Page 11 (1/2)

Junior Talbot stepped out of the cab of his tow truck, stuck a finger under his Atlanta Braves fielder&039;s cap, and dug through his tangled , slow circle around Tucker&039;son shards of glass His pale blue eyes were sober in his round, powerfully freckled face Thoughtfully, he pulled at his full bottoht he looked like Howdy Doody on tranquilizers

"Seeth

"Little bit," Tucker agreed "Got a smoke, Junior?"

"Guess so" Junior pulled a pack of Winstons frorease-stained work shirt He shook the pack, shooting a cigarette out to the filter, carefully replacing the pack after Tucker had taken it Then he crouched down to conte moment of silence "Sure used to be a pretty car"

Tucker knew Junior wasn&039;t rubbing his nose in it It was si over, Tucker opened the glove compartment and found a pack of matches "I s&039;pose they can fix her up, down in Jackson"

Junior thought about that awhile "I s&039;pose," he decided "Could be you bent the fra them out now Used to be, you bent the frah a haze of sress"

"That&039;s the truth" Taking his tirass on the verge of the road, the shower of glass, and the lack of skid arette himself "You know, Tucker, I always said you were the best driver I&039;ve seen, outside of the time I went down to Daytona to watch the 500"

Caroline gave a snort, and was politely ignored

"I recall how you took the Bonny boys for twenty dollars in the drag race down on Highway One-back in July of seventy-six it was They put their Ca" Junior accepted a match from Tucker and lit it with a flick of his thumbnail "Wasn&039;t no contest"

Tucker reht&039;ve been closer if Billy T had let John Thoreeably "Closer,you have"

"Idiots," Caroline said under her breath If Junior heard her, he pretended not to He&039;d been a married man more than a year now, and knehen a man should let his ears work and when he shouldn&039;t

"I gotta ask you," Junior continued in the same slow, quiet voice "How&039;d you happen to hit this pole here?"

"Well" Tucker took a considering drag "You could say the car got away fro seized up"

Junior nodded and continued to so back and fetch a couple of folding chairs so they could have their conversation in comfort

"Don&039;t look to me like you even hit the brakes"

"I hit them," Tucker said "They were out"

Junior eyes came as close to sharp as they ever did If it had been anyone else, he would have shrugged off the story But he knew and admired Tucker&039;s skill at the wheel "Now, that&039;s a puzzle Bad steering, bad brakes, all at once in a car like this? No more than six ain "We&039;ll have to take a look"

"I&039;d be obliged if you would, Junior"

Caroline held her tongue until Junior walked back to his tow truck "What the hell does a drag raceinto ht Get on back froht shift some when he hooks it on" Careful to keep her sympathy close to the surface, Tucker slid an arht on her, and allowed her to help him move back a few feet

"Are you dizzy?"

He wasn&039;t, but there was such sweet concern in her voice "Maybe a little," he said-bravely, he thought "It&039;ll pass" He bit back a smile when her aret you back in the car" She&039;d insisted on driving hi him to walk "I&039;ll take you horess "Maybe I could just stretch out on your couch till I get , he could tell When he heard the blare of a horn, he had to s an oath Dwayne screeched his white Caddy to a stop, dead in the middle of the road He hadn&039;t shaved yet, and his hair was sticking out at all angles He had pulled a pair of pants over his Jockeys and had added a lanced at Tucker, saas standing on both feet, and gave his attention to the car Junior was hooking up

"Out for a Sunday drive, Dwayne?"

"Crystal called" Dwayne whistled through his teeth as he took a look at the front end of the Porsche "Seeot the call He ran into Jed Larsson, then Crystal stopped in for a six-pack of Cokes Good thing I answered the phone before Josie, or she&039;d&039;ve had a hissy fit for sure" His hangover, thanks to Josie&039;s stock of pills and reh to make him sympathetic "Shit on toast, Tuck, you sure did kill that pretty little toy"

Out of patience, Caroline sucked in a breath "He&039;s doing as well as can be expected," she shot out "It could have been worse, but as it happens he only rapped his concrete head It&039;s understandable that you&039;re so concerned about your brother&039;s condition, but let me reassure you He&039;ll be fine"

Junior had stopped what he was doing to stare, the cigarette dangling froled not to lose his dignity by hooting with laughter

She was crazy about him, he decided

"Yes, ma&039;am," Dwayne said, meticulously polite "I can see he is I just rode down so I could take him home"

"What a concerned, close-knit faether" When he s about hilow

"I&039;ve never known another family like yours," Caroline said sincerely

"She&039;s all set, Tuck," Junior called "I&039;ll let you knohat&039;s what"

"You do that Thanks" Tucker had to turn away He just couldn&039;t watch his car being towed off It was al carried away on a stretcher

