!” she snapped.

He looked at her appreciatively, undaunted by her anger. “Have I told you lately what a beautiful woman you are?”

She felt suddenly free. From the shoulders of her weary conscience a great burden simply vanished. She felt weightless, rising into an atmosphere where every breath made her feel wonderfully ruthless and wild. She stepped to Sandy, put her arms around him, and kissed him long and hard.

“Let’s go to my bedroom,” Sandy murmured.

“Bedroom, hell,” Jo said, and she drew him down with her to the floor.

An hour later she lay sprawled on Sandy’s bed, the covers pulled loosely over her. She’d made love ferociously and now she felt exhausted, ready to sleep.

Sandy came in wearing his robe. “I called my housekeeper, told her to take the day off. We can sleep as long as we like.”

He threw off the robe and crawled into bed, naked beside her.

“Grand,” Jo said. She pushed herself against him and closed her eyes. In a moment she was deeply asleep, carrying with her into her dreaming the musky smell of the freshman Senator from Minnesota.