that, if anything. He didn’t know. Keep them separate anyway for now.
Divide and conquer .
It always worked for him.
Chapter Six
Sally
“You know one thing I love about you? Your hair.”
“Hair? I don’t have hardly any.”
“Sure you do. It’s fine as baby’s hair.”
“And there’s just about as much of it.”
Ed lay on the pillow under her arm. She stroked his head. When he turned toward her she could feel his beard against her breast. The beard was thick and soft, not at all prickly as she’d first expected and she liked the feel of that too.
She stroked his powerful shoulders, his strong arms, the soft smooth lightly freckled skin.
“What time you have to be at work in the morning?”
“Nine.”
“I wish you’d told me what you were planning to do and where you were planning to do it. I couldn’t forbid you god knows but I sure as hell would have tried to talk you out of it. Harold and Jane, they’re all right I guess, though I don’t really know the mother too well. But that goddamn Ray. I dunno, Sally. Were you listening to what I just said? We had the guy prime on a murder charge. Charlie and I still think he’s guilty as sin. Or at the very least knows who is. You sure I can’t get you to rethink this thing?”
“Cut it out, Eddie. You’re trying to spook me.”
“Damn right I am.”
“It’s just a job, Ed. I’m not going to marry the guy.”
He was making her uncomfortable, though. It was the first she’d known Ed Anderson to make her uncomfortable about anything , and certainly not on purpose. She needed the goddamn job. There weren’t that many of them open for kids this late in the season. She’d left the last one, the Dairy Queen, because her boss had accused her of stealing from the till. And even though they went through the receipts again and they’d tallied and even though he’d apologized sort of she’d never stolen a dime from anybody and wasn’t about to work for someone who thought she might be capable of it. The Dairy Queen was a lousy job anyway. On your feet all night long, five to midnight. Though she didn’t expect that changing sheets and doing people’s dirty laundry would be a whole lot better.
But it was something. And her father had made it clear to her that if she wanted college next year she’d damn well better pull her weight. And she wanted college very much. So she was going to pull her weight. She’d have done it anyway even if she hadn’t been accepted at B.U., if for no other reason than to make enough money to get out of town like her older sister Ruthie’d done. There was nothing about Sparta with the exception of Ed to keep her here and she expected to be free of her father and his precious Sparta Realty and all her parents’ self-important phony connections as soon as humanly possible.
“I committed myself, Ed. I told her I’d be there. Listen, I can handle Ray.”
“The best way to handle Ray Pye is to keep the hell away from him.”
“I can do that too. It’s a motel for godsakes. This time of year there are people all over the place. What’s he going to do, attack me in the laundry room in broad daylight? You’re a sweet silly man and you’re crazy about me, aren’t you.”
She kissed him and gave him a hug.
“I love you,” she said. “I could eat you up.”
She reached down under the covers and he was up, or well on his way up. Ed was no fifteen-minute man but he was a half-an-hour man and she supposed that at his age that was really not half bad at all.
She stroked him. His lips traced the side of her breast.
“You remember the day we met, Eddie?”
“Mmmm-hmmmm. Strawberry shake.”
“And you asked for crushed pineapple in it, three spoonsful in the shaker and I thought you were crazy. Then you made me try it and it was delicious. And you got this great big smile on your face and said, I wouldn’t lie to you. Why would I lie? And you’ve never ever lied to me since, have
Divide and conquer .
It always worked for him.
Chapter Six
Sally
“You know one thing I love about you? Your hair.”
“Hair? I don’t have hardly any.”
“Sure you do. It’s fine as baby’s hair.”
“And there’s just about as much of it.”
Ed lay on the pillow under her arm. She stroked his head. When he turned toward her she could feel his beard against her breast. The beard was thick and soft, not at all prickly as she’d first expected and she liked the feel of that too.
She stroked his powerful shoulders, his strong arms, the soft smooth lightly freckled skin.
“What time you have to be at work in the morning?”
“Nine.”
“I wish you’d told me what you were planning to do and where you were planning to do it. I couldn’t forbid you god knows but I sure as hell would have tried to talk you out of it. Harold and Jane, they’re all right I guess, though I don’t really know the mother too well. But that goddamn Ray. I dunno, Sally. Were you listening to what I just said? We had the guy prime on a murder charge. Charlie and I still think he’s guilty as sin. Or at the very least knows who is. You sure I can’t get you to rethink this thing?”
“Cut it out, Eddie. You’re trying to spook me.”
“Damn right I am.”
“It’s just a job, Ed. I’m not going to marry the guy.”
He was making her uncomfortable, though. It was the first she’d known Ed Anderson to make her uncomfortable about anything , and certainly not on purpose. She needed the goddamn job. There weren’t that many of them open for kids this late in the season. She’d left the last one, the Dairy Queen, because her boss had accused her of stealing from the till. And even though they went through the receipts again and they’d tallied and even though he’d apologized sort of she’d never stolen a dime from anybody and wasn’t about to work for someone who thought she might be capable of it. The Dairy Queen was a lousy job anyway. On your feet all night long, five to midnight. Though she didn’t expect that changing sheets and doing people’s dirty laundry would be a whole lot better.
But it was something. And her father had made it clear to her that if she wanted college next year she’d damn well better pull her weight. And she wanted college very much. So she was going to pull her weight. She’d have done it anyway even if she hadn’t been accepted at B.U., if for no other reason than to make enough money to get out of town like her older sister Ruthie’d done. There was nothing about Sparta with the exception of Ed to keep her here and she expected to be free of her father and his precious Sparta Realty and all her parents’ self-important phony connections as soon as humanly possible.
“I committed myself, Ed. I told her I’d be there. Listen, I can handle Ray.”
“The best way to handle Ray Pye is to keep the hell away from him.”
“I can do that too. It’s a motel for godsakes. This time of year there are people all over the place. What’s he going to do, attack me in the laundry room in broad daylight? You’re a sweet silly man and you’re crazy about me, aren’t you.”
She kissed him and gave him a hug.
“I love you,” she said. “I could eat you up.”
She reached down under the covers and he was up, or well on his way up. Ed was no fifteen-minute man but he was a half-an-hour man and she supposed that at his age that was really not half bad at all.
She stroked him. His lips traced the side of her breast.
“You remember the day we met, Eddie?”
“Mmmm-hmmmm. Strawberry shake.”
“And you asked for crushed pineapple in it, three spoonsful in the shaker and I thought you were crazy. Then you made me try it and it was delicious. And you got this great big smile on your face and said, I wouldn’t lie to you. Why would I lie? And you’ve never ever lied to me since, have
Similar Books
