Leroy shrugged and dug into his pie, thanked Doc for the coffee when he filled his cup, then made his way into the living room to listen to theLone Ranger.
“Need any help with the pots?” Doc said.
“You best go in with the boys.” For the hundredth time today, Tuesday noticed the small crack running down the side of the sink window. She flipped on the light as the last of the western sunset glowed above the horizon. “I don’t want Leroy getting ideas something’s up between us. He’s not always rational.”
“What ideas might those be?” Doc leaned against the counter with a damp dish towel slung over his shoulder.
“Well, nothing, of course, but like I said, Lee’s not always rational.”
“You know why I come around, Tooz?” Doc spoke low and gazed at his polished shoes.
The warm kitchen suddenly felt cold. “Why, you—you come around to help out. Which, you know, the boys and I really—”
“If you don’t know, I’ll leave it.” He snapped the towel in theair and draped it over the rack by the door to dry. “I know I’m old enough to be your father, but I thought it was time to be honest.”
“Sometimes honesty means we say nothing at all.” She tipped her head toward the living room. “You best get in there, hear what the Lone Ranger is up to.”
He squeezed her arm as he passed, and when she was alone in the kitchen, a deep sob broke her composure.Oh, Doc. Leaving the pot and pan in the now-tepid dishwater with fading suds, she made her way to the back stoop.
The North Florida air was fragrant with the hope of spring. The golden light along the horizon blended with the neon colors of the Starlight. Burt manned the rink tonight, and by the notes on the breeze, he’d raised the panels to release the music of a newly reborn Dirk.
She’d suspected Doc loved her. She’d seen it in his eyes a few times. But since he said nothing, nor made a move her direction, she’d let herself rely on him as a friend. Tonight’s exchange changed things. Gazing at the Starlight, his words in her ears, she resented him slightly for telling her.
Every part of her was intertwined with the Starlight—her childhood, her teen years, meeting Leroy, raising the boys. If she left Lee, whichhadoccurred to her on occasion, for the love of a good man, she’d lose everything that defined Tuesday Knight.
She jumped when the screen door creaked behind her. Leroy stepped down to the driveway and kicked at the thin gravel. “Doc’s got a lot of nerve.” He struck a match against the bottom of his shoe and lit his cigarette. “Telling me to buy the boys a new radio.”
“Why don’t you? You built the one we have now before we were married.”
“It still works.” He blew out a long stream of smoke toward the barn, which by now was really nothing more than an oversized shed that leaned too far left. “Don’t want the boys to get spoiled.”
Tuesday scoffed. “How you reckon? They wear hand-me-down clothes, live in a house that was once a fishing shack, and theirmother cooks on a wood-burning stove.” Lee gave her a hard look, which she returned. She’d not kowtow to him, and every word she spoke was true. “You talk big about making a better life for us, but you don’t seem to mind the ribbed lines have worn off your sons’ corduroys and the rubber’s peeled away from their sneakers.”
“You should tell me these things.”
“When would that be?” Tuesday shifted from Doc’s confession to Leroy’s dereliction of duty. “When you breeze in town for a day? When you’re laid up in bed with a wound? You scared the beans out of LJ when you were shot. Did you know that? Never mind that slice down your cheek.”
“Boys need to learn life is hard.”
“Lee, we’re very aware life is hard and unfair. But some people add fuel to the fire. A lot of men go through life without getting shot or cut.” She sank to sit on the porch steps. “Whydidyou get shot? Who cut you? Why, if you’re working so hard, do I live in this shack with a stove from the last century, wearing dresses I bought before we were married?”
“You don’t think I want to do better by you and the boys? What do you think I’m doing out there?”
“I have no earthly idea, Lee. That’s the point. Did a lawman shoot you?”
He crushed his cigarette on the sun-bleached concrete walk. “Maybe.”
“Have mercy, Lee. Will you stop this life? I won’t have some lawman or mobster knocking down my door looking for you. This town talks. We know what men like Capone or the Trafficante gang do to folks they don’t like.”
A note hit the air. More music from the Starlight. Tuesday moved past Leroy to listen. Dirk was playing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” She wished she was skating.
Lee wrapped his arms around her. “I’ll get the boys a new radio.”
“I’d rather you find a job around here and treat them with kindness.”
“I don’t mean to be harsh, Tooz.” He kissed her neck. “I’ll do better. I promise. But for now...” He kissed her lips. “I love you. You know I do.”
“Then come home for good, Lee. Please. That’s all I ask.”
