She sighed.
“I let him sleep with me. When I saw his naked body, I could see how much he’d been hurt. I kissed every scar, thinking he could be Gil coming home to me this way. I wouldn’t have cared. I missed him so much.”
She stretched beside Harlan.
“Everybody came to see Dave. They wanted to hear his stories about Gil and Vietnam. My in-laws did, too. Walker took him to the Do. He ended up staying five days, and then he went back to his mother’s in New Hampshire.”
Harlan pulled the sheet over Edie’s trembling body.
“What happened to him?”
“I don’t know. I sent him Christmas cards with pictures of me and Amber for a couple of years, but I didn’t hear any more from him. I think it was too hard for both of us. I really hope he found someone who loves him. I hope he’s okay.”
Harlan rose on one elbow.
“Do you think you could love someone like you did Gil?”
Edie reached to pat his cheek.
“I want to. I really do.” She paused. “I suppose you’re wondering why I got involved with his brother, Walker.”
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t.”
She turned, so she faced Harlan.
“I knew a different side of Walker, the caring side.” She sighed. “He was the one who helped me the most after Gil died. He stayed after everyone left the day I found out. He lay down beside me in my bed. He said he’d wait until I fell asleep, but he stayed longer.”
She stopped.
“Go on.”
“I woke up in the middle of the night, and Walker was still there. He fell asleep, too. His hand was on my belly, and I felt Amber moving.” She closed her eyes briefly. “For a moment, I thought he was Gil. I wanted him to be. It was easy. They looked so much alike, only a year apart, that people who didn’t know better thought they were twins.” She sighed again. “He kissed me. It wasn’t a sexy kind of kiss but a soft kiss. We cried for Gil. We both loved him so. The next morning when I woke up, Walker was gone. I never forgot.”
Each Song
Harlan stood in the doorway to his kitchen. Just out of the shower, he was shirtless, barefoot, and wearing clean jeans.
Edie’s back was to him as she used a spatula to flip fried eggs from a cast iron skillet onto a plate. She hummed along with the tune playing on the country station she liked so much. She kept telling Harlan to listen to the words. Each song told a story about what people loved. Sometimes they lost and got it back. Sometimes they never did. Those were the saddest.
Edie sang along with the chorus. Her voice was louder now, high like her laughter. Her hips shook. The sun showed through the fabric of her dress as if it were x-raying her. He could see her nipples, the small bulge of her belly, her thighs, and backside when she spread her legs apart. Harlan felt thick and lustful again.
He wanted to surprise her, twirl her in his arms, but when he came toward her, she heard his clumsy footfall and turned. His mouth loosened into a smile. Could he be any happier? He didn’t know.
“Just in time,” she said.
He followed her to the table, where she set down his plate.
“This is great. Aren’t you going to join me?” He reached for her hand. “Stay with me, Edie. I’ll make you happy all day long.”
Edie laughed. She peeked at the wall clock.
“Yeah? Now that’s awfully tempting, but I promised Amber I’d take her shopping in the city for new shoes. That girl keeps on growing.” She brought her hands to his face. She kissed him. “I’ll take you up on your offer real soon.”
Not So Old
Leona glanced up from the folded newspaper on the kitchen table. She was working the crossword puzzle. A pen was in her hand. She said only sissies used pencil.
“I recognize that smile.” She cackled. “I’m betting Harlan showed you a swell time if you get what I mean.”
“Aunt Leona.”
“Don’t Aunt Leona me. I’m not so old I don’t remember what it’s like for a man to make you feel good in bed.” Her red hair shook as she cackled again. “Don’t mind me. I’ve been rooting for the guy ever since he moved here.”
Edie rolled her eyes.
“Where’s Amber?”
“She’s out back, bouncing that darn ball of hers. Hear it? Bump, bump, bump.”
Through the window, she watched Amber throw a pink ball upward. The ball hammered the roof, and her girl danced around the grass as she waited for it to drop. Edie knocked at the window, and Amber smiled when she held the ball aloft.
“She’s been at it for a while. I’ll say this for the girl: She can keep herself occupied.” Leona put her pen down. “By the way, I’ve been thinking I might not go to Florida this year.”
“But you like it there. It’s nice and warm in the winter. The trailer park where you stay has lots of men.”
Leona shook her head.
“I don’t know if I’m up for making the trip. I’m not a spring chicken anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
She frowned.
“It means I’m getting old, Edie. I need to be around family who can watch out for me.”
Edie made a teasing smile.
“You mean Pop?”
“Nah, not Alban. You know what I’m saying, Edie. I’m not planning on seizing up any time soon, but if I need somebody to help me, I’d rather it be you than a perfect stranger. Don’t worry. I’m not going to be a burden to you.” She paused. “Besides, I want to see how this thing works out between you and Harlan. It’s been years since I’ve been to a wedding.”
“Aunt Leona, I dunno if it’ll go that way.”
Her aunt shook a finger.
“Shucks, Edie, don’t you disappoint me now.”