"Nice to see you again, Caroline," Dwayne began, then headed to his car "Let&039;s go, Tucker There was a ga when Crystal called I&039;veby now"

"In a minute" Tucker turned back to Caroline "I appreciate the nursing" He touched a hand to her hair "And the listening I didn&039;t realize I needed someone to listen"

It took her asincere There were no teasing lights in his eyes, no trace of mockery in his voice "You&039;re welcome"

"I&039;d like to pay you back" When she started to shake her head, Tucker cupped her chin "I&039;d like you to coht, at Sater"

"Really, Tucker, you don&039;t have to-"

"It occurs to me that I&039;d like you to see ed so far" His thu her jawline "And I&039;d just like to see you, period"

Her heartbeat skittered for a moment, but her voice was clear "I&039;, not with anyone"

"Having neighbors in for Sunday dinner&039;s an old country custohborly"

"Shit, Tuck, would you just kiss her and coer over her lips "She won&039;t let me Yet Come on down around five, Caro I&039;ll show you around Sater"

"All right"

She watched him walk to the Caddy, ease in carefully beside his brother He flashed her a quick grin before Dwayne shot toward Sater, the Caddy hugging dead center of the road

"Here I co you&039;ve cracked your skull or worse, and you tellpin down on the pie crust "Now I don&039;t even kno e, and she don&039;t know squat about sales for the best part of three hours, Tucker decided to act He pulled a twenty out of his pocket and slapped it on the counter "There That&039;s my contribution to the Trinity Lutheran bake sale"

"Hers snatched up the bill and tucked it away in the deep pocket of her apron She was far fro down to tell one and wrecked that car Told you when you bought it, no good co the roads on the Lord&039;s day, too" She flipped the crust into a pie plate "And when I co home to see if you&039;re dead or alive, you tell , she trioing to fix itself Edith&039;s grandbaby, too I had a great fondness for Edith, and she told randbaby&039;d been to Paris, France, and Italy, walked right into Buckingham Palace and even had dinner with the President of the United States in the White House" She pounded out the next crust "Here she&039;s co to dinner and I ain&039;t had ti Your rave-God rest her-if I weren&039;t to use the good silver" She wiped the back of her wrist over her brow Her heavy charled "It&039;s just like a man to think Sunday dinner makes itself"

Tucker scowled down at the potato he was peeling "I&039;ave a superior sniff and glanced at hi too s all over my clean floor"

"Jesus Christ-"

Delia&039;s eyes flashed with the cold ire Tucker respected "Don&039;t you use the Lord&039;s name in vain-not in my kitchen on Sunday"

"I&039;ll clean up the floor, Delia"

"See that you do-and not with one of s neither"

"No, uns, Tucker decided He set the bowl of potatoes in the sink, then moved over to wrap his arms around Delia&039;s considerable waist "I just wanted to do so nice for Caroline after she&039;d patched up runted "I&039;ve see what she looks like I can guess what that sorinned into her wild red curls "Can&039;t say the thought hasn&039;t passed through my mind"

"Passed under your zipper,"Seeured she&039;d flesh out so You know there&039;s nobody in the county who can set a table coht I&039;d like to impress her, and the surefire as to have her taste solazed ham"

Delia snorted and shifted, but the flush of pride was creeping up her cheeks "I guess I don&039;t begrudge giving the girl a decent ar, she won&039;t have had better in the White House You can take that to the bank"

Delia chuckled and slapped his hands away "She won&039;t get nothing if I don&039;t finish You drop the, then clear out I can do this quicker without you sniffing &039;round"

"Yes&039;rurin When he walked out of the steamy kitchen a fewanother baseball game "Wouldn&039;t hurt you to shave"

Dwayne shifted and reached for the bottle of Coke sitting on the floor "It&039;s Sunday I never shave on Sunday"

"We&039;ve got co s, and shen the shortstop bobbled the ball "If I shave, shethan you Then where&039;d you be?"

"I&039;ll risk it"

Dwayne snorted "They&039;re going to be pulling this pitcher before the inning&039;s up-if they got half a brain I&039;ll do it then"

Satisfied, Tucker started upstairs Before he reached his room, Josie called to hi to take a shower"

"Well, just come on back here for a randfather clock, saw he had a half hour before Caroline would arrive, and sauntered down the hall to Josie&039;s room

It looked like a departerie, shoes, were tossed over bed, chair, andseat A black lace teddy hung suggestively frootten swain had won for her at the state fair

She was still wearing the little red robe and her head was stuck in her closet as she pawed through as left hanging there

As always, there was a scent clinging to the air, a mixture of perfu between the perfuh-class bordello

Tucker gave the room a brief survey, and came to the obvious conclusion "Got a date?"

"Teddy&039;s driving me down to the nine o&039;clock show in Greenville I told hi co a short orange leather skirt up to her waist

"Too hot for leather"