when he knocked at her back door, she answered it right away. She had changed into a pair of high-waisted royal-blue trousers with buttons on one side and wide cuffs at the bottom, a long-sleeved white blouse with a Peter Pan collar, a light blue cardigan over that, and a pair of dark blue slip-on loafers. The woman’s blond hair was still down around her shoulders, though she had clipped part of it back.
“Are you hungry?”
“No, I had my fill, thanks.” He took a whiff of himself. “You, um, you mind if I wash up a bit? The…the business today was a little, uh, smelly.”
“Of course. I can run a bath for you.”
“A bath? You have one of them?”
“Yes. I’ll get it going for you. And I have a robe you can wear.”
“Thank you, Miss Crabtree.”
She said shyly, “Look, we’re not in the office now, just call me Ernestine.”
“And I’m Archer, no ‘mister’ necessary.”
She ran the bath and told him when it was ready.
He sank into the hot water to which she’d added something that made the water bubble and feel soothing against his skin.
She knocked on the door. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s wonderful, Ernestine. I mean really swell. Best I’ve ever had.”
She laughed on the other side of the wood. “It’s only a bath, Archer.”
“Yeah, well, I haven’t had a bath since around 1941.”
He finished up and put the robe on. When he came out Ernestine had lowered the wall bed and made it up for him; she was now sitting in an adjacent chair and reading a book. She got up and closed the volume. “It’s all ready for you.”
He glanced in the direction of her bedroom. “Thank you. Is your, um, bedroom door doing okay?’”
“It’s doing just fine, thank you.”
He was imagining Ernestine in all sorts of ways, hair down, skirt up, even naked like Jackie. It seemed he just damn well couldn’t help doing so. Archer cursed himself. He was no better than the man who’d wolf-whistled at her.
She followed his gaze and said, “Well, I’m sure you’re exhausted.” She held up her book and said, “I actually wanted to finish this tonight. I’ll just do so in my bed.”
“What’s that you’re reading?”
“It just came out recently. It’s entitled 1984. By an English writer, George Orwell. Well, that’s his pseudonym. His real name is Eric Blair.”
“What’s it about?”
“It’s a dystopian novel set in 1984, hence the name.”
“Long time from here.” He added in a puzzled fashion, “Dystopian?”
“It’s about life in 1984 as the writer sees it. The people are oppressed, the government knows all. People spy on each other. No one has any free thought.”
“I think we just fought a war to stop that from happening.”
“I think we did, too. Let’s hope it was enough.”
“Guess you’re right about that.” He stared at her for a long moment, his initial lustful desire dying away. Not because he didn’t find her attractive, because he did. It was because Archer wasn’t sure he deserved anybody as intelligent as she obviously was. And yet he had become perhaps even more intrigued by who she was than by what her beauty inspired in him physically.
“Look, Archer, you don’t have to check in this week. I obviously know what you’re up to…and where you’re staying. I’ll mark it down as your having reported in and all.”
“I appreciate that.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Good night, Ernestine. Hope you enjoy your book.”
“Good night, Archer.”
Chapter 26
THE NEXT MORNING Archer found hot coffee in the percolator waiting for him in the kitchen, a paper bag with an apple, a soft roll, some beef jerky, and a hard chunk of cheese inside, and a note from Ernestine wishing him a good day. He looked around for the woman but didn’t see her. She might have already left for work. He wanted to call out to her or go knock on her bedroom door and thank her, but he decided against that. He sat at the table, drank his coffee, and put the note in his pocket.
He took a moment to look around the small space. Then he closed his eyes and, in his mind, allowed himself the fiction of believing that this was his tidy little home and his dear, loving wife had made him this strong cup of coffee and packed him a nice lunch, before he set out to work to earn the daily bread to support him and her and a passel of kids with sensible names and fascinating futures awaiting them all.