by Quint, Suzie
“You look real nice.”
She was touched by the words and his proud smile. “Thanks, Daddy.”
Tommy echoed her father’s compliment when he opened the door of the house he’d shared with Missy.
His place wasn’t a palace by any stretch of the imagination. The simple one-bedroom, frame house with secondhand furniture and a scraggly lawn sat on the edge of town. Cheap rent, Georgia thought. But it was clean and tidier than she’d expected.
“You don’t look half bad yourself,” she said. He’d topped his jeans and cowboy boots with a western shirt that fastened with pearlized snaps. He’d even gotten a haircut. “Are you ready?”
“Oh, hang on a sec.” He turned away to grab some cellophane-wrapped flowers. “Here. These are for you.”
“Oh.” Georgia held the bouquet of day lilies he’d thrust into her hand. A seed of panic threatened to sprout. “I—uh . . . Thank you.” She looked up and met his eyes. “You know this isn’t a real date, right?”
“Yeah. But I know you didn’t really want to do this, so I thought . . . well, I wanted you to know how much I appreciate it.”
The panic eased off. She stuck her nose in them and sniffed. “They smell lovely but I don’t have anything to put them in.” She softened her words with a smile.
Tommy looked at her with a blank expression for a few seconds then shook his head. “I didn’t think this through very well, did I?”
Georgia laughed. “I don’t suppose you have a vase?”
“Probably not but maybe I can find something that’ll serve.”
He found an empty mayonnaise jar. Georgia rinsed it out and put the flowers in it. “We can leave them here until after the movie, okay?”
Tommy nodded. “You wanna stop someplace and grab some grub first?” he asked as they walked out to his truck.
“No, I want drive-in food. Chili cheese dogs. Double-buttered popcorn. Coke.”
“You got it.”
“What’s playing?” Georgia asked as he opened the passenger door for her.
“Does it matter? It’s the only drive-in around.” He went around and got in the truck. “Besides, when did you ever go to the drive-in to watch the movie?”
“In high school.”
“Oh, yeah.” Tommy snapped his fingers. “I remember now. You barely let me kiss you on our one and only date.”
“And you sulked when I wouldn’t let you feel me up.”
“Yeah, well, drive-ins have certain traditions.” He steered the car into the street.
“And you’re such a traditionalist.”
“Yup.”
“Just remember—we’re only going as friends,” Georgia said, “so no necking unless we have an audience.”
“Does that mean you’re still not going to respect the tradition where the boy gets to feel up the girl?”
Georgia laughed. “I think that’s the tradition where the boy tries to feel up the girl. You’re welcome to continue that tradition, but remember the tradition where the girl slaps him silly.”
“Damn those traditions.” But he was smiling as he said it.
They got lucky with the movie. One weekend a month, the drive-in resurrected a classic. Tonight, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid would fill the screen, which only proved that every silver lining also came with a cloud. Unless she hid out in Tommy’s car, the odds were good she’d run into at least one McKnight at the snack bar.
She had to remind herself that she was mad at Sol. More than mad. But she wasn’t sure if inciting his jealousy was the best way to handle the situation.
“Where do you think they’ll park?” Georgia asked.
“Well, unlike you, Missy don’t come to watch the movie, so they’ll be toward the back but not too far from the concession stand.”
“You don’t want to park too near them,” Georgia said. “We’d look too obvious.”
“I know. There.” Tommy pointed. “That’s his truck.”
Tommy had called it right. He parked several rows in front of Missy and her boyfriend in a spot where Tommy could watch the comings and goings at the concession stand in his side mirror.
“So what did Sol say when you told him?” Tommy asked as he tuned the radio to the drive-in’s frequency.
Georgia grimaced. “I didn’t exactly tell him.”
“Oh?”
“I was going to tell him last night, but we had a fight and I got sidetracked.”
“What was the fight about?”
“Our daughter.”
He hooked an eyebrow at her, encouraging her to talk but not pressing.
“He’s decided she can compete in the barrel racing at some rodeo.”
“And you don’t want her to.”
“No, I don’t.”
