know.”
“Fine. All right. I’m waiting.…”
He drew in a slow breath and continued, “The party ended. I kept drinking. Eventually I passed out on this dirt road, still up in the mountains. Don’t know how I got on that road or when I just fell down and didn’t get up. But that was when I got the help I badly needed. It was on that road that the guy who changed my life found me. His name was Wily Dunn.”
“He found you passed out in the middle of the road?”
“That’s about the size of it. He took me home, helped me to quit drinking and get back on my feet. In time, he let me work for him. I learned fast. Turned out I had a knack for working with wood.”
“So you’re saying you work for him. ”
“I did. Until last November. He died. And he left his company, Dunn Woodworkers, to me—he left everything to me.” He waited for her to say something to that. She only glared. So he prompted, “Does that explain it clearly enough for you?” Her answer was a surly little shrug. But he refused to give up. “So while I’m here, I’d like to use your workshop if you’ll let me. But the main thing is that it would be better, as far as getting to know Johnny, if I lived closer than I would be if I stayed at the Sierra Star.”
She spoke then. Finally. “You really think you need to be closer than down the street?”
“I want to be…around. So he sees me all the time.”
“You can be around and stay down the street.”
“It’s not the same. If I’m staying here, he’ll see me several times a day. And I won’t have to knock on the front door just to talk to him. I’ll be in and out of the house.”
She closed her eyes, let out a heavy sigh and then forced herself to look at him again. “You mean you want to eat with us.”
“If that’s okay, yeah. And I can wash up and shave mostly at the trough by the side of the barn.”
“Oh, come on, get real. I shut off the outside faucets before the first hard freeze. At the very least, you’ll need hot water and a toilet.”
“Yeah, well. I can use the downstairs bathroom. It’s near the back door, so I won’t have to be trooping through your house. And it’s got a shower.”
“So you’ll need to be in the house several times a day—to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and every time you need the use of a bathroom.”
“Glory, come on. I’ll stay out of your way as much as possible. And I could…help out around the house, clean up the yard if it needs it, fix whatever’s broken. And fill in at the hardware store, too, if you need someone there while you’re recovering. I know it’s a lot to ask.…”
“It’s more than a lot, Bowie. It’s too much to ask. Basically, you want to stay here, at my house, for an indefinite period of time. Just admit it.”
He did want to stay there, yeah. And he didn’t know yet for how long. Coaxingly, he tried again. “Look at it this way, the more time I can spend with Johnny day by day, the less time it will take overall.”
“The less time it will take for what?”
“To get to know him. To…work things out with him. To make him see that I’m here now, in his life. That I won’t go away again.”
She scanned his face as though determined to ferret out darker motives. “Get straight with me, Bowie.”
“I am being straight with you.”
“Hah. What are you planning, really?”
“I just told you.”
“I will tell you right now that if you think you can take him from me, you are very much mistaken.”
That was too much. “Stop it.” He spoke with more heat than he’d allowed himself up until then. “That is not what I’m here for.”
“You just said—”
“I meant that I won’t…disappear again, that I’ll be available for him whenever he needs me.”
She made a scoffing sound. “You’re ready for that? Really? To stick with him, to be a part of his life, no matter how rough it gets?”
“I am. Yes.”
“If you…make him love you. And then you leave him…”
“Fine. All right. I’m waiting.…”
He drew in a slow breath and continued, “The party ended. I kept drinking. Eventually I passed out on this dirt road, still up in the mountains. Don’t know how I got on that road or when I just fell down and didn’t get up. But that was when I got the help I badly needed. It was on that road that the guy who changed my life found me. His name was Wily Dunn.”
“He found you passed out in the middle of the road?”
“That’s about the size of it. He took me home, helped me to quit drinking and get back on my feet. In time, he let me work for him. I learned fast. Turned out I had a knack for working with wood.”
“So you’re saying you work for him. ”
“I did. Until last November. He died. And he left his company, Dunn Woodworkers, to me—he left everything to me.” He waited for her to say something to that. She only glared. So he prompted, “Does that explain it clearly enough for you?” Her answer was a surly little shrug. But he refused to give up. “So while I’m here, I’d like to use your workshop if you’ll let me. But the main thing is that it would be better, as far as getting to know Johnny, if I lived closer than I would be if I stayed at the Sierra Star.”
She spoke then. Finally. “You really think you need to be closer than down the street?”
“I want to be…around. So he sees me all the time.”
“You can be around and stay down the street.”
“It’s not the same. If I’m staying here, he’ll see me several times a day. And I won’t have to knock on the front door just to talk to him. I’ll be in and out of the house.”
She closed her eyes, let out a heavy sigh and then forced herself to look at him again. “You mean you want to eat with us.”
“If that’s okay, yeah. And I can wash up and shave mostly at the trough by the side of the barn.”
“Oh, come on, get real. I shut off the outside faucets before the first hard freeze. At the very least, you’ll need hot water and a toilet.”
“Yeah, well. I can use the downstairs bathroom. It’s near the back door, so I won’t have to be trooping through your house. And it’s got a shower.”
“So you’ll need to be in the house several times a day—to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and every time you need the use of a bathroom.”
“Glory, come on. I’ll stay out of your way as much as possible. And I could…help out around the house, clean up the yard if it needs it, fix whatever’s broken. And fill in at the hardware store, too, if you need someone there while you’re recovering. I know it’s a lot to ask.…”
“It’s more than a lot, Bowie. It’s too much to ask. Basically, you want to stay here, at my house, for an indefinite period of time. Just admit it.”
He did want to stay there, yeah. And he didn’t know yet for how long. Coaxingly, he tried again. “Look at it this way, the more time I can spend with Johnny day by day, the less time it will take overall.”
“The less time it will take for what?”
“To get to know him. To…work things out with him. To make him see that I’m here now, in his life. That I won’t go away again.”
She scanned his face as though determined to ferret out darker motives. “Get straight with me, Bowie.”
“I am being straight with you.”
“Hah. What are you planning, really?”
“I just told you.”
“I will tell you right now that if you think you can take him from me, you are very much mistaken.”
That was too much. “Stop it.” He spoke with more heat than he’d allowed himself up until then. “That is not what I’m here for.”
“You just said—”
“I meant that I won’t…disappear again, that I’ll be available for him whenever he needs me.”
She made a scoffing sound. “You’re ready for that? Really? To stick with him, to be a part of his life, no matter how rough it gets?”
“I am. Yes.”
“If you…make him love you. And then you leave him…”
Similar Books
