Book One, Page Twenty-Seven. The Vacuum.
About halfway home, Jerry broke the silence that began when they left Maison Bavette. "I know you don't feel good about this restaurant idea of mine," he said. "It is something I really, really want to do. It's going to be hard and expensive. I really think it will be a great thing for us in a few years. But if it's something you think will be bad for us, and you really don't want to go through with it, I'll quit right now."
Julie didn't answer. She knew he'd say something like that. But she didn't know how to respond. So she said nothing much, just enough to let him know she wasn't mad.
Then, "To me, this is about deciding what I dislike least. I just want to wait to see if some better choice comes along. I'm sorry. I'm no help at all."
Another few blocks of silence. "Okay," Jerry said. "I think I need you to be an insider. I was hoping you would come to the lunch tomorrow with Mr. Roquette and his niece. I think you would add some balance to the table. Because, to tell you the truth, I'm thinking that all three of us will want to dive into this right away, and we need a rational person there to keep us from going nuts."
"I can do rational," said Julie. "Okay."
Good, she thought. She could finally check out this Winifred up close.
Now, what to wear?