“How come?”
“I don’t want her sucked into the McKnight obsession.”
“Barrel racing’s pretty tame, though. I mean, sure, there are risks, but walking across a street’s risky. Compared to other events at the rodeo, barrel racing’s pretty safe.”
“I don’t care.” He was missing the point entirely.
“Hmm.”
“Hmm, what?”
“My little sister barrel raced. Did you know that?”
“No.”
“My mama encouraged her. Said girls who are into horses don’t get all wild and boy crazy.”
“No, they get cowboy crazy instead.” Even she heard the bitter tone in her voice.
Tommy winced. “Ow. So you don’t want her going with boys like her dear old dad.”
“God, no.” That sounded bad. “I mean . . . Sol’s got his good qualities. He’s responsible. Most of the time. And he loves Eden. He’s an honorable man, and he’s loyal as all get-out. But he’s also stubborn as hell, and he can be reckless.”
“Like when he gets on a bull.” Tommy looked amused.
Georgia scowled.
“You gotta let a man be a man, Georgia.” His eyes were laughing at her. “So is he letting your daughter—Eden, right? Is he letting her ride just to piss you off?”
Georgia sighed. She had to be fair. “No. I told him he wasn’t acting like a parent. I wanted him to make decisions about her instead of making me play the heavy all the time.”
Tommy laughed as if that were the funniest thing he’d heard in a while. “Geez, Georgia. You set him up. He’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.” He scratched his chin. “You know, I always felt kinda sorry for you, having ol’ Sol as an ex, but I think maybe Sol’s deserving of some sympathy, too.”
Georgia stared at him, a small, offended sound issuing from her gaping mouth. She’d started thinking of Tommy as a friend. Having him take Sol’s side felt . . . well, maybe not like a betrayal, but not supportive either.
“Oh, c’mon,” Tommy said. “You’re not telling Sol what we’re really doin’ because you’re punishing him.”
“I am not.”
“Sure you are. You like making all the decisions. You just don’t like being the one who says no all the time. You want Sol to say no, too, so you don’t have to do it. ‘Cept he called your bluff. He said yes and you can’t stand it.”
She had a sinking feeling in her gut. Was that what had happened? Except it hadn’t been a bluff. Had it? Did she really just want Sol to take some of the heat for her decisions? She understood how it could look that way, but that wasn’t what she’d meant. At least, she didn’t think so. The possibility made her feel like the worst kind of self-righteous hypocrite.
“So you gonna override Sol and tell your kid she can’t ride?”
It sounded so mean the way he put it, but that was what she had to do. “Yes. As soon as I figure out how to do it without feeling like an ogre.” She’d been thinking all day about what she could offer Eden to ease the sting. Damn Sol for putting her in a position where she felt like she had to bribe her own daughter.
Tommy gave her a look that was a cross between sympathy and disgust, but he didn’t comment.
>
They waited to go to the concession stand, hoping they’d be able to make their trip coincide with Missy’s, but by the time the previews started and Tommy’s ex still hadn’t made a move in that direction, they went anyway. Their path took them several rows in front of where Missy and her date were parked. They walked holding hands, just in case she noticed.
Life never let her down, Georgia thought. Sol and Gideon were two people ahead of her and Tommy when they stepped into line. Georgia had thought she was ready to flaunt Tommy at Sol, but instead she stayed quiet, breathing in the smell of hot, buttery popcorn and trying to figure out if she could fade into the woodwork when the McKnight brothers passed her on the way out. She might have managed it, if Gideon hadn’t looked behind him as though he felt her presence. She smiled thinly.
The brim of his cowboy hat tipped with his nod of acknowledgment. She didn’t see him nudge Sol, but a second later, Sol looked back as well. Georgia sidled half a step, putting her shoulder against Tommy’s chest, as if his presence would protect her. Why hadn’t she told Sol this was a fake date? As if sensing her need, Tommy slung his arm over her shoulder. Sol’s gaze flickered over Tommy then slid back to Georgia. When she didn’t react to Tommy’s action, Sol’s eyes narrowed. He glared harder at Tommy.
