Page 78 of Nothing But It All
I pluck the ripened berries off the bush and drop them into my bucket.
“What was she like, Pops?” Maddie asks.
“Myra?” He gazes into the distance. “She was a good woman. Smart. A hard worker. As pretty as a picture.”
Maddie grins, starting to work on theRin Reed.
“Your grandma was a catch,” Dad says. “I had to work solid for a month to get her to go out with me. Then she turned me down twice when I asked her to marry me.”
“She did?” I ask.News to me.
“Hell yes, she did.” He chuckles. “I didn’t have a damn thing to offer her, and she could’ve had anyone she wanted in a five-countyradius. I didn’t have a penny to my name. What would she want in a man like me?”
“Well, you’re awfully handsome,” Maddie says.
Dad smiles. “Yes, I am.”
I snort. “And humble.”
“But I finally got her to say yes,” he says, stretching his legs out in front of him. “I promised her she’d never want for anything. I’d make sure she had everything she could ever need.And I did.”
His voice rises and then falls curiously. I glance over my shoulder. My eyes lock immediately with his.
A chill races down my spine.
His point is unstated, but it isn’t necessary to be clear.
He knows about Lauren and me.But how much does he know?
Should I tell him we’re okay?
We are okay, aren’t we?
I replay everything from last night—our conversation and our kiss. Dinner. How we talked late into the night after we went to bed.
“He’s absolutely guilty,” she says, licking the spoon. Her eyes shine with talk of the latest celebrity trial. “There’s a mountain of evidence against him.”
“It’s all circumstantial.” I lean over her. “Give me another scoop of that.”
She pretends to pull the ice cream away from me. I bury my face in the crook of her neck, making her squeal.
“Circumstantial or not,” she says, giving me access to the pint, “the jury will never believe his story.”
“They will if they’re objective.”
She rolls her eyes. “I objectively think you’re wrong.”
“Bet me.”
“What do you want to bet?”
I think about it. “If he’s guilty, I’ll be at your beck and call for a week. If he’s not, you’re mine for seven full days.”
Her eyes twinkle. “Deal.”
Even though we didn’t make love, there was definitely more comfort between us. I didn’t feel as though a wall was barricading me from my wife—and the pillow wall was gone. I have to ask myself again, How long has it been since I feltthat?
My stomach flip-flops as I pick apart our interaction for anything I missed. But the more I think about it, the more confident I am that there’s nothing I’m forgetting to worry about.