An IOU
Dean stuck his head through the barn door, giving a “Hey, there” to Harlan as he stepped inside. Harlan flipped the switch on the table saw when he recognized Edie’s friend. From her say, the man was having a rough time, but as Dean walked through the barn, he was clearly a man on the go. His skin was pale and greasy, but his hair was cut, and he was clean-shaven. His clothes appeared new.
“Is Edie here by any chance? I went by her place, but no one’s home.” He gave the barn the once-over. “Whoa, you’ve fixing this old barn up nice. Great place for a shop.”
Harlan, too, was pleased with his progress. Raw pine boards were nailed over the insulation. Cinderblocks were stacked to build a chimney for the woodstove he bought from Benny. Today he was doing the trim around the new windows, nothing fancy, just picture frame.
Harlan dropped the stubby pencil he used to mark boards and offered his hand. Dean’s was shaky although it gave a pleasant grip.
“What brings you here?” Harlan asked.
“I have somethin’ for Edie. I stopped by her aunt’s and father’s, but nobody’s home. Mind if I leave it with you?”
“No, not at all. I can drop it off later. She’s at the dump. It’s Wednesday. She went in early.”
Dean did a nervous shuffle.
“The dump. How’s that workin’ out for her?”
“You know Edie. It isn’t easy, but she doesn’t complain unless I ask. It’s just temporary anyway. Benny’s raring to go, but the doctor says no just yet. At least, he can drive now. He’s probably down at the dump checking on her.”
“That’s Edie alright, making the best of a situation. She probably told you we grew up together. We’ve been through a lot.”
“Yes, she told me, at least some.”
Dean reached into his canvas vest, fumbling as he pulled out a thick, white envelope.
“I’m on my way to Maine. I don’t wanna go, but my cousin’s got a job for me, and there’s nothin’ here.” His brow rose and fell. “Except for Edie, and we’re kinda in the same boat. I
got my place up for sale. I even managed to get out of that little jam at court. Amazing what a city lawyer can do.”
“Edie will be awfully disappointed if she doesn’t get a chance to see you off.”
Dean smiled forlornly.
“It’s better this way.” He thrust the envelope toward Harlan. “This is for her. She’ll know where it’s from. Tell her I kept half.” He snorted. “Don’t worry. It’s nothin’ crooked. I’ll let her tell you about it. For now, it’s just an IOU from an old friend.”
Harlan took the envelope stuffed with bills.
“You don’t want to give this to her yourself?”
“Nah, she wouldn’t take it. But I bet she can use it. I told Edie she and her little girl should get out the hell of this shit-hole town.”
“I hope not.”
“Ha.”
Dean made a smile Harlan recognized. Here was a man willing to break from everything familiar to save himself. Nothing was working out for him in Conwell. Harlan clutched the thick envelope.
“If you change your mind, stop by the dump.”
Dean shrugged.
“Shoot, I better get goin’. I got my dogs in the truck.” He held out his hand. “I really hope it works out for you here.”
Miss Ya
Edie walked with Pop while he did a full inspection of the dump. He nodded as he went from the shack to the piles.
“You’ve been doing a fine job here,” he told her. “Good work with the dozer. You’re keepin’ the stink down.”
“Thanks, Pop.”
“You even cleaned up the shack. It’s nice enough now for lace curtains.” He chuckled at his joke. “Funny though, I can’t find the bottles I stashed there. You been drinkin’ on the job?”
“Nah, I dumped them out.”
“You did what?”
“You heard what the doctor said about the hard stuff.”
“Shoot, Edie, I was lookin’ forward to a sip while I watched you work.”
“Too bad, Pop.”
Both turned as a pickup drove fast through the gate. The man at the wheel gave the horn a series of loud honks.
“Somebody’s in a helluva rush,” Pop said. “Hey, that’s Dean’s truck. See all that stuff in the back. His dogs, too. Looks like he and his mutts are packed up to go somewhere.”
“Sure does. I’m gonna see what he wants.”
Edie walked toward Dean, who leaned out the window of his truck and said, “Howdy.” He gave a wave to her father. “Benny, nice to see ya alive.”
“Yeah, I tricked the devil one more time.”
Dean’s dogs whimpered to get near Edie, but he ordered them back in the bed.
“What are you doin’? You goin’ somewhere?” she asked.
“Leo’s got work for me in Maine.” He tried to smile big for her, but he kept wiping tears with the cuff of his flannel shirt. “Shit, this is why I didn’t wanna see you, Edie. Here I go, a big baby all over again. What’s the matter with me?”
Edie pecked his smooth cheek.
“Nothing’s wrong with you, Dean, and I would’ve been real mad if you left without saying good-bye. Real mad.”
“Aw, Edie, I’m gonna miss ya like hell.”
Felt Richer
Harlan pressed the bills into Benny Sweet’s hand for the washing machine sitting on the ground behind his pickup. The old man mopped his brow with a white handkerchief stained brown as he shoved the money into his pants pocket. There was no way he could ask Benny to help him. Harlan managed to wrestle the washer from the barn and got this far with a handcart Benny had. He figured with a great deal of effort he could pull or push the washer up the planks leaned against the pickup’s tailgate.
