Midge Gette - The more the sexier

"Well, this is one of her bad days. Pernicious anemia," Mattie told him. "As you probably know, the disease comes and goes, i›ut it's more than just that. The doctor is concerned for her heart now." She hesitated, as though wondering if she were saying too much, but Hermie Carlson had such a kind face.

"She's very clever about appearing well to her husband," she went on, "so in a way he can't be blamed. I hope you'll respect my confidence, Mr. Carlson. She'd never forgive me if she knew I was talking to a member of the family this way, but I'm so worried. She's had so much illness-and now, recently, the disappointment of not being able to have the child her husband wants so much-"

Hermie almost laughed at this. Dwayne Parker hungered for fatherhood? Oh, brother, he thought, but he merely sought now to assure worried Mattie that he himself was trustworthy; and after a moment or two more of listening to her troubled voice, he escaped. He was not at all sorry he had exposed Dwayne to Lorraine, although sorry to have hurt her. Her health and happiness surely would be better served if she faced up to a few truths, as he himself had recently had to do. Still, he felt troubled. Almost without volition, Sharon entered his mind, and back at his office he obeyed an impulse and telephoned her. "Sure," she answered him. "I'll meet you, but I don't know what I can do about your crazy wife. It isn't? Lorraine?" Her voice quickened. "Okay, Hermie. I'll be right there." And to Uncle Nate she said, "You won't want the car for anything for a while, will you? I've just had the oddest call from Hermie. He wants me to meet him downtown. What do you think?"

"Meet him, of course."

"Yes, but-Uncle Nate, maybe you'd better come v me."

"Did he as, jrme?"

"No, but it's something about Lorraine. Why would Hermie want to talk to me about her? I certainly don't want any more of that family-conference business!"

"I doubt if Hermie would plead your brother's case or Lorraine enlist his help in doing so. But you won't know if you don't run along and find out. Just watch your temper, my dear. I'm here if you need me."

Sharon found Hermie waiting for her in the small cafe he had designated as the meeting place, and she forgot everything else in surprise at the change in him. He looked very tired and drawn, but older, more mature-and oddly, more attractive. And, too, Sharon decided she must like him more than she thought for she had missed him.

"Well?" she demanded brightly. "What's on your mind, Hermie? Nice to see you again."

He had been rather regretting his impulse, but now, seeing Sharon's bright, honest face, he smiled. "I guess I've just missed you," he said. "Nice to see you, too." Then, frowning, "Sharon I've been to see Lorraine-" Quickly he related the meeting.

Sharon sat back, her eyes sick. "I've never trusted Dwayne particularly, but I didn't think him capable of such a scurvy plan. And you say Mother knows?"

He nodded. "It was she who told Debbie-or hinted at it so broadly that Debbie couldn't help putting two and two together. I don't think Debbie meant to tell me. It just slipped out when we were arguing. And it was what really decided the whole thing for me, Sharon."

"I don't understand all this business about stocks and bonds, Hermie, but I know Dwayne is smart. And I guess I've known all along that he just married Lorraine to get a foothold in Talmadge's. But" -she brightened-"Uncle Nate hasn't decided yet, and he likes Lorraine. When I tell him, I'm sure he won't help Dwayne."

"I wish I hadn't told Lorraine. I tell you, Sharon, Lorraine is ill. That maid of hers, Mattie, is worried about her-"

"I haven't been to see her for some time. Are you sure, Hermie? Rainey always looks pale and tired- "

"Sharon, she's ill. She told me herself she's been to a doctor and Mattie said the doctor wanted to talk with Dwayne and Lorraine won't permit it."

"Dwayne hates ill health. He can't stand to be around anybody who's the least bit sickly." Sharon turned away from him. "Hermie," she said at last, "don't feel bad about telling her. Even if Uncle Nate refuses to help Dwayne and nothing comes of his plan, it's better that she knows him for what he is. Maybe now she'll leave him."

His eyes looked tired. "I'm afraid not," he said. "It isn't so easy to kill love, Sharon."

She frowned at him. "I suppose that means you still love Debbie," she said. "I don't understand it. How can you respect her? And what good is love without respect? I don't mean to make you feel bad, Hermie. I really don't undersatnd."

"It wasn't all Debbie's fault," he said. He looked at Sharon with a twisted hint of a smile. "You know, Sharon, you should be glad you are not your mother's favorite child. In a lot of ways you are better off than Debbie ever was." He saw her face change, grow very young and vulnerable, and he understood how his words fell upon barren soil. "I really mean it," he told her. "My mother-in-law," he added, "is a very possessive woman."

Sharon was not ready to see any advantage in having never been thought worth possessing by her mother. "I suppose you'll go crawling back to Debbie any day now," she said.

He smiled genuinely for the first time. "You know, Sharon, I've always liked you and wished my wife had more of your independence. It's just recently that I've rediscovered my own."

To be told she was liked never failed to move Sharon. "You mean, you're not going back to her?"

He shook his head. "Oh, no. I mean, yes, I mean that, but I haven't completely given up that she will find her way back to me. It's either that or it's all over for us."

Without thought, Sharon said quickly, "Mother will never let her." Her eyes widened. "Oh-is that what you mean about me being better off than Debbie?"

"Oh, yes. You see, Sharon, you can grow up. Debbie can't. Or at least as long as your mother has anything to say about it."

Sharon shrugged. "You've always acted as if you liked Mother."

He looked away. "For six years I tried to get along with everybody. The eternal optimist, I guess. I love Debbie, Sharon, and I just kept hoping something would happen-"

He laughed shortly. "Like Lorraine, I guess, I kept fooling myself it would all come out all right if I were patient. Then this move to Skyline Drive happened."

"Why didn't you just put your foot down about it?"

"I don't know. Tired, I guess. But once we were there, Sharon, something started happening to me. Pride-and anger and-" He gestured with sudden impatience. "But it's Lorraine I asked you to meet me about. I'm not really sorry I told her, and yet I am. Maybe I just wanted someone-you-to reassure me."

"It's what I'd have done myself," Sharon admitted. "If Lorraine just weren't ill! But it's better to be prepared, and ill or not, she's intelligent. Gosh, love isn't really blind, is it?"

"Well, it certainly can work havoc with the emotions," he said, and smiled at her. "I can't imagine anything blinding you for long, though, Sharon."

"Uncle Nate says we all have our blind spots."

Hermie frowned. "Well, there's nothing I can do about Lorraine now, I guess. But you will tell Uncle Nate about it, won't you?"

"You bet. We don't have any secrets."

"I probably should have gone to him myself," he said, "but after practically throwing his money in his face and stomping out of his house, I didn't think he'd care to see me."

"Oh, you're wrong!. He's not like that at all. He'd even cut off all Debbie's charge accounts if he thought it would help."

"No, don't let him do that, Sharon. I don't want my wife back for any reason but-well, the only reason that matters."

"You're a good guy, Hermie. Debbie doesn't know how lucky she is. For your sake, I hope she grows up soon."

He sighed. "We'll see. Meanwhile, go to see Lorraine, will you?"