He didnt acknowledge her humor as he held the door open. You ride in the back with the stripper.
She splashed through the mud and climbed in.
Halfway home, Ada May woke up enough to vomit. Twice.
Getting the sisters inside and in bed proved to be a greater chore than Micah could have imagined. Several times, he thanked Randi for coming along. He couldnt have done it without her. Ada May insisted on brushing her teeth before turning in, but she wasnt stable enough on her feet to stand. They all crowded into the tiny bathroom. Micah held her up, his arms locked just below her ample breasts. Randi helped her hit her mouth with the toothbrush.
By the time they finished, Randi and he were both laughing so hard, Micah couldnt catch his breath. They collapsed on a worn couch in the small cluttered living room.
You think you had a problem with Ada May. Randi slugged him with one of the dozen pillows surrounding them. You should have tried to get Beth Anns support hose off.
Micah surrendered. You win. I havent put a drunk to bed since my college days, and if I dont do it again in this lifetime it will be too soon. He stood and offered his hand to help her up. They walked out the front door and onto an equally cluttered porch.
Two lawn chairs had been pushed close with a TV tray table in between them. An old, handmade backgammon board rested open on the table. Randi picked up a piece of the game. Ada May told me tonight that the last thing they do every night is play one game. Whoever loses has to turn out the lights. Sometimes they argue over who won. Randi stared at Micah. On those nights, the lights stay on till morning.
She tossed the chip to him. He placed it back on the board. Stubborn women, he said more to himself than her.
Thats why it surprises me they were so shaken by what happened today.
He had no answer. For a few minutes they both watched a car pass down the rain-swollen street.
Randi took a long breath. I love the rain. She held her hand out to touch a tiny waterfall sliding off the roof.
Micah raised his hand, almost touching her hair. Moisture sparkled in it like silver glitter.
She glanced at him with eyes the green of a dense forest. What?
Your hair gets even curlier when its damp. He hadnt meant to touch it, but the mass was so beautiful, all shiny with red and brown highlights. He let the tips of his fingers brush one curl.
Its natural. She winked. All over.
Micah turned his face to the rain. Shed done it again, he thought. Treating him like just any personlike just any man. It felt good and frightening at the same time. Since hed buried Amy, he thought of himself as a father, a minister, a friend. Hed set all other definitions aside. Now, to be accepted for being nothing more than simply human overwhelmed him. He felt free somehow.
Randi elbowed him. How about I clean up their place a little? No one wants to wake up with a hangover and have to face all the empty bottles sitting around.
Ill help.
No way. She spread her hand out across his chest stopping him from following her. I think you should find a hose and wash out your car before you take me home. Its too far a drive to hold my breath.
Micah glanced out in the rain. Ill get wet.
Im not riding back with that smell.
Ill get wet, he repeated.
Randi patted his shoulder. Youll dry. Then, without warning, she shoved him into the rain.
Micah stumbled off the porch, laughing. He told himself he wasnt attracted to her or any woman, but it felt great to have someone touch him. Just touch him. Not friendly handshakes or polite hugs, but an honest touch.
He dug around in the flower beds until he found the garden hose rolled up neatly beside a rosebush. He did his best to avoid stepping on any of the rosebushes. Everyone in town knew how the sisters loved their roses.
Turning the water on full force, he dragged the hose to his car and pulled out the mats. He hardly noticed the rain. He couldnt remember how long it had been since hed been so alive. Maybe it was the excitement of this morning, or the way Randi talked to him, or maybe it was just time to start living again. He didnt know. He didnt care. It just felt good.
By the time he got the hose rolled back up in the mud beside the rosebush, Randi stood on the porch ready to go. He motioned for her to climb in and was surprised at how she walked slowly to the car and turned her face to the rain, as if it didnt bother her at all.
When she closed her door, he said, You really do like the rain.
Randi shrugged. Ive been rained on a lot. It doesnt scare me anymore.
They drove back to the bar in silence. He thought about what shed said, and what she hadnt said.
The parking lot was dark when they got to the bar. The sisters van was the only one out front. Micah didnt want this strange time to end, but had no idea what to say. He knew he wasnt likely to see Randi again after tonight.