Their turn to order came, and Gideon nudged Sol toward the counter. Sol turned away but his back was stiff as Gideon ordered enough chili dogs, cheesy nachos, popcorn, licorice whips, and Cokes to feed an army on the march. Or at least a truck full of McKnight kids.
Georgia slid her arm around Tommy’s waist.
“He don’t look happy,” Tommy murmured.
She hadn’t expected he would.
When Sol turned away from the concession stand, he was loaded down with food. Behind him, Gideon balanced a flat of Cokes. Sol stepped aside to let Gideon pass him.
“Hey, Georgia,” Gideon said, but he didn’t stop.
“Where are you parked?” Sol asked, his face a mask. He ignored Tommy.
Georgia pointed toward the east end of the drive-in. “Three rows up from here.”
Sol nodded. “I’ll tell Eden you’re here. She’ll want to say hello. You in your tin can?”
“No.”
Something flared in Sol’s eyes, but he damped it down before Georgia could figure out what it was.
“I’ll tell her,” he said and was gone, walking past them and out the door with those long strides of his as their turn at the counter came around.
###
“Take a deep breath, Sol.”
Sol swung around, popcorn slewing over the edge of the buckets. Gideon pushed away from the stucco wall of the concession stand, careful not to spill the Cokes.
“What’s she doing here?” Sol demanded.
“Hey, Sol,” Missy said as she walked past with some guy. Sol’s hands were full, so he tipped his head in acknowledgment before they disappeared inside.
Gideon said, “Georgia’s doin’ the same thing we’re doin’. Seeing a movie.”
“No. She’s on a date. With Tommy. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. I knew he was trying to make time with her.”
“Maybe they’re friends,” Gideon said in a tone so reasonable Sol wanted to strangle him with a licorice rope.
“When’s the last time you took a woman ‘friend’ to a drive-in?”
Gideon shook his head as though Sol was too dumb for words. “C’mon. The kids are waiting.”
Sol followed Gideon. Maybe he really was too dumb to breathe on his own. Only a week ago, he’d had Georgia in his bed; now she was out with Tommy. And not just out, but at a drive-in. Like he didn’t know why a man took a woman to a drive-in instead of a real theater.
Thank God Eden was there. Georgia wouldn’t be steaming up any windows with her daughter wandering around.
The four youngest McKnight kids, ages thirteen through fifteen, waited with Eden at the car. When Sol and Gideon had passed out the food and Cokes, Sol pulled Eden aside. “Your mama’s here. She’s parked somewhere over there in a black Ford Ranger.”
“Yeah, she called me and told me she’d be here with a friend.” She helped herself to a chili cheese dog.
A friend. Yeah, right. Friends had a beer together, maybe shot a little pool. They didn’t go to drive-ins.
“So you knew about this,” Sol said as his daughter took way too big a bite of her hot dog.
She tried to answer around a mouthful of food, but he couldn’t pick out a single intelligible syllable.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full.”
Eden nodded and chewed vigorously then swallowed hard. She laid her hand on his forearm. “It’s okay, Daddy. She says he’s a good guy.”
It was most certainly not okay. But he couldn’t tell his daughter that. Instead, Sol handed her his Coke. She drew on the straw, washing down the hot dog, then handed it back to him.
What was Georgia doing with Tommy of all people? He was nothing but a broken-down jock who bartended. He probably thought he was trading up from Missy. Probably thought he’d made a real smart move—Sol tightened his lips—but Tommy wasn’t as devious as Sol.
Sol’d had a lot of practice.
Time to send in the cavalry. “I told your mama you’d find her and say hi.”
She started to bounce away from him, but he caught her by the braid. “Eat first.” No sense letting Georgia think he’d sent Eden off immediately. Let her wait and wonder. “You leave your chili dog with this bunch, it won’t be here when you get back.”
Sol left the kids clambering around inside the car and slid into the shotgun seat of the old Ford pickup parked in the next slot. Bringing a second rig was a tactic the older McKnight boys had developed to save their sanity when they took a fistful of the younger kids someplace, and Sol was grateful for it now. Worrying about Georgia tended to make him foul tempered. If he had to ride herd on a bunch of spirited kids with sugar highs at the same time, someone would end up dead.
