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"I wish you&039;d try to get some more sleep" Tucker stood by, frustrated, while Caroline used a wo, restless night
"I couldn&039;t" She dabbed more concealer under her eyes and blended "I&039;d just sit around and wait for the phone to ring"
"Go down to Sater" He stood behind her, watching her in the tiny bathroom mirror Despite the circumstances, he felt an odd and powerful sense of intieless female ritual "Take a nap in my hammock"
"Tucker, don&039;t worry about me It&039;s Darleen we all should be concerned about And the Fullers-Junior That little baby God" Struggling to hold on, she stabbed the mascara brush in and out of the tube "How could this happen?"
"We&039;re not sure anything happened yet She ht have just run off somewhere Billy T said he hadn&039;t seen her, but after Junior walloped him, he&039;d be apt to lie if he had"
"Then why did she leave her car on the side of the road?"
They&039;d been over this again and again "Maybe she was going to meet somebody That stretch is pretty lonely She could have left her car and gone off with soht or two"
"I hope you&039;re right" She dragged a coh her hair, then turned "I hope to God you&039;re right, because if you&039;re not, it ht be like the others And if it is, that would mean that-"
"Don&039;t take it any further until it has to go there" Gently, he curled his fingers around her forear" She leaned against him a moment The tiny rooh , first light was blooht, the press should be here before the day&039;s over I can deal with that" On a long breath she pulled back "I can But I feel I have to go to the Fullers to offer Happy some son of support I&039;m not sure I can deal with that"
"There&039;ll be plenty of others there for her You don&039;t have to go"
"I do I can be an outsider, or I can belong It comes down to how you treat others, doesn&039;t it?"
Hadn&039;t he said so very siue with yourself "I&039;ll co out the doorhen she heard the toot of a horn "That&039;s probably Burke It&039;s nearly dawn"
"I&039;d better go, then"
"Tucker" She took his shirt-sleeve when he turned away, then kissed hi "That&039;s all"
He rested his cheek on hers for one last ht am when Caroline arrived at the Fullers&039;, Happy wasn&039;t alone Friends and fa to replace the pots already consuathered in the kitchen, that time-honored space of comfort
Caroline hesitated in the doorway, beyond the murmur of conversation, the circle of support and worry and reassurances She recognized the faces: Susie jiggling Scooter on her hip, Josie standing, restless, by the back door, Toby&039;s wife, Winnie, rinsing out cups in the sink, Birdie Shays stationed staunchly beside Happy, Marvella quietly ripping apart a paper napkin
The sense of intrusion was so great, Caroline nearly turned around and walked out again It was Josie who saw her, who offered her a tired s
"Caroline You look like a whipped dog Come on in and we&039;ll pump you full of coffee"
"I just" She looked helplessly from one woman to the other "I wanted to stop by and see if there was anything I could do"
"Nothing but wait" Happy held out a hand Reaching for it, Caroline stepped into the circle
So they waited, in aof perfumes and soft voices, with talk about children andDelia joined the jewelry and a basket of sandwiches She bullied Happy into eating half of one, scolded Josie forhiht plastic bracelets to chew on
"That child&039;s got muddy diapers," she declared "I can scent &039;ee hiing Delia&039;s bracelet on the tile "He&039;s tired, too Aren&039;t you tired, little man? I&039;ll just put him down in the daybed, Happy"
"He likes that little yellow teddy bear," Happy told her, pressing her treether "Darleen left it for him yesterday"
"Why don&039;t you find it for her, Happy?" Delia shot Birdie a warning look before the wo to do," Delia said quietly when Happy went out "Worrying&039;ll eat her up We all need sos for one of your Jell-O parfaits That&039;ll go down cool by afternoon Marvella, you stop wringing your hands and use &039;em to squeeze sooddamn coffee Winnie, I think you should mix up one of your potions for Happy Get her to sleep awhile"
"I thought about it, Miss Delia I didn&039;t believe she&039;d drink it"
Delia sri head to head withback Josie, you and Caroline clean up these dishes"
"A woht to have a platoon of marines to order around" Even as she complained, Josie stacked dishes
Now there was purpose in the roo at Delia "How can I get to be you when I grow up?"
