Read Online Fine Spirits [Spirits 02] by Alice Duncan - Free Book Online Page B

have too many burdens to bear. I don't blame you for being short-tempered sometimes.”
           “Of course, dear.” Ma gazed thoughtfully at the cup she was drying. “But I do wonder what has happened to the poor Wagner girl. Even if you don't care for her father, her parents must be desperately worried about her.”
           “I'm sure her mother's worried, anyhow.” I didn't reiterate my suspicions of Dr. Wagner, because I didn't need another lecture from Vi.
           Ma and Aunt Vi glanced at me as if they thought I was being unreasonable, but I knew better. Some angel of sanity seized me, thank God, and I didn't say so.
           After I'd put away the last dish, I felt as though I'd been whipped, so I wandered, yawning, into the living room where Pa and Billy were chatting. As I walked over to my husband, my usual wish that he was still a whole man flitted through my head. Stupid head. Stupid thought.
           “Ready for bed, Billy? I'm bushed.”
           He glanced up at me. “Rough work getting rid of ghosts, is it?”
           Pa chuckled.
           I gazed suspiciously at my husband. He didn't look as if he was trying to start an argument, so I didn't blow up. “Yeah. But I think skipping lunch is what really made me tired.”
           “Let's go to bed then, sweetheart. Good-night, Pa.”
           I bent and kissed my father. He looked more wan and pasty-faced than usual that evening. I feared he'd overtaxed himself during the day. “You'd better stay home and rest tomorrow, Pa. You know what Dr. Benjamin said.”
           Dr. Benjamin had told my father to stop eating so much, give up cigars, and rest as much as he could. Pa hadn't done any of those things, although I didn't smell any traces of cigar smoke lingering on his clothing that night.
           “Pooh,” said Pa, chuckling some more. “I want to enjoy what life I have left to me, Daisy. No sense sitting around, waiting for the Grim Reaper to pay me a call. I'd rather go out and meet him head-on.”
           I think I gawked at him. I'd never heard Pa talk about dying before, and it scared me. “Nuts,” I said. “You're going to outlast us all.”
           “You're certain to outlast me, at any rate.”
           I turned my gawk upon Billy, who had a lopsided, cynical grin on his face. “Billy! Don't talk like that.”
           He took my hand. “Sorry, sweetheart.” After a pause, during which I could swear I could see the tension crackling like electricity in the air around us, he said, “Would you really miss me if I died, Daisy?”
           I couldn't help it. My eyes filled with tears, and I felt a couple of them slide down my cheeks. It had been a truly ghastly day, and this was no way to end it. “How can you even ask me that, Billy?” To my deep chagrin, my voice quivered. I absolutely hate acting like an emotional woman, even though I am one, albeit not often.
           He shrugged. “I don't know. Seems like all we do is fight lately.”
           This was, sad to say, all too true. “That's only because you don't like what I do for a living.”
           Pa, who didn't care for strife in any form, even the mild sort Billy and I were displaying, yawned theatrically and rose from his chair. “Think I'll turn in now. As you just said, Daisy, Doc Benjamin told me to get lots of rest.”
           God bless my father. His diversion worked. Billy chuckled. “Since when have you done what the doctor tells you to do?”
           Pa winked at the both of us. “Since it serves my purpose in this instance.” He left us alone in the living room, and I heard him say something to Ma in the kitchen. After supper, she and Vi always sat at the kitchen table for a cup of tea and a gossip session.
           “Are you really ready to go to bed, Billy?” I decided not to resurrect the topic we'd been discussing before Pa left