Goodnight Blackbird Read Online Free

pens was expected to increase two percent over the next five years, he invariably used information compiled by someone like Jacqueline. It wasn't a glamorous job, and she wasn't raking in the money the way Kevin was—he was part of the in-house legal team for Stratus Chemical downtown—but she was getting by, although Kevin still paid the mortgage.
    "How come you didn't wait inside?" she asked. "You still have your key, don't you?"
    Kevin nodded, not looking at her. Of course he wouldn't wait inside. It was a dumb question, now that she thought about it.
    "Just came by to see if you wanted to go to Leslie's party tomorrow," Kevin said. Leslie was Kevin's sister, and her daughter Claire would be nine years old tomorrow. "Last week you said you'd think about it."
    "I said I'd get back to you if I wanted to go." She let them into the house and Kevin stood by the kitchen table while she poured herself a glass of iced tea. He declined the pitcher when she held it out to him.
    "So, you're saying no."
    "I'm not up to it, Kevin, I'm sorry."
    "It's just that Leslie hasn't seen you in months. Claire kind of misses you too. She asks about you—"
    "She's not going to notice one missing adult. She'll be busy with her friends." Jacqueline put a Lean Cuisine French bread pizza in the microwave. Did he really think she wanted to spend four hours in the high-pitched chaos of a kids' party? Did he really want to be there himself? Jacqueline knew he loved children but why did he want to put himself smack dab in the middle of situations that would only inflame that old phantom pain?
    Kevin said nothing for a long time. Then: "Last weekend you blew me off when I asked if you wanted to grab lunch somewhere. I guess I'm getting a little frustrated here. It's like I don't quite know where I stand with you. If you want me to buzz off completely, maybe it would be better if you just came right out and told me."
    "You chose to move out," Jacqueline reminded him.
    "I moved out because I couldn't take living in this house anymore. After what happened anyone could understand that. I wasn't leaving the marriage."
    "It amounts to the same thing."
    "No, it doesn't. I wanted to get a new place. I still do. Hell, if you like this neighborhood so much we can just buy a place down the street. I just can't be here."
    "I understand that."
    "So explain to me a couple things. Can you do that?"
    "Okay," Jacqueline said.
    "First, why are you so distant from me? Are you trying to get back at me for moving out?"
    "I'm not trying to get back at you for anything. Believe it or not, sometimes I just want to spend some time alone."
    "Spend some time alone here," Kevin said.
    "Here, out taking a walk, out at the museum, the mall. What difference does it make?" She sat down on the couch in the living room. The couch faced the large sliding glass door to the patio and the thirty-foot pool, a dingy, debris-dotted, white-tiled hole in the ground that hadn't held water for six years. It was like the gaping burial vault for some enormous monster that had not yet died.
    "Are you involved with someone?" Kevin asked.
    Jacqueline stared at him. "Where did that come from?"
    Kevin's expression was sharp. He seemed to be steeling himself for her answer.
    "No, Kevin, I'm not seeing anyone."
    "You'd just rather sit around here instead of having anything to do with me."
    "I'm not always here. I just told you." The microwave oven chirped. She went into the kitchen with Kevin trailing behind her, a grim shadow.
    "Actually, you do seem to be here all the time," Kevin said. "Every time I drive by here, your car is here."
    "Are you watching me? Good God, why would you do that?"
    "Because I'm trying to figure out why you love this damned house more than me. Why you won't leave it. You go to work, then you come back here. Work, then here. You shut everyone else out. I guess I'm relieved—it's not just me you're trying to blow off. It's Leslie, it's Claire, it's everyone."
    She stared at the