Better to rest Read Free

pilot.
    Wy took a long pull and said, “I cant do that. Hed probably start a war, and then Id have the State Department all over my ass.
    They laughed together this time. “But seriously, folks, Bill said. “Whats wrong with Tim? Usual teenage stuff?
    “That, too.
    “What else?
    “Im letting his mom see him. He hates her. And he hates me for making him see her. Wy took another long, soothing draft of beer, and regarded the mug with a weary kind of satisfaction. “The great thing about winter is that daylight decreases by five minutes and forty-four seconds a day and I can drink earlier every time I come in here.
    “Yeah, youre such a heavy drinker, Chouinard.
    “Sometimes I wish I were.
    Bill looked at Moses over her head. “No, you dont.
    Wy sighed. “No, I dont.
    “How is Natalie behaving?
    “Shes still sober, Wy said. “Shes staying in town, renting a room from Tatiana Anayuk. Got herself a job bagging groceries at Eagle.
    “Shes living with Tasha?
    “Yeah, I know, the oldest established permanent floating party in Newenham. But theyre cousins, and Natalies pretty much broke. And like I said, shes still sober.
    “She must go straight into her room and lock the door. Bill made Moccasin Man another margarita and sent a pitcher of beer over to Moses table. The place was in its usual lull between the people-getting-off-work crowd and the people-coming-in-for-their-after-dinner-drink crowd, and she was able to return to Wy in a few moments. “Why did you do it?
    “Do what? Wy said, startled out of her absorption with beer suds.
    “Let Natalie see Tim.
    Wy made a face. “I didnt really have a choice. The judge ordered visitation. Limited, supervised, but still.
    “Bullshit, Bill said, speaking with all the authority of the magistrate she was. “You could have run her off. You still could. Why havent you, if its making the boy so miserable, and you miserable with it?
    Wy drank beer. Bill waited.
    “Shes his mother, Bill, Wy said at last. “Shes got rights.
    “Just because you didnt give birth to him doesnt make him any less your son. Crying out loud, Wy, I could tell you stories from now until next year about cases Ive had before my court, parents arent fit to keep a dog, much less a child. Shes one of them.
    “She is when shes drunk, Wy agreed. “Maybe if she stays here...
    “What? You going to give him back?
    Wys head snapped up, her eyes narrowing.
    “I didnt think so, Bill said, her voice very dry.
    “It was right to let her see him. It was right for him to see her, so that he doesnt always remember her as the drunken monster who beat him. Damn it, Bill, it was the right thing to do!
    Bill sipped her Coke. “Want another beer?
    Wy looked at the bottom of her now empty glass. “No. Im just trying to put off going home.
    “Want some takeout?
    Wy brightened. Tim was notoriously susceptible to Bills fatburgers and greasy fries. “Make it two, and a double order of fries for Tim.
    Bill raised an eyebrow.
    “Oh, all right, Wy said. “Three. Not that Liam Campbell deserved any special consideration in the way of meals. Or a roof. A roof it looked like he wouldnt be under for longer than it took to pack for a move back to Anchorage.
    “Hey, big spender.
    Wy looked around and a smile broke out across her face. It was a good smile; it displayed white teeth saved from perfection by overlapping incisors, crinkled the corners of her brown eyes, and seemed somehow to make her bronze-streaked brown hair curl out of its long braid even more than it already did. “Jo!
    The two women hugged. “What are you doing in Newenham? Wy said. “I cant believe your editor let you come down again so soon. Is there some story going on around here I dont know about that the
Anchorage News
is crying out for copy on?
    “No, I just grabbed a couple of vacation days cause I could, Jo said. She was a chunky blonde with intense green eyes and a short cap of curls. A newspaper reporter with the wit of Dorothy L. Parker and