from the moment it was hatched. Instinct told it everything it needed to know. The bird managed life without ever having a single thought. The closer Phoebe got to the welding shed, the harder she wished she wasn’t having the thoughts she was having. She was thinking about sex. She had always been above such things. Up until she laid eyes on Gage Morgan she had thought that sex was the least of it. She foresaw now that she might have been misguided. She wished she couldn’t count every one of her ribs.
Emerging into the welding shed, Phoebe looked almost pretty. The blouse knotted at her ribcage made a brave show; still bath-damp, her hair was frizzed into corkscrews, her unseemly thoughts kept her cheeks pink. Not wishing to be accused of sneaking, she hallo’d in her clear musical voice.
~~~~
Gage pushed his welding goggles atop his head which had the effect of making his hair bristle wildly. He watched Phoebe approach. He had mixed emotions about the situation in which he found himself. He’d taken in and fed a stray cat or two, but taking in stray humans was altogether a different matter. He was having trouble acknowledging that he had actually done such a thing. But he liked having his clothes washed, his food cooked, his house cleaned, Dorie looked after and kept from pestering him. Velma had never done that, but a man couldn’t speak ill of his dead wife. Any bad saying about Velma had to be slyly done by others, or he was put in the position of defending her.
Gage didn ’t like being put into any position that cost him money or loose words either. He leaned against the giant propeller he was repairing and waited to see which it was going to be with Phoebe Hawley.
“ I worked up a storm at the crab house,” she said by way of greeting. Gage looked good. Work sweat beaded on his brow and wet his arms, highlighting the thick corded muscles. If he was making-do with a woman, she thought, he’d sure have to take care to be gentle.
“ Seventy dollars worth?”
“ You’re a man what knows the value of a dollar, ain’t you, Gage?”
“ I am. Better than most.”
“ I figured that. A man owning all you do, keeping it up the way you do. Working hard. I said to myself, a man like Gage Morgan sure does know about a dollar.”
Agreeing, but growing skeptical, Gage nodded. Phoebe thrust out her hand.
“So, here’s a dollar on account. That leaves me owin’ you sixty-nine. Pickin’ crabs is some different from pickin’ cotton, but I got the hang of it now. Tomorrow I expect to double what I paid you today.”
Surprise made a whole rush of words leap to Gage ’s tongue. “A dollar is all you earned today!”
“ Nope. Made a tad more, but I got to keep some back for Willie-Boy’s medicine. Howsomever, if you want it—” He was looking as if he did. “Now that I got a job, I’ve got to find us a place to live. That don’t come for free. Most folks ain’t like you, lettin’ me charge room and board against housework and the like.”
“ I never said—”
“ I know you ain’t,” Phoebe rushed on. “Most good-hearted folks find words difficult. My ma’s like that. She’d give her house over to any stranger that pecked on the door and be so overcome with pity for the poor thing, she’d like as not speak two words from supper to bed. I noticed last night you’re a lot like that,” she added, making sure the corner she butted him into didn’t have any sideways leaks.
His face was turning red. Embarrassed, Phoebe thought, slacking up on her misdirected charm. “I’ll let you get back to weldin’. Seems like the kids caught enough crabs to cook up a mess of gumbo. After it’s to boilin’ I thought I’d clear out a patch behind the house for a kitchen garden. That is, if you ain’t got no objection. Not that I’d be here to see it a-growin’, but those potatoes I peeled yesterday had some good growing eyes. Seems a shame to let ‘em go to waste when they’re just
Emerging into the welding shed, Phoebe looked almost pretty. The blouse knotted at her ribcage made a brave show; still bath-damp, her hair was frizzed into corkscrews, her unseemly thoughts kept her cheeks pink. Not wishing to be accused of sneaking, she hallo’d in her clear musical voice.
~~~~
Gage pushed his welding goggles atop his head which had the effect of making his hair bristle wildly. He watched Phoebe approach. He had mixed emotions about the situation in which he found himself. He’d taken in and fed a stray cat or two, but taking in stray humans was altogether a different matter. He was having trouble acknowledging that he had actually done such a thing. But he liked having his clothes washed, his food cooked, his house cleaned, Dorie looked after and kept from pestering him. Velma had never done that, but a man couldn’t speak ill of his dead wife. Any bad saying about Velma had to be slyly done by others, or he was put in the position of defending her.
Gage didn ’t like being put into any position that cost him money or loose words either. He leaned against the giant propeller he was repairing and waited to see which it was going to be with Phoebe Hawley.
“ I worked up a storm at the crab house,” she said by way of greeting. Gage looked good. Work sweat beaded on his brow and wet his arms, highlighting the thick corded muscles. If he was making-do with a woman, she thought, he’d sure have to take care to be gentle.
“ Seventy dollars worth?”
“ You’re a man what knows the value of a dollar, ain’t you, Gage?”
“ I am. Better than most.”
“ I figured that. A man owning all you do, keeping it up the way you do. Working hard. I said to myself, a man like Gage Morgan sure does know about a dollar.”
Agreeing, but growing skeptical, Gage nodded. Phoebe thrust out her hand.
“So, here’s a dollar on account. That leaves me owin’ you sixty-nine. Pickin’ crabs is some different from pickin’ cotton, but I got the hang of it now. Tomorrow I expect to double what I paid you today.”
Surprise made a whole rush of words leap to Gage ’s tongue. “A dollar is all you earned today!”
“ Nope. Made a tad more, but I got to keep some back for Willie-Boy’s medicine. Howsomever, if you want it—” He was looking as if he did. “Now that I got a job, I’ve got to find us a place to live. That don’t come for free. Most folks ain’t like you, lettin’ me charge room and board against housework and the like.”
“ I never said—”
“ I know you ain’t,” Phoebe rushed on. “Most good-hearted folks find words difficult. My ma’s like that. She’d give her house over to any stranger that pecked on the door and be so overcome with pity for the poor thing, she’d like as not speak two words from supper to bed. I noticed last night you’re a lot like that,” she added, making sure the corner she butted him into didn’t have any sideways leaks.
His face was turning red. Embarrassed, Phoebe thought, slacking up on her misdirected charm. “I’ll let you get back to weldin’. Seems like the kids caught enough crabs to cook up a mess of gumbo. After it’s to boilin’ I thought I’d clear out a patch behind the house for a kitchen garden. That is, if you ain’t got no objection. Not that I’d be here to see it a-growin’, but those potatoes I peeled yesterday had some good growing eyes. Seems a shame to let ‘em go to waste when they’re just
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