Chapter 19

Sunday was typical – church with my family; lunch afterwards at a restaurant – McDonald's that day, since we were all in that mood; and home to relax in whatever way suited us individually. And Monday I went back to work.

Marla was at her desk when I got to the office about 9 in the morning, so I spent a few minutes talking to her. In fact, I had a pretty important matter to discuss, so I sat down in the wooden chair beside her desk that only I ever use, and asked her, "When's graduation?"

"The 17^th of May."

"It's only January, but May'll be here before I know it. You got any ideas?"

She looked at me for a moment. She'd been my part-time secretary since she graduated from high school, and with the University of New Mexico's graduation coming up in the spring I needed someone to replace her – unless I wanted to keep track of bills to pay and collect, filing, and all that stuff. And I did not want to keep track of it. I'd done that when I first started out, and it hadn't taken me long to realize that while I might be a pretty good detective, I neither enjoyed nor was good at administration. "I hadn't really thought about it, Darv." Marla's the only one who's ever called me that. "But I can if you'd like."

"I would. You've done such a good job that I figure someone you recommend would be a good choice."

"Okay, I'll think about it, maybe ask around among my friends. But since you only need someone now and then, probably there won't be many people who want the job."

"Shoot, another UNM student would work. Of course I'd have to hire someone else when he graduated, but for what I need I have to take what I can get."

Marla smiled at me. "But you do pay for what you get. I couldn't have made anywhere else as much as you're paying me unless I'd worked full-time."

"I always figured that paying good wages would help me get good help. When you pay cheap, all you get are the people who aren't worth any more than that."

"There are companies which haven't figured that out yet." She fiddled with her paperweight – like mine, a chunk of lava she'd picked up out at the volcanoes. "Look, Darv..."

"Embarrassing?"

She gave me a grin which seemed to fit the word I'd used. "Yeah. You know I love my boyfriend, and I know you love Cecelia. But ... but these past four years haven't just been work. You haven't just been a boss." She changed tacks all of a sudden. "You know about love, right?"

"I guess – I love Cecelia like you said, I love Darlia, I love Rudy and Sara..."

"That's what I'm talking about. You said you love Rudy and Sara – your best friends. Is that the right word to use, though?"

I leaned back in the chair – as far as you can in a stiff, straight chair. "I'd say so. I care more about Rudy than I do about myself. If he were in danger, I wouldn't hesitate – I'd rush in to help him, to save him if necessary, and not think it a loss if I died to do it. And he'd do the same for me. That's what love is."

"In that case ... Darv, you're my friend. You've proved that. You've given me advice – even when I hated what you were saying. And it's always been good advice. You've done things for me that I knew were an inconvenience to you. And you've been the best boss I could ever imagine. And, as my friend – I love you, Darvin Carpenter. I'm going to miss you a lot."

She turned her head and surreptitiously wiped at her eyes, and I wiped at mine – openly. Friends who truly love you and you can truly love aren't so common that I take them for granted. "Marla," I said, "that means a lot to me. And we don't have to lose touch. Some friends come and go – I've had it happen to me more than once. But some friends are forever. And I'd like to think that our friendship will last. We'll see. But the start will be if we keep in touch, even after you're in uniform and busting the bad guys."

She turned back to me. "I'd like that."

"I thought you might. And we've already got each other's addresses and phone numbers and such. The only thing you ain't got is my cell phone number, and you know how I am about that. There are only like three people in the world who have it."

She didn't say anything for a moment. And then she put her hand out, almost shyly, and covered mine where it rested on her desk. "Friends forever?"

"Far as I'm concerned, Marla, yeah – friends forever."

Life drops changes around that way. You get to know someone, and then the relationship changes, or one of you moves, or whatever. Even within marriage things don't remain absolutely static – there was a lot between me and Cecelia that was the same, but there was a lot that was different too. On our wedding day we'd only known each other for six months, and then only as first detective and client, then friends, and then fiancés. It wasn't just the first time we slept in the same bed – we had to learn each others' moods, desires, preferences, and idiosyncrasies. And as we learned each other more intimately, we both accommodated ourselves to the other, meaning we each changed in various ways. We weren't different people – I was still me, and Cecelia was still herself – but we weren't exactly the same as we'd been in 1995.