Inner Harbor
Page 21

She'd always believed it did, vitally. To be successful, marriage took planning and dedication and a strong, solid knowledge of one's partner, an assurance of compatibility, an assessment of personal goals.
Then again, that portion of the Quinn dynamics wasn't her concern.
"That's quite a story." How much was true? she wondered, sick at heart. How much was slanted? Was she supposed to believe that her sister had sold her own son?
Somewhere in the middle, she decided. The real truth could generally be found somewhere between two opposing stories.
Phillip didn't know, she was sure of that now. He had no clue what Gloria had been to Raymond Quinn. When that single fact was added to the mix, how did it change everything else?
"At this point it's working out. The kid's happy. Another couple of months and the permanent guardianship should be wrapped. And this big brother stuff has its advantages. Gives me somebody to boss around."
She needed to think. She had to put emotion aside and think. But she had to get through the evening first. "How does he feel about that?"
"It's a perfect setup. He can bitch to Cam or Ethan about me, to me about Cam or Ethan. He knows how to play it. Seth's incredibly smart. They did placement tests when my father enrolled him in school here. He's practically off the charts. His final report card for last year?
Straight A's."
"Really?" She found herself smiling. "You're proud of him."
"Sure. And me. I'm the one who got roped into being homework monitor. Until recently I'd forgotten how much I hate fractions. Now that I've told you my long story, why don't you tell me what you think of St. Chris?"
"I'm just getting my bearings."
"Does that mean you'll be staying a while yet?"
"Yes. A while."
"You can't really judge a water town unless you spend some time on the water. Why don't you go sailing with me tomorrow?"
"Don't you have to get back to Baltimore?"
"Monday."
She hesitated, then reminded herself that this was exactly why she was here. If she was to find that real truth, she couldn't back away now.
"I'd like that. I can't guarantee what kind of sailor I'll be."
"We'll find out. I'll pick you up. Ten, ten-thirty?"
"That'll be fine. All of you sail, I imagine."
"Right down to the dogs." He laughed at the expression on her face. "We won't bring them along."
"I'm not afraid of them. I'm just not used to them."
"You never had a puppy."
"No."
"Cat?"
"No."
"Goldfish?"
She laughed, shook her head. "No. We moved around quite a bit. Once I had a schoolmate in Boston whose dog had puppies. They were darling." Odd, she thought, to have remembered that now. She'd wanted one of those pups desperately.
It had been impossible, of course. Antique fourniture, important guests, social obligations. Out of the question, her mother had said. And that had been the end of it.
"Now I move around quite a bit. It's not practical."
"Where do you like best?" he asked her.
"I'm flexible. Wherever I end up tends to suit me, until I'm somewhere else."
"So right now it's St. Chris."
"Apparently. It's interesting." She gazed out the window, where the rising moon glittered light onto the water. "The pace is slow, but it's not stagnant. The mood varies, as the weather varies. After only a few days, I'm able to separate the natives from the tourists. And the watermen from everyone else."
"How?"
"How?" Distracted, she looked back at him.
"How can you tell one from the other?"
"Just basic observation. I can look out of my window onto the waterfront. The tourists are couples, more likely families, occasionally a single. They stroll, or they shop. They rent a boat. They interact with each other, the ones in their group. They're out of their milieu. Most will have camera, map, maybe binoculars. Most of the natives have a purpose for being there. A job, an errand. They might stop and say hello to a neighbor. You can see them easing back on their way as they end the conversation."
"Why are you watching from the window?"
"I don't understand the question."
"Why aren't you down on the waterfront?"
"I have been. But you usually get a purer study when you, the observer, aren't part of the scene."
"I'd think you'd get more varied and more personal input if you were." He glanced up as the waiter arrived to top off their wine and offer them dessert.
"Just coffee," Sybill decided. "Decaf."
"The same." Phillip leaned forward. "In your book, the section on isolation as a survival technique, the example you used of having someone lying on the sidewalk. How people would look away, walk around. Some might hesitate before hurrying past."
"Noninvolvement. Disassociation."
"Exactly. But one person would eventually stop, try to help. Once one person broke the isolation, others would begin to stop, too."
"Once the isolation is breached, it becomes easier, even necessary for others to join. It's the first step that's the most difficult. I conducted that study in New York and London and Budapest, all with similar results. It follows the urban survival technique of avoiding eye contact on the street, of blocking the homeless out of our line of sight."
"What makes that first person who stops to help different from everyone else?"
"Their survival instincts aren't as well honed as their compassion. Or their impulse button is more easily pushed."
"Yeah, that. And they're involved. They're not just walking through, not just there. They're involved."
"And you think that because I observe, I'm not."
"I don't know. But I think that observing from a distance isn't nearly as rewarding as experiencing up close."
"Observing's what I do, and I find it rewarding."
He slid closer and kept his eyes on hers, ignoring the waiter who tidily served their coffee. "But you're a scientist. You experiment. Why don't you give experiencing a try? With me."