The fact he was paying for this made him feel a little less guilty about everything that had happened. She had said it wasn't his fault, really, that all of the demons of her childhood had broken out of their cages at once, that it went back way before him. Her sadness over the dissolution of their marriage was just one more thing—not the sole cause of this acute depression, which had finally required hospitalization. Meanwhile, his friends told him that no one can be entirely responsible for the happiness of another human being.
Jared felt he should lighten the mood, particularly with a stranger hovering a few feet away. “You know, Dorene,” he said in a phony-sounding drawl, “ever since I was a kid I've always thought I was kind of special. But it must be nice to know you're a special.”
It was weak, he knew, but she rewarded him with a smile anyway.
“You want to see my room?” Laura asked.
“Great,” he said, and together the three of them started across the grass back to the house. Suddenly remembering, Jared reached into the pocket of his jacket and handed Laura a small gift-wrapped package.
“I'm afraid I'll have to open that,” Dorene said, reaching for it quickly. Suddenly she smiled a little sheepishly and returned the box to Laura. “Sorry, it's just rules. But I don't suppose just this once …”
“Thanks,” Jared said, looking her in the eyes.
“I sure liked that movie of yours.”
Laura stopped walking, bringing them all to an abrupt and awkward halt. “Take it,” she said, holding the box out to Dorene. “Go ahead, take it. Rules are rules.” Reluctantly, Dorene reclaimed it.
“This is my tiny little part of the world,” Laura said to him. “It's not much. But the funny farm's all I've got right now. You have the rest of America. So please don't try to charm everyone right off the goddamn bat, okay?”
Laura had decorated the room with her old stuffed animals, a number of framed photographs, including two of Jared, and several painted baskets he'd never seen. Two windows overlooked the woods and a stream. A hospital bed with metal railings provided the institutional note.
Sitting on the bed beside Jared, Laura opened her gift, a bottle of Chanel perfume. “It's No. 19,” she said.
“Your fave,” he said.
“I can't stand No. 19. It's No. 5 I like.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I'm sure. I hate No. 19.” She threw the bottle down, and Dorene quietly retrieved it from the carpet.
“I'd swear it was No. 19 you liked,” he said.
“One of your other girls,” Laura said.
Jared had bought her the stuff for years, and couldn't believe he would forget. But there had been several Chanel purchases since he and Laura were together.
“Wait a minute, for Christ's sake. Remember a week ago, when I told you I was flying to London for that awards thing and we discussed how I should call Tony and Brenda and Ian and Carol and on and on, and when I called a couple nights later, you said,‘What are you doing in London?’ After we'd talked about it for half an hour?”
“So? I'm sorry, my short-term memory's not so hot. The doctors said it was a symptom of the depression.”
“So maybe you forgot what number perfume you like.”
“Jared, you're unbelievable. You could talk yourself off death row and steal the warden's wife on your way out.”
“Never worked on you,” Jared said, wondering if the nurse was used to witnessing these sorts of scenes.
“Unfortunately, it still does,” Laura said. “I want you back.”
“What are you, crazy?” he said, unsure if he was trying to deflect the sudden seriousness of this meeting by hamming it up.
She held out her palms, indicating the room. “It would appear so.”
“This is Wharton House,” Laura said, stopping in front of one of the largest houses in the complex once they were back outside. “The substance-abuse facility.”
Jared nodded.
“I wanted you to see it. It's modeled on Hazelden, and supposedly it's a really successful program. You'd like a lot of the people in there. Writers, actors, professors. There's this one guy I really want you to meet. Rob—amazing guy. He's made a fortune on Wall Street—”
“Why in the world would I want to meet a stockbroker?” Jared said, gently tugging at Laura's elbow in hopes of accelerating their tour of the grounds.
“I don't know, I just thought of you the minute I met him. He's got these eyes like yours. Anyway, he's in for cocaine. Used to deal to all these