Highly pleased, Delia fussed with the big gold buttons of her blouse "Why, child, you just learn how to use your ot it, but not everybody kno to use it constructive like"
"Happy&039;s other girls ought to be here," Birdie said, slaht to"
"You know they&039;ll coht you to squeeze a lean to rewrap uneaten sandwiches "Those girls got families, Birdie Jobs and homes of their own Wouldn&039;t it be foolish of the up her heels?"
"Miss Delia?" Winnie sprinkled herbs into a pot on the stove Her hands were s than to talking But when she spoke, her voice was cool and s to brew this up like a tea I ain&039;t h to ease"
"Let&039;s have a look" Delia joined her at the stove, where they nored their conversation As a doctor&039;s wife, she didn&039;t think it quite proper for her to approve of folkmore I can do here" Josie wiped her hands dry on a tea towel "I&039; out to hunt around so care of that," Birdie said Her tone was sharp enough to have Josie lift a brow, but Birdie had to put her frustration somewhere
"Men don&039;t always know best where to look for a wo to check on Cousin Lulu first, Delia, then I&039;, he&039;d be more likely to tell me than he would aon," Delia ed "Fact&039;s a fact Besides, Happy&039;s better off knohatever there is to know sooner rather than later She&039;ll "
No one could think of an argument to that She left by the back door Mo to life
"If that Billy T knohere Darleen took off to-" Birdie began
"If he does, Josie&039;ll find out sure as God reen apples" Delia handed Winnie a cup for the sedative she&039;d brewed
"He went off to sleep just like an angel," Happy said as she walked back into the roo like his ht sleep like it was Satan come to steal her soul Iat her eyes, she trailed off
"You sit on down here, Priscilla," Delia ordered, using Happy&039;s given na you sick, is all" Using her big, broad hands, she pushed Happy into a chair "You let us do the worrying awhile Nobody better at it than a roo otta blow on it first" Winnie set the cup in front of her, then stayed, resting a hand on the back of the chair Winnie had gone to school with Happy&039;s eldest daughter, and Belle Fuller had been the first white girl ever to invite Winnie into her home to play with dolls
"What is it?"
"It&039;s what&039;s good for you," Delia said, and waved Winnie aside
"I don&039;t want one of Winnie&039;s ic potions," she said petulantly "I&039;m not sick, I&039;m just-"
"Scared and miserable," Delia finished "By the look of you, you didn&039;t get a wink of sleep last night You know Winnie wouldn&039;t give you anything wasn&039;t helpful You drink up now and get some rest"
"What I need is coffee" When Happy started to rise, Delia shoved her back
"Now you listen toGod willing, your Darleen&039;ll be back here preening herself over the ruckus she caused But right now you&039;ve got a child upstairs sleeping who&039;s going to need you one way or the other What good can you do him if you&039;re worn out"
"I just want her back" When the tears started, she laid her head against Delia&039;s cushioning breast "I just want ave her nothing she didn&039;t need"
"She was always so fretful Even as a baby, theelse I wanted as best for her, but I never could see to help, Caroline stepped forward "Here, Happy" She lifted the cup "Drink a little"
Happy took a s, then two, before grabbing Caroline&039;s hand "She doesn&039;t think I love her, but I do Soives you the rief All I can think is that when she was here yesterday, wanting me to side with her about what happened with Junior and that Bonny boy, I couldn&039;t do it She rong Darleen never could figure out as right and rong, but she ca her mother to stick up for her And I didn&039;t We just ended up fighting like always, with her stoan to sob then, and Delia rocked her and stroked her hair Susie had coirls" Happy&039;s fingers convulsed on Caroline&039;s "Oh, sweet Jesus, I keep thinking about those other girls"
"Hush now" Delia lifted the cup to Happy&039;s lips "Aren&039;t they saying that was Austin, and he&039;s dead as a doornail Why, Caroline here shot hirateful to her Except er, and she would be if she had a lick of sense Now, you co to take you up for a nice lie-down"
"Just for a little while" With Winnie&039;s brewher eyelids heavy, Happy let Delia lead her out of the kitchen
