With a Little Luck Read Free Page B

wry shake of his head, Luck threw back the covers and climbed slowly out of bed. He paused beside the bureau to glance at the photograph. Well, pretty lady, do you see what kind of boy your son has grown into? The blue of his eyes had a pensive look as he walked to the bathroom.
     

 
    Chapter Two
     
    “YOUR COFFEE IS cold,” Toby accused when his father finally appeared in the kitchen.
    Dressed in worn blue jeans and a gray sweat shirt, Luck had taken the time to shower and shave. His dark brown hair gleamed almost black, combed into a careless kind of order. He smiled at the reproval from his son.
    “I had to get cleaned up,” he defended himself, and sipped at the lukewarm coffee before adding some hot liquid from the coffeepot. He sat down in a chair opposite from his son and rested his forearms on the table. “Do you want to explain to me what happened to Mrs. Jackson last night?”
    “She was going to charge you double for staying after midnight, so I paid her and sent her home,” Toby said, repeating his previous night’s explanation.
    “And she went — just like that,” Luck replied with a wave of his hand to indicate how easy it had been. “She just went and left you here alone?”
    “Well…” Toby hedged, and squirmed in his chair.
    “Why did she leave?”
    “She got the impression we were broke, I think. She got a little upset thinking that you’d asked her to stay when you knew all you could afford to pay was twelve dollars.”
    “Why did you do it?”
    “I’m too old to have a sitter, dad,” Toby protested. “I can take care of myself.”
    “Maybe you can, but what about my peace of mind? I’m an adult. You’re a child, When I leave, I want to know there’s an adult with you — looking after you — yes. But mostly in case there’s an emergency — if you should get sick or hurt. I’d like to know there is someone here with you to help,” he explained firmly. “Do you understand?”
    “Yes.” It was a low admission.
    “From now on, when I go out for the evening, you will have a sitter and she will stay here until I come back. Is that understood?”
    “Yes.”
    “Good.” With the discussion concluded, Luck raised the coffee cup to his mouth.
    “What about the twelve dollars?” As far as Toby was concerned, the discussion wasn’t over. “It’s from the money I’ve been saving to buy a minibike.”
    “You should have considered that before you spent it.”
    “But that’s what you would have had to pay her if I hadn’t,” Toby reasoned with the utmost logic. “You would have had to pay her that and more.”
    “I’ll give you the twelve dollars back on one condition,” Luck replied. “You call Mrs. Jackson, tell her what you did, and apologize.”
    There was a long sigh before Toby nodded his agreement. “Okay.”
    “Have you had breakfast?” Luck changed the subject.
    “Cornflakes.”
    “Would you like some bacon and eggs?”
    “Sure,” Toby agreed. “I’ll help.”
    While he set the table, Luck put the bacon in the skillet and broke eggs in a bowl to scramble them. Finished with his task before his father, Toby walked over to the stove to watch.
    “Dad?” He tipped his head back to look up to his tall parent. “Do you want to explain about the brown mouse?”
    “The brown mouse?” Luck frowned at him, his expression blank.
    “Yeah. Last night when you came home, you said you had talked to a brown mouse,” Toby explained. “I thought people only saw pink elephants when they were drinking.”
    “People can have all kinds of illusions when they are drinking. Evidently mine was a brown mouse,” Luck murmured. “I must have had a few more drinks than I realized.”
    “It was because of mom, wasn’t it?” Toby asked quietly.
    There was a moment of silence. Then Luck gave him a smiling glance. “What do you want to do today? Do you want to go fishing? Boating? Just name it.” He deliberately avoided his son’s question, and Toby knew there