You want to come in for breakfast? She lifted the doorknob. I always eat when the nights over, then I can sleep until noon without waking up starving.
He hadnt had a bite since before the committee meeting that morning. Id love to, if you dont mind? But I warn you, Im starving.
I asked, didnt I? I think I can fill you up.
They walked to the back door. She reached above the frame. Frankie kept locking himself out and we didnt want to leave the door unlocked, so he installed a latch above the door. Lights flash in the kitchen and my office when this back door swings. She led him down a hallway lined with boxes and mops to a tiny kitchen.
Of course, I lock it when I head upstairs for the night. We figure only a tall drunk could reach the latch, providing they knew about it.
He wondered if she often told her secrets so easily. Looking around the kitchen he tried to understand her. The kitchen appeared to have been added to the bar in the fifties. Nothing had been updated. The counters were red linoleum, stained and worn through in a few places. Pots and knives hung on the wall behind a stove. The refrigerator clanked out a steady beat. The place was spotless.
Frankie used to serve hot appetizers years ago, but it got to be too much trouble. She pulled a string on a bare light swinging from the center of the low ceiling. I keep it open so when Im stuck here I wont starve. She winked. A girl cant live on bar nuts alone.
The cleanliness of the place surprised him. There was a wildness about this woman, but there was also an order.
If you want to dry off, theres a stack of towels by the back door. She combed her hair with her fingers and twisted it into a wild knot behind her head. How do you like your eggs?
Any way but scrambled, he answered thinking of the thousand church breakfasts hed eaten with scrambled eggs. He heard her banging around the kitchen while he dried his hair in the hallway between the back door and the kitchen. Using paper towels, he wiped mud off his shoes then washed his hands in a big sink that looked as if it would only be used to clean mops. The Rogers sisters rosebush had torn a two-inch rip in his trousers at the knee, but there wasnt much he could do about it. Since he had no comb, he raked a hand through his hair, hoping he wouldnt frighten her.
Then he laughed. The woman owned the roughest bar for thirty miles around. Probably nothing frightened her. In all likelihood she told him about the back doors latch because she wasnt the least afraid of him.
Then he laughed. The woman owned the roughest bar for thirty miles around. Probably nothing frightened her. In all likelihood she told him about the back doors latch because she wasnt the least afraid of him.
When he walked back into the kitchen, the smell of steak and onions grilling drifted across the room. She motioned for him to sit before turning back to the stove.
Micah tried not to stare but couldnt help himself. The lean woman in tight jeans and a rain-dampened Western shirt that stopped an inch above her waist was unlike anyone hed ever encountered. She moved with an easy grace, but everything he knew about her told him she must be made of rawhide.
How do you know the sisters? She didnt turn around.
Maybe I grew up here and they were my teachers? he offered.
Nope, she answered as if being tested. I grew up here and they were my teachers. Youre definitely a transplant.
That obvious?
She grinned over her shoulder and pointed with a spatula. Its the shoes. When he didnt answer she added, No man from West Texas wears shoes with tassels. Those are for the big cities like Dallas and Houston. And while Im at it, any self-respecting working man lets the mud on his shoes dry, then stomps it off.
Anything else?
She set two plates filled with eggs and steak on the table. In my line of work Ive learned to read people. Youre not married, but you were. Divorced, maybe with a kid, grade school probably. You see him often.
Widowed. One child, seven.
Sorry. She met his eyes. Im the same. My husband was killed in an oil-rig accident a few years back.
Cancer took my wife. He wanted to change the subject. Howd you guess so much about me?
She opened two beers without asking if he wanted one and sat down across from him. Wedding band you didnt try to hide. Socks that dont match. No woman would let you out of the house like that.
Micah stared at his socks. They looked like a matched pair to him. But, one might be more gray than black now that he studied them.
And I sat on a coloring book in the back seat of your car so either youve got a kid, or youre not quite as bright as I thought you might be. A boy, Id guess, since girls usually dont color Spider-Man.
He smiled. I made it too easy, Sherlock. He cut into his steak. Now for the big question: why did you invite me in? I could be a serial rapist for all you know.