"Oh, Mama" Marvella turned into Susie&039;s shoulder to weep
"Shush now, don&039;t you start" But Susie patted her back "We don&039;t know that any thing&039;s happened"
"We have to have faith," Winnie added "And while we&039;re having it, I&039; to fix some food in case others coave Marvella a last pat "Honey, you peel some potatoes and put thery No telling how long we&039;ll have to wait"
Tucker stood on the banks of Gooseneck Creek and wiped his damp face with a bandanna The temperature had soared to a hundred and tith the air so thick it felt as if you could grab a fistful and wring it out The sky was a pale blue, bleached by thea quick, relieving dunk in the water The picture helped a little, but he settled for soaking his bandanna in the creek and cooling his face and neck
He remembered that Arnette had been found here-by Darleen&039;s brother While he was hunkered down, Tucker took time to say a prayer
Please God, don&039;t let me find her
Someone would, he was sure He&039;d discounted the hopeful theory that she&039;d taken off with someone It didn&039;t make sense She hadn&039;t had ti with all of her women friends, insisted he hadn&039;t heard from her
Tucker believed him Male pride was at stake Billy T wasn&039;t likely to take up with a wo pan Darleen hadn&039;t been of particular importance to Billy T One woman was the same as another to him
The inevitable comparison with himself left Tucker with a bad taste in his mouth
Darleen hadn&039;t left her car on the side of the road during a thunderstorm to hop into another with some new lover or new friend Not when Junior clai, and that the housekeeping money was still tucked away in the coffee can, where she&039;d kept it
Soain he prayed it would be so the reeds His part of the search party was ranged along the banks, slopping through the weeds andbut some old beer bottles and maybe a used condoy Junior had already blasted away a water moccasin Since it had seemed to make him feel better, no one had commented
The fact was, there was very little conversation Theup an a into one One of the helicopters called up fro at the hot air, and the tay radios each group leader carried on their belts would squawk and buzz with talk or static The FBI was holding back fro over But then, they didn&039;t know Innocence or its people Burns was convinced Darleen was just another dissatisfied ho&039;d taken off for greener pastures
Tucker figured he wasn&039;t ready to ade
He swiped at h to want to shoot at the whining bloodsuckers instead of slapping at the whistle of the train, he wished he were on it Going anywhere
When he&039;d finished his assigned area, he walked back to join Burke, Junior, Toby and the others who&039;d taken this side of the creek
"They&039;re nearly done on the other bank," Burke said He was keeping a wary eye on Junior, ready to move in if Darleen&039;s husband started to relieve his anxiety by shooting at soleton and Carl called in from McNair swamp It&039;s all clear so far"
Toby March laid his rifle in the bed of the pick-up He thought of his oife, his own daughter, and though it sha was choosing white skin
"We still got about six hours of good daylight left," he said to no one in particular "I was thinking maybe some of us could ride down to Rosedale and Greenville and such Ask around"
"I&039;ve got Barb Hopkins calling all the motels, hospitals, the local police" Burke took Junior&039;s gun and laid it with his own in the truck "County&039;s sending her picture out"
"There you go" Will Shiver gave Junior a hearty slap on the back "They&039;ll find her holed up in so her toenails and watching TV"
Saying nothing, Junior shrugged off the hand and walked away
"Give hiazes politely away Toby squinted, adjusting the brilare of the sun "So"
It took several seconds before anyone else could lint offroot eyes like hawks," Will Shiver said good-naturedly "That car ans," Toby returned with a sarcasm so subtle and smooth that Tucker had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep froans"
Interested, Will cocked his head "I heard tell that was a wives&039; tale"
"Yes, sir," Toby said blandly "There&039;s plenty of wives who&039;ll attest to it"
Tucker coughed and turned away to light a cigarette It didn&039;t see so close by But nized the car a moment later, by the color and the speed hich it was traveling