face, he must have been squeezing it rather hard. ‘‘Now, you look here, Mrs. Trowbridge,’’ he said. ‘‘You lied to me about where you were going. Did you think I was going to sit idly by and let you jump into Basil’s bed the moment my back was turned?’’
Paula pushed back her chair suddenly and stood up, jerking Avery’s hand away from her shoulder as she did so. ‘‘What the hell do you care whose bed I jump into?’’ She kept her tone low, and I could see people at the tables near us straining to hear. ‘‘As many beds as you jump into, you have some nerve talking to me like this.’’
‘‘Oh my goodness, I do believe she’s jealous,’’ Avery said. If he had spoken in such a mocking tone to me, I think I would have slapped his face. ‘‘Paula, love, I had no idea you cared so much. This puts an entirely different spin on things.’’
Paula snapped at last. Before Avery had time to react, she slapped him. She slapped him so hard, in fact, that he stumbled backward into a table. Luckily for him, the table was empty, but it still made a mess when it crashed over. Avery slid to the floor with it.
Paula stalked off while Avery, clearly stunned, sat on the floor for a moment. As one of the restaurant staff rushed over, Avery got to his feet and brushed himself off. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some bills, peeling a couple off the roll, and thrust them into the hands of the staff member.
‘‘That should cover it, I trust,’’ Avery said, as coolly as if nothing untoward had happened.
‘‘Yes, sir,’’ the young man stammered.
It looked to me like Avery had given him two fifties. Considering that nothing had broken during the fall, it was more than enough to cover any damages.
‘‘Ladies, I guess we’ll have to wait until later to be properly introduced.’’ Doffing an imaginary hat, Avery bowed, then turned and walked away.
‘‘Quite entertaining, wouldn’t you say?’’ Sophie said before she picked up her fork and resumed eating.
‘‘Poor Paula,’’ I said, shaking my head. ‘‘What a horrible man.’’
Marylou sighed. ‘‘Now that you’ve met her loving husband, I think you can begin to understand some of the reasons why Paula is the way she is now. Once upon a time she was a much happier, lighthearted person.’’
‘‘Then why on earth did she leave her first husband for that schmuck?’’ Sophie asked. ‘‘Couldn’t she see what he was like?’’
Marylou shook her head. ‘‘She’s always been rather naive where men are concerned.’’ She sighed again. ‘‘Besides, I said she was happier. I didn’t say she was smarter.’’
Sophie and I exchanged amused glances. Such a negative remark was unusual for Marylou, but I supposed the circumstances were rather unusual, after all.
Marylou frowned at us. ‘‘Now, you know I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.’’
Sophie giggled. ‘‘Are you sure? I was about to call the waitress over and order you a bowl of milk.’’
‘‘Sophie! You’re terrible,’’ Marylou said, but she couldn’t help laughing. ‘‘I guess it did sound pretty catty, didn’t it?’’ She laughed again, and Sophie and I joined in.
Once the laughter had subsided, I said, ‘‘Okay, ladies, let’s finish our lunch. And let’s not talk about Paula and her troubles anymore.’’
Marylou and Sophie nodded, and we concentrated on finishing our lunch in peace. Paula never reappeared, and I was grateful, though perhaps it was mean-spirited of me to be so. I had had enough of her and her travails to last me quite a while. I doubted, however, that the respite would last.
We had finished dessert and were on our way out of the dining room when a commotion at the reception desk caught our attention. The three of us stopped, almost as one, about fifteen feet away from the desk and simply watched the disagreement.
A very large young man—at least six four and massively built—was slamming his hand against the counter. ‘‘. . . simply outrageous. What kind of establishment is this?’’ His face red, he glared at Veronica Hinkelmeier, who stared defiantly back at him.
‘‘I’ll thank you not to take that tone with me, mister, ’’ she said, fairly spitting at him. ‘‘I don’t care who the hell you think you are. I told you, you have to have a reservation. We’re fully booked right now.’’
‘‘And I told you, you stupid woman, that I do have a reservation. Can I help it if you bloody well can’t read?