I’ll ask around and see if I can get someone to do it instead. You won’t have to worry about it.” Alvin glanced up and gave Theo a half smile. “I’ll be done here soon.”
Candy wailed, “I need my baby to come home.”
Theo saw Alvin wince, but he said nothing, just turned back to his yard work. Theo guessed he’d had long practice dealing with his mother’s melodramatic behavior, and she studied her appearance. Candy looked terrible, worse than usual. Dirty strings of mud-brown hair hung across her face. Bloodshot blue eyes peeked through the resulting curtain. A fair number of her teeth were missing, and her skin looked gray with blotchy red spots. Younger than Theo, she looked almost as old as Tony’s mother, a woman who mysteriously never aged, in spite of annual birthday celebrations.
Tony arrived, and after parking the official Park County sheriff’s vehicle behind Theo’s SUV, he climbed out, paint can in hand. He stopped and nodded to Candy.
Not surprisingly, Candy abandoned her car and scuttled away, walking diagonally across the park that their house faced. She didn’t even look back at Alvin, who had returned to his yard work.
Without looking at his wife, Tony said to Theo, “I presume you know where our boys are?”
“Yes. Nina said she’d drop them off at practice. Remember, Chris has a game this evening.” Theo watched Tony as he continued to watch Candy. “Did you stop at the bank for me?”
He didn’t change his focus but reached into his pocket and pulled out some cash and handed it to her. Still studying Candy, he shifted the paint can and reached for the handle on the nearest infant carrier and lifted it.
Relieved she wouldn’t need to get some money herself, Theo stuffed the cash into her pocket and, grabbing the remaining baby carrier, walked past her husband and into the house. She couldn’t help but wonder what he found so fascinating about Candy. The last time she looked, he still hadn’t moved.
When Candy was out of sight, Tony turned to Alvin. “Will she come back for her car?”
Alvin gave a slight shrug. “If she remembers where she left it. Luckily it’s only four miles out to the house, and she walks home unless she gets a ride when she drinks too much.”
Tony looked at the car blocking his driveway. The brown sedan was as disreputable in appearance as its owner. The keys were in the ignition. “Shall we take it out to her?”
Alvin hesitated. “Sure. Give me a head start. I’ll leave it in the garage for her. While I’m out there, I’ll check on the plants in my garden.”
C HAPTER T WO
----
Theo followed the smell of fresh paint and found Tony in the girls’ new room. She chattered away, talking to him about the upcoming town events and household schedule. “There’s going to be a picnic, games, and fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July. And of course there’s the parade. You won’t want to miss it. The girls are going to be peas in a pod. The boys came up with the idea.”
Tony kept his eyes on the paint-laden roller as he moved it across the slightly pebbled surface of the nursery wall, turning it the color of sunshine. “Uhm-hm.” So far nothing Theo said was cause for alarm. Unfortunately he’d had enough experience in the years they’d been married that he was able to guess word of an impending calamity was coming. He could sense it building like a thunderstorm. Theo didn’t tiptoe around a subject unless she was trying to be diplomatic. Diplomacy was a feat she was not good at. It wasn’t that she didn’t try, but Theo’s childhood with the “old people” had required her to be silent or absolutely honest. Her current attempt at tact could only mean one thing. Disaster brewing. “What kind of celebration is my mom planning?”
Surprise lit Theo’s green-gold hazel eyes and she ran her fingers through her blond hair—now grown back after a shorter cut to the natural curls they both preferred. “I’m not sure of the
Candy wailed, “I need my baby to come home.”
Theo saw Alvin wince, but he said nothing, just turned back to his yard work. Theo guessed he’d had long practice dealing with his mother’s melodramatic behavior, and she studied her appearance. Candy looked terrible, worse than usual. Dirty strings of mud-brown hair hung across her face. Bloodshot blue eyes peeked through the resulting curtain. A fair number of her teeth were missing, and her skin looked gray with blotchy red spots. Younger than Theo, she looked almost as old as Tony’s mother, a woman who mysteriously never aged, in spite of annual birthday celebrations.
Tony arrived, and after parking the official Park County sheriff’s vehicle behind Theo’s SUV, he climbed out, paint can in hand. He stopped and nodded to Candy.
Not surprisingly, Candy abandoned her car and scuttled away, walking diagonally across the park that their house faced. She didn’t even look back at Alvin, who had returned to his yard work.
Without looking at his wife, Tony said to Theo, “I presume you know where our boys are?”
“Yes. Nina said she’d drop them off at practice. Remember, Chris has a game this evening.” Theo watched Tony as he continued to watch Candy. “Did you stop at the bank for me?”
He didn’t change his focus but reached into his pocket and pulled out some cash and handed it to her. Still studying Candy, he shifted the paint can and reached for the handle on the nearest infant carrier and lifted it.
Relieved she wouldn’t need to get some money herself, Theo stuffed the cash into her pocket and, grabbing the remaining baby carrier, walked past her husband and into the house. She couldn’t help but wonder what he found so fascinating about Candy. The last time she looked, he still hadn’t moved.
When Candy was out of sight, Tony turned to Alvin. “Will she come back for her car?”
Alvin gave a slight shrug. “If she remembers where she left it. Luckily it’s only four miles out to the house, and she walks home unless she gets a ride when she drinks too much.”
Tony looked at the car blocking his driveway. The brown sedan was as disreputable in appearance as its owner. The keys were in the ignition. “Shall we take it out to her?”
Alvin hesitated. “Sure. Give me a head start. I’ll leave it in the garage for her. While I’m out there, I’ll check on the plants in my garden.”
C HAPTER T WO
----
Theo followed the smell of fresh paint and found Tony in the girls’ new room. She chattered away, talking to him about the upcoming town events and household schedule. “There’s going to be a picnic, games, and fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July. And of course there’s the parade. You won’t want to miss it. The girls are going to be peas in a pod. The boys came up with the idea.”
Tony kept his eyes on the paint-laden roller as he moved it across the slightly pebbled surface of the nursery wall, turning it the color of sunshine. “Uhm-hm.” So far nothing Theo said was cause for alarm. Unfortunately he’d had enough experience in the years they’d been married that he was able to guess word of an impending calamity was coming. He could sense it building like a thunderstorm. Theo didn’t tiptoe around a subject unless she was trying to be diplomatic. Diplomacy was a feat she was not good at. It wasn’t that she didn’t try, but Theo’s childhood with the “old people” had required her to be silent or absolutely honest. Her current attempt at tact could only mean one thing. Disaster brewing. “What kind of celebration is my mom planning?”
Surprise lit Theo’s green-gold hazel eyes and she ran her fingers through her blond hair—now grown back after a shorter cut to the natural curls they both preferred. “I’m not sure of the
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