She laughed. Not with those shoes. She took a bite, then added, I knew you were safe, first because you were a friend of the Rogers sisters. Theyre not the types to hang around with dangerous men. Second, you turn red every time I get within waltzing distance. That doesnt sound like a trait a rapist would have. Youre safe all right, Micah Parker. Safe as a crosswalk.
Micah wished he could think of a funny comeback, but he was too busy eating. Shed cooked what he was sure must be the worlds best steak.
Randi picked at her food. Every time he raised his gaze from his plate, she watched him. He always turned away first. He didnt want to think about what else shed be able to guess about him.
After finishing his steak, Micah started on hers. She moved her plate toward him without comment. He stopped to take a drink of the longneck, then made himself slow down as he ate the rest of her breakfast. She probably thought he was homeless by the way he consumed food.
Im on a committee with the Rogers sisters. Though, I knew who they were. Everyone does.
The committee that got interrupted by a flying drill bit this morning? She leaned closer.
Micah nodded. Clifton Creek didnt need a paper. News spread faster than butter on lava.
I heard a few of the oil guys talking about it, but I didnt pay a lot of attention. When the sisters came in, they wanted to talk about everything but what frightened them. She wrinkled her forehead. One of the oilmen said thered been a little interest in the Altman property as a drill site, but no oilman would send a drill bit as his calling card.
Micah leaned forward and lowered his voice. What kind of interest?
Randi shrugged. Just rumors. The men in the bar are always talking about where to drill next. Most of its speculation and guessing. Since the old house sets on a rise, it would be the prime spot to drill if anyone decided to test for oil below. She studied him. You think someone was trying to tell the committee something this morning? Or trying to hurt one of you?
It could have been an accident. Kids may have found the bit and thought it would be great for shattering windows. He stacked the empty plates and stood. Maybe they didnt take the time to notice people were sitting at a table on the other side of the glass.
She followed, sipping her beer as he scraped the dishes. Maybe someone wanted to stop the committee. I dont know who else serves on the panel with you, but the Rogers sisters must have been frightened half to death. Theyre tough old birds, but Im not sure theyll be interested in going back into that house. To tell the truth Im surprised it didnt fall down around the committee this morning.
Micah dried his hands. It bothers me to think that someone could have been hurt. Really hurt.
She put her hand on his shoulder. It couldve been you. Her words were soft against his ear.
He took a long breath and for once in his life decided not to think, but to act. In half a turn his body brushed against hers and he lowered his mouth toward her lips.
She slowly molded against him, as smooth flowing as liquid passion. Then, when they were so close their breaths mingled, she smiled. A smile that told him she could read his thoughts.
I think its time we call it a night, she said as she stepped away.
She walked across the kitchen. You know, she said in that low voice of hers, I was wrong about you, Mr. Parker. Youre not safe.
He didnt know if he should apologize or try again. It seemed a lifetime since hed known the rulesif hed ever known them.
He thought it best to say good-night. Thanks for the steak.
Anytime, she answered. Nice to meet you, Mr. Parker. The look she gave him said so much more.
Nice to meet you, he echoed, thinking she was a blast of fresh air in the cellar hed been living in for years.
Ten
Lora Whitman folded her napkin and tried to give at least the appearance of paying attention to her mother. She should have pretended sleep longer and cut the time at the breakfast table in half. Working for her father was easy compared to having to live with her mother. Luckily, the house was big enough for Lora to have her own wing on the third floor with a study, a bedroom and a small workout area. Her mother rarely ventured into her rooms, claiming the stairs were too much for her.
I cant imagine how frightened you were, dear. I told everyone how you just couldnt face talking about the accident yesterday. Not even to me. Isadore Whitman finished her coffee. Of course, you were so worried about that Professor Dickerson from the college who had a heart attack that you rode with the first car leaving for Wichita Falls to check on her. Isadore stopped long enough to spread her lipstick just wider than her lip line. Her own private answer to BOTOX.
Trying to keep her voice calm, Lora corrected, First, Mother, it wasnt an accident. A ten-pound drill bit almost the size of a football isnt something that just flies into a window. Second, Sidney Dickerson didnt have a heart attack. We feared she had, but the hospital checked her out.