talking.
I’m full of questions, mostly.
I have some too, she said. But what are yours?
I wondered why you picked me. We don’t really know each other very well.
Did you think I would just pick anyone? That I just want anybody to keep me warm at night? Just any old person to talk to?
I didn’t think that. But I don’t know why you picked me.
Are you sorry I did?
No. It’s not that at all. I’m just curious. I wondered.
Because I think you’re a good man. A kind man.
I hope I am.
I think you are. And I’ve always sort of thought of you as someone I might be able to like and to talk to. How have you thought of me, if you ever have?
I’ve thought of you, he said.
In what way?
As a good-looking woman. Someone with substance. Character.
Why would you say that?
Because of how you live. How you managed your life after Carl died. That was a hard time for you, he said. That’s what I mean. I know what it was like for me after my wife died, and I could see that you were doing better than I did. I admired that.
You never came over or made a point of saying anything, she said.
I didn’t want to seem intrusive.
You wouldn’t have. I was very lonely.
I assumed that. But still didn’t do anything.
What else do you want to know?
Where you came from. Where you grew up. What you were like as a girl. What your parents were like. If you have brothers or sisters. How you met Carl. What’s your relationship with your son. Why you moved to Holt. Who your friends are. What you believe. What party you vote for.
We’re going to have a lot of fun talking, aren’t we? she said. I want to know all that about you too.
We don’t have to rush it, he said.
No, let’s take our time.
She turned in bed and shut off the lamp and again he looked at her bright hair in the light and her bare shoulders, and then in the dark she took his hand and said goodnight and soon she was asleep. It was surprising to him, how quickly she could fall asleep.
6
The next day he worked in the yard in the morning and mowed the lawn and ate lunch and took a short nap and then went down to the bakery and drank coffee with a group of men he met with every other week. One of them a man he didn’t particularly like. The man said, I wish I had your energy.
How’s that?
To stay out all night and then still have enough left over to function the day after.
Louis looked at him for a while.
You know, he said, one of the things I always hear is how any story is safe with you. It goes right in your ears and out your mouth. I wouldn’t want to get the name of a liar and a prevaricator in a little town the size of this one. A reputation like that would just about follow you everywhere.
The man stared at Louis. He looked around at theother men sitting at the table. They were looking anywhere but at him. He stood and walked out of the bakery onto Main Street.
I don’t believe he paid for his coffee, one of the men said.
I’ll take care of it, Louis said. I’ll see you boys later. He went up to the counter and paid for the other’s coffee and his own and walked outside and over to Cedar Street.
At home he went out to the garden and hoed for an hour, hard, almost violently, and then went inside and fried a hamburger and drank a glass of milk and afterward showered and shaved. At dark he went back to Addie’s.
7
During the day she had cleaned her house thoroughly and had clean sheets on the bed upstairs and had bathed and eaten a sandwich for supper. As the day faded, she sat in the living room, quiet, motionless, thinking, waiting till Louis should come to the door and knock as it turned dark.
Finally he came and she let him in. She could see something was different. What’s wrong? she said.
I’ll tell you in a minute. Can we have a drink first?
Of course.
They went to the kitchen and she gave him a bottle of beer and poured wine for herself. She looked at him, waiting.
We’re no secret anymore, he said. If we ever were.
How do you
I’m full of questions, mostly.
I have some too, she said. But what are yours?
I wondered why you picked me. We don’t really know each other very well.
Did you think I would just pick anyone? That I just want anybody to keep me warm at night? Just any old person to talk to?
I didn’t think that. But I don’t know why you picked me.
Are you sorry I did?
No. It’s not that at all. I’m just curious. I wondered.
Because I think you’re a good man. A kind man.
I hope I am.
I think you are. And I’ve always sort of thought of you as someone I might be able to like and to talk to. How have you thought of me, if you ever have?
I’ve thought of you, he said.
In what way?
As a good-looking woman. Someone with substance. Character.
Why would you say that?
Because of how you live. How you managed your life after Carl died. That was a hard time for you, he said. That’s what I mean. I know what it was like for me after my wife died, and I could see that you were doing better than I did. I admired that.
You never came over or made a point of saying anything, she said.
I didn’t want to seem intrusive.
You wouldn’t have. I was very lonely.
I assumed that. But still didn’t do anything.
What else do you want to know?
Where you came from. Where you grew up. What you were like as a girl. What your parents were like. If you have brothers or sisters. How you met Carl. What’s your relationship with your son. Why you moved to Holt. Who your friends are. What you believe. What party you vote for.
We’re going to have a lot of fun talking, aren’t we? she said. I want to know all that about you too.
We don’t have to rush it, he said.
No, let’s take our time.
She turned in bed and shut off the lamp and again he looked at her bright hair in the light and her bare shoulders, and then in the dark she took his hand and said goodnight and soon she was asleep. It was surprising to him, how quickly she could fall asleep.
6
The next day he worked in the yard in the morning and mowed the lawn and ate lunch and took a short nap and then went down to the bakery and drank coffee with a group of men he met with every other week. One of them a man he didn’t particularly like. The man said, I wish I had your energy.
How’s that?
To stay out all night and then still have enough left over to function the day after.
Louis looked at him for a while.
You know, he said, one of the things I always hear is how any story is safe with you. It goes right in your ears and out your mouth. I wouldn’t want to get the name of a liar and a prevaricator in a little town the size of this one. A reputation like that would just about follow you everywhere.
The man stared at Louis. He looked around at theother men sitting at the table. They were looking anywhere but at him. He stood and walked out of the bakery onto Main Street.
I don’t believe he paid for his coffee, one of the men said.
I’ll take care of it, Louis said. I’ll see you boys later. He went up to the counter and paid for the other’s coffee and his own and walked outside and over to Cedar Street.
At home he went out to the garden and hoed for an hour, hard, almost violently, and then went inside and fried a hamburger and drank a glass of milk and afterward showered and shaved. At dark he went back to Addie’s.
7
During the day she had cleaned her house thoroughly and had clean sheets on the bed upstairs and had bathed and eaten a sandwich for supper. As the day faded, she sat in the living room, quiet, motionless, thinking, waiting till Louis should come to the door and knock as it turned dark.
Finally he came and she let him in. She could see something was different. What’s wrong? she said.
I’ll tell you in a minute. Can we have a drink first?
Of course.
They went to the kitchen and she gave him a bottle of beer and poured wine for herself. She looked at him, waiting.
We’re no secret anymore, he said. If we ever were.
How do you
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