“I’ll be here at the house.”
“Can I send them over instead of coming along myself?”
“Don’t you want to sit in on it?”
“Not tonight, Mr. Tancey. I’ve got other plans.”
There was another pause. “She’s a very pleasant girl. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tancey.”
I hung up. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to make anything stick. But Mottling’s effectiveness was over.
I went back to the lounge. From the doorway I saw my girl. I kept my eyes on her as I walked between the tables. She looked very good. Her smile was for me. I liked the way she sat. I liked the meaning she gave everything. I thought of her, and the work ahead, and how everything would be, and how the end of the day would be the best part. I walked faster. I put my hand on her shoulder. It was good to touch her. She seemed to lean against my touch. I sat down and faced Joan and for a moment I couldn’t decide what I should tell her first.
About the Author
John D. MacDonald was an American novelist and short story writer. His works include the Travis McGee series and the novel The Executioners, which was adapted into the film Cape Fear. In 1962 MacDonald was named a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America; in 1980 he won a National Book Award. In print he delighted in smashing the bad guys, deflating the pompous, and exposing the venal. In life he was a truly empathetic man; his friends, family, and colleagues found him to be loyal, generous, and practical. In business he was fastidiously ethical. About being a writer, he once expressed with gleeful astonishment, “They pay me to do this! They don’t realize, I would pay them.” He spent the later part of his life in Florida with his wife and son. He died in 1986.
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