He turned when he heard Edie’s car. Amber was with her. Edie greeted Harlan then focused her attention quickly on her father.
“Pop, you weren’t gonna help Harlan, were you?”
“I wouldn’t let him,” Harlan said.
Edie patted her father’s shoulder. She studied Harlan and the washer.
“You don’t look so good, Pop. I bet you didn’t have anything to eat today.”
“Edie, knock it off, will ya?”
“Come on, Harlan. I’ll give you a hand.”
“You, Edie?” her father said. “You’re such a delicate thing.”
“I’m not so delicate. I toughened up at the dump.”
Her father snorted.
“That’s my girl.”
Harlan smiled. The ornery so-and-so moved his mouth. The flesh around his eyes was loose. Edie had him bound in her love. Harlan admired their closeness, the rough, warm ways they cared for each other. Benny Sweet might be an old drunk who ran the dump, but he had family who treated him better than most could boast. Harlan felt richer to be even a small part of it.
Edie gestured for Amber.
“Take Poppy inside, and make him a sandwich and get him something to drink, but no beer. Come on, Pop, go with her.”
“No beer? You gotta be kiddin’ me.”
“Lean on me, Poppy,” Amber said, carrying the same note of concern Harlan heard in her mother’s voice.
Benny held onto his granddaughter’s arm, appearing more tired and older than when Harlan saw him a half-hour ago. Edie watched them go into the house, and then she announced to Harlan, “I’m ready. I see you’ve got the planks in place. Why don’t you use the handcart? You pull it backwards, and I’ll push from the front.”
“You sure, Edie?”
“I don’t see any other way. Do you?”
“No, I don’t.”
They worked the washer onto the truck. Harlan peered over the machine.
“I have something for you at the house. I should’ve brought it, but I didn’t expect to see you. I thought I could get this by myself.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll just have to wait a short ride to find out.”
Harlan drove the pickup slowly over the dirt road, its surface much smoother than when he first moved here.
Edie nibbled a fingernail.
“Something going on?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“I went to Amber’s school today. Kids have been pickin’ on her, you know, about Walker and me. And me workin’ at the dump. It’s mostly the Crocker kids. Those folks breed like rabbits. The ones I mind are the big kids on the bus. They like making her cry.”
“How’d it work out?”
“Not the way I wanted. They didn’t seem as concerned as me. I might just have to take care of this myself.”
Harlan backed the truck to his house. His plan was to run the plank from the tailgate to the porch. He thought they could manage it easily.
Edie jumped on the truck’s bed, yelping when she realized the handcart belonged to the Conwell Highway Department. She pointed at the lettering.
“My old man just won’t learn,” she said when Harlan chuckled. “We’ll be lucky to get plowed at all this winter.”
They worked together, bringing the washer into the kitchen where Harlan’s grandmother kept hers. He said he’d hook it up later. He planned to string clothesline in the back. Eventually, he’d get a dryer.
“Can you stay awhile?” he asked.
“Yeah. Let me call home first and make sure Pop’s all right.”
Harlan leaned against the washer as he listened to Edie quiz Amber about her father’s health over the kitchen phone. Edie stood barefoot on the linoleum floor, and smiling, she spun around while she listened to Amber. His heart made an identical turn.
“I told Amber I’ll be home soon. What’s the surprise?”
He smiled. She hadn’t forgotten what he said.
“Just a sec.”
“Guess who I saw today?” she said. “Dean. He was heading out of town. He c
ame by the dump to say bye, he and his hounds.”
“He did go after all.” Harlan walked to the hutch and got the white envelope. He handed it to Edie. “Dean was here earlier. He left this for you.”
She touched the edges of the bills, all hundreds.
“That’s a lotta money,” she said.
“Where’d it come from?”
She sighed.
“I went to see Dean a ways back after work. He showed me a ring Walker was gonna give me. You should’ve seen how big the diamond was.” Her breath whistled through her lips. “Dean told me to take the ring. He said to sell it. I told him I didn’t want anything to do with it.” She sighed. “It looks like Dean took care of it himself.”
“He said he kept half.”
“Half.” She did a quick count of the bills. “He shouldn’t have done this. It’s too much.”
“He really wanted you to have it, Edie. He said it was an IOU.”
“How silly. He doesn’t owe me a thing. I wouldn’t have taken the ring from Walker. I understood what he wanted, and I couldn’t give it to him.”
She was silent for several minutes as Harlan traced the scar along his right cheek, moving the end of his finger up and down about an inch. She gazed into his eyes.
“What do you think I should do with it?” she asked.
“Does Sharon need it?”
Edie shook her head.
“Nah, I heard from Pop she has a new car already. She’s keeping the business going. Walker took care of her and the boys. He did that much for them at least.”
“If you want my advice, I believe you should keep it. You’ll find something worthwhile to do with it.” His voice was tender. “Dean said you should use it to leave town.”
“He did, did he?” Edie fingered the edges of the bills. “Ha, I wasn’t planning to leave, Harlan. This is where I live.”
The Sweet Spot Page 25