‘What I mean is, I haven’t made a habit of—’ He paused, and the words this sort of thing hovered unspoken. The trouble with the unspeakable, Slider thought, was that there were no words for it. ‘You’re a happily married man,’ Hart said helpfully, and Grisham looked rescued. ‘Yes, very happily. Annie is a wonderful person. Without her I could never have got where I am today. I love her very much. We love each other very much. It’s important to understand that.’ ‘Yeah, okay,’ said Hart, willing to be convinced. ‘So where does Jay Paloma fit into it?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he said. He stared away bleakly. ‘It was an extraordinary thing. It was not something I expected. I’m not – I haven’t ever been—’ ‘Were there others before Jay?’ ‘No,’ he said quickly. ‘That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Oh, I got up to the usual things at school, the way boys do, but it didn’t mean anything. At that age it’s just eroticism, not homosexuality.’ There, the horrid word was out.