###
Eden had gone and come back from seeing her mama when Sol saw Tommy head for the men’s room in the back of the concession stand.
He was standing at a urinal when Sol walked in. A pack of teenage boys were elbowing each other for the chance to preen in front of the speckled mirror over the sinks.
Sol whistled tunelessly between his teeth as he unzipped at the urinal next to Tommy.
“So you’re seeing Georgia.” Sol tried to keep his tone light. He wasn’t particularly successful.
At first, he didn’t think Tommy was going to acknowledge him, but a moment later, Tommy shifted his weight, and Sol had a sense that his hackles had risen.
“You figure that out by yourself, did you? I guess you’re smarter than you look.”
Sol tried not to keep the surprise off his face. Georgia didn’t usually pick men who came out of the gate swinging. The ones he’d met had all been go-along-to-get-along sort of guys. If Tommy thought Sol was going to back down because he showed a little bit of temper, Sol would be happy to convince him to reevaluate that game plan.
“Enjoy her company while you can,” Sol said. “You won’t last.”
Tommy zipped up and faced Sol. “You should know. You didn’t either.”
That stung. “Hey, I’ve been in her life for twelve years. You won’t last twelve days.”
“You’re only in her life because of Eden. If you didn’t have a kid with her, you’d be a faint memory.”
Tommy’s assessment contained enough truth to kick Sol in the gut. That Tommy saw the thing he hated most about his relationship with Georgia was intolerable. Time to take this has-been jock down a peg. It was something he had to do. A requirement if he wanted to keep his man card.
“Coulda fooled me.” Sol said as he zipped up. “Eden wasn’t the reason she was in my bed this week.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew they were a mistake. What was between him and Georgia was meant to stay between them. He shouldn’t use it to score points off the competition. He couldn’t p
ull the words back, but he’d be damned if he was going to let Tommy see his regret. He shot a smug look Tommy’s way, though smug wasn’t even in the neighborhood of what he felt. But he was a bull rider. Bravado came as natural to him as breathing.
Tommy’s dropped jaw soothed Sol’s ego. Then Tommy’s eyes narrowed. Sol didn’t need Gideon’s second sight to tell him what that look meant; old Tommy wanted to kick his ass. Too bad he didn’t have the conjones to try it. Sol turned his back and walked out the door.
###
Not thirty seconds after Tommy got out of the car to go to the men’s room, the driver’s door opened and Sol’s brother got in.
Georgia’s eyebrows rose. Gideon had only been eleven when she’d married Sol. The number of years between their ages meant she had never gotten to know him well.
“Hey, Georgia.” Gideon settled into the seat, reached into the bucket on her lap, and helped himself to a handful of popcorn.
“Hey, yourself.”
She watched him chew the kernels he tossed into his mouth, wondering why he’d decided to visit her. She didn’t believe it was a coincidence that he’d popped in practically the moment Tommy left.
“You liking the movie?” Gideon asked when his mouth was empty.
“I’ve always liked this mo—”
“Oh, watch this!” Gideon said, his eyes on the screen, his fist plunging back into the popcorn. “This is one of the best scenes ever.”
Georgia glanced at the screen. Paul Newman was trying to convince Robert Redford to leap off a cliff to escape a shootout they couldn’t win. At first, Redford refused to go, then, in a true buddy moment, they jumped together into the raging river below.
It was a great male bonding moment. Except for the final, desperate shootout, it was probably the most remembered scene of the movie.
When Georgia turned back to Gideon, she caught him looking at her. Had he distracted her so he could watch her while her attention was elsewhere? A tremor ran up her spine.
She dug into the popcorn, popped a handful into her mouth, and turned her attention back to the screen. Sol said Gideon had the patience of Job. Georgia didn’t know if she could outwait him, but she was determined to try. It wasn’t easy; she could feel him watching her. It was unnerving. What the hell was he looking for?