"I'd be the happiest guy in the world," he answered. He could feel her smile in the darkness.
The Quincy sisters had left the day after Cynthia's return from Indiana. Claire, in her usual manner, said nothing as she departed, but Effie had flustered and hovered about, asking detailed questions about Annie as soon as her sister was out of ear-shot. She covertly accepted the copied transcriptions of the young woman's notebook that Cynthia presented to her. In Dean's mind, her attitude and actions eliminated any thought that she might have read or learned of Annie's final hours earlier.
Gladys Turnbull remained Bird Song's sole paying guest, at least for a couple of days longer. She had joined the three hosts for a game of dominoes when Bird Song welcomed a new guest.
The hesitant visitor was Gladys Turnbull's "publisher" from New Mexico. Mr. Arlen was a skinny wimp who introduced himself as the author and publisher of the bestselling novel Responsible Drunkdom, his thesis and contention being drunkenness was much maligned in our society.
"Between drinking and driving, public drunkenness, wife-beating and under age imbibing, the whole subject of alcohol consumption has been considerably skewed." He looked up, through what Dean thought were reddened eyes. "Of course, all of those conditions are unacceptable to the responsible drunk." He smiled. He pronounced each word precisely, as if he was totally bombed. Which he was.
"I see." Which of course Dean didn't, in the least. But Gladys was delighted and after a night, ostensibly in adjoining rooms, the pair were off, with giggles and tears and a proud pronouncement that Arlen had agreed to present all seven volumes of Belfair and her galactic cohorts to the waiting world of letters-in paperback form. The emaciated, and now exhausted visitor presented Dean with a signed copy of his book, which Dean summarily dumped in the trash without even breaking the spine before the black exhaust of Arlen's rusty Toyota had left the street.
Martha became settled into Bird Song's routine with amazing rapidity. She made herself scarce at first, as if believing if she weren't noticed, no one could kick her out. But the Deans, and especially Fred O'Connor made her feel as if she truly belonged. Her schoolwork improved, she was responsible about helping out and generally unobtrusive. Used to being alone, she was content with her own company. When she did venture forth from her digs, a favorite pastime was exploring the cyber world with Fred and his computer.
The clothing Martha brought with her was made up of a rag-tag collection of cast-offs that made most garage sale clothes look like they'd been purchased in a boutique. When the Deans tried to buy her even a minimal number of new items, she became embarrassed and pensive, no doubt a result of Janet's don't-rock-the-boat philosophy. Cynthia, in her infinite wisdom, arranged a generous monetary scale of chores-for-bucks that seemed to take care of the problem. Added to that was Fred's frequent lies about picking up at tag sales for a pittance, items that to an observant eye, still retained their much-higher new-store price.