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Authors: Rene Gutteridge
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of light.
“Okay.” And then I heard the music.
13
OLIVIA
M Y BACK ACHED for some of that ointment that turns hot after it touches your skin. Sometimes I just want to rub that all over my body. But I guess that’s what old people do. Sometimes I had to remind myself I was thirty, not eighty. I stood in line at the grocery with just a few items, but behind the one woman in town who liked to buy three weeks’ worth at a time.
“Sorry about that, Olivia,” Teresa said, hoisting a two-pound bag of okra onto the conveyer. “I’ll be done here in a sec.”
“Mommy, can I have a —”
“No, you cannot, and if you’d like to know, the manwho invented the candy display at the checkout aisle died of candy poisoning.”
Victoria’s eyes widened. “He did?”
Nell snorted. “Of course he didn’t. She just says that because I guess it’s easier than saying a plain no.” She glanced at me with those wise eyes she got from her grandfather.
Finally Teresa and her three carts of groceries were done. Angie sensed my agitation and checked me out quickly.
“Ah. Your dad’s favorite,” she said as she slid the pumpkin over the scanner.
“Oh yes. I probably toast six or seven pans of pumpkin seeds this time of year.”
“Oooo, I love ’em too. With salt and a little olive oil.”
I thanked Angie and hurried the kids to the car. We still had the afternoon science lessons for Nell, plus multiplication, and I figured Dad was going to want to chat a little like always.
I was driving too fast, hoping a rock wouldn’t pop up on the windshield and crack it. It had happened seven times and Hardy was getting tired of replacing the windshield.
I saw it as I came over the hill . . . that black, shiny city car I’d seen from the corner store. It was parked on the side of the road, near the mailbox. It made me feel funny inside. Why hadn’t they pulled into the drive?
I pulled around it, eyeing it carefully. As best I could tell, nobody was in it. I turned onto the dirt drive, creeping along, watchful for anything suspicious.
Everything looked in order. I could see Silver near the fence, his tail twitching, his eyes calm.
I parked and waited for a moment.
“Mom, what are you doing?” Nell asked.
“Stay here,” I instructed and got out of the truck.
“But the sack —”
“Just stay here.”
The front door was open and the screen was shut. I climbed the steps to the porch and tried to see into the house. I never knocked at Daddy’s, but then again, there weren’t ever any cars out front that I didn’t recognize.
I opened the screen door. It let out its typical screech.
“Daddy?”
The front room was empty and the house was particularly quiet as I stepped in. Usually at least the television was on. “Dad?”
Nothing.
I hurried to his bedroom. But it was empty. His bed made. Everything tidy.
“Dad?”
I went to the kitchen and then saw out the back door. There he was. With a woman. They were looking out at the pasture and didn’t see me.
I dusted my hands and smoothed my jeans, tugging at the flannel shirt that seemed to have shrunk over the past few years. I wondered about getting the kids, then decided I’d do that in a minute.
I opened the screen door and smiled pleasantly. “Hello?”
Dad turned around first and I gave a short wave, then looked at the woman. The pleasant smile dropped straight off my face. “Faith?”
“Hi, Olivia.” She stuffed her hands in her pockets. Looked apprehensive. And not like herself at all. Fancy hair. Fancy clothes. Apparently fancy car.
I glanced at Dad, who gave me a look that said I should pick my smile up off the porch and put it right back on.
I walked down the steps, stretching that smile hard across my face. “Faith. My goodness. How unexpected.”
Dad looked like he was about to burst with excitement and tears all at once. He walked with her as we met halfway. He had a hand on her back. A grin on his face. A spring to his step.
We
“Okay.” And then I heard the music.
13
OLIVIA
M Y BACK ACHED for some of that ointment that turns hot after it touches your skin. Sometimes I just want to rub that all over my body. But I guess that’s what old people do. Sometimes I had to remind myself I was thirty, not eighty. I stood in line at the grocery with just a few items, but behind the one woman in town who liked to buy three weeks’ worth at a time.
“Sorry about that, Olivia,” Teresa said, hoisting a two-pound bag of okra onto the conveyer. “I’ll be done here in a sec.”
“Mommy, can I have a —”
“No, you cannot, and if you’d like to know, the manwho invented the candy display at the checkout aisle died of candy poisoning.”
Victoria’s eyes widened. “He did?”
Nell snorted. “Of course he didn’t. She just says that because I guess it’s easier than saying a plain no.” She glanced at me with those wise eyes she got from her grandfather.
Finally Teresa and her three carts of groceries were done. Angie sensed my agitation and checked me out quickly.
“Ah. Your dad’s favorite,” she said as she slid the pumpkin over the scanner.
“Oh yes. I probably toast six or seven pans of pumpkin seeds this time of year.”
“Oooo, I love ’em too. With salt and a little olive oil.”
I thanked Angie and hurried the kids to the car. We still had the afternoon science lessons for Nell, plus multiplication, and I figured Dad was going to want to chat a little like always.
I was driving too fast, hoping a rock wouldn’t pop up on the windshield and crack it. It had happened seven times and Hardy was getting tired of replacing the windshield.
I saw it as I came over the hill . . . that black, shiny city car I’d seen from the corner store. It was parked on the side of the road, near the mailbox. It made me feel funny inside. Why hadn’t they pulled into the drive?
I pulled around it, eyeing it carefully. As best I could tell, nobody was in it. I turned onto the dirt drive, creeping along, watchful for anything suspicious.
Everything looked in order. I could see Silver near the fence, his tail twitching, his eyes calm.
I parked and waited for a moment.
“Mom, what are you doing?” Nell asked.
“Stay here,” I instructed and got out of the truck.
“But the sack —”
“Just stay here.”
The front door was open and the screen was shut. I climbed the steps to the porch and tried to see into the house. I never knocked at Daddy’s, but then again, there weren’t ever any cars out front that I didn’t recognize.
I opened the screen door. It let out its typical screech.
“Daddy?”
The front room was empty and the house was particularly quiet as I stepped in. Usually at least the television was on. “Dad?”
Nothing.
I hurried to his bedroom. But it was empty. His bed made. Everything tidy.
“Dad?”
I went to the kitchen and then saw out the back door. There he was. With a woman. They were looking out at the pasture and didn’t see me.
I dusted my hands and smoothed my jeans, tugging at the flannel shirt that seemed to have shrunk over the past few years. I wondered about getting the kids, then decided I’d do that in a minute.
I opened the screen door and smiled pleasantly. “Hello?”
Dad turned around first and I gave a short wave, then looked at the woman. The pleasant smile dropped straight off my face. “Faith?”
“Hi, Olivia.” She stuffed her hands in her pockets. Looked apprehensive. And not like herself at all. Fancy hair. Fancy clothes. Apparently fancy car.
I glanced at Dad, who gave me a look that said I should pick my smile up off the porch and put it right back on.
I walked down the steps, stretching that smile hard across my face. “Faith. My goodness. How unexpected.”
Dad looked like he was about to burst with excitement and tears all at once. He walked with her as we met halfway. He had a hand on her back. A grin on his face. A spring to his step.
We
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