“Your wife seems very nice,” said Heather.
“Yes, she is,” said Gary. “Thank you. She’s more patient than I might be.”
“Does she know your here with me?”
“No,” said Gary after a long pause. “No, she doesn’t.”
“Why not?”
“I didn’t get a chance to tell her,” said Gary. “She sells real estate. She had some appointments.”
“Really?” asked Heather, more to herself than to Gary.
“Yeah,” said Gary. “She’s actually pretty good at it. Is that a surprise?”
“No, no,” said Heather. “I . . . .” Heather stopped. She didn’t know what to say. She had given him an opening, but he closed the door. Or maybe he simply hadn’t taken the bait because he didn’t know he was supposed to.
“How’s your salad?” he asked, while answering her questions.
“Fine,” said Heather.
She looked down and took a
