“They replaced it with a bioabsorbable polymer. Kind of cool when you think about it.”
I hope to distract her from my offering and the connotation that comes with it. Unfortunately, she’s too smart for that.
“That’s why you wanted to come here.” She puts a hand over her mouth. “You wanted to leave behind that piece of your skull and ask Saint Roch to heal you.”
“Don’t cry, Maggie.” I point at her when her eyes well up. “I swear on my mother’s grave, I’ll never go anywhere with you again if you cry.”
“Right.” She nods emphatically, blinking away her tears. “You’re absolutely right.”
Luc crosses his arms and narrowly regards me.
“And you.” I transfer my point to him. “Don’t look at me like that. You know I don’t really believe in any of this bullshit. But I figure, what the hell? Can’t hurt, right?”
“Well,Ibelieve,” Maggie declares emphatically. “I mean, not in organized religion or anything. How the heck am I supposed to know who’s right? The Christians? The Hindus? Buddhists? Muslims? I don’t think theright god”—she does air quotes—“should depend on where you were born. But I dolike to think there’s something bigger than us. That there’s more to this whole thing than the infinitesimal span of our lives. I’mgladyou left that piece of your skull behind, Cash.” She gives me a quick, assertive nod. “Give it up to the power of the universe. Who knows? Maybe the universe will give you something in return.”
Luc grunts, which makes Maggie quirk an eyebrow at him. “What’sthatsupposed to mean? Don’t you believe in a higher power?”
“Given all the awful shit I’ve seen?” Luc’s frown is fierce. “If thereisa god, he’s a sadistic sonofagun, and I’d like to have a few words with him.”
She winces. She probably thinks he’s talking about that night in the bayou. And maybe he is. But he’s notonlytalking about that. All the years spent soldiering mean we’ve both seen the worst humanity has to offer.
Okay, this is getting too serious.
“I’m starving.” I nudge them toward the front door. “What do you guys say we swing by Port of Call on our way home? I could use a burger and a baked potato.”
Maggie grins. “My head and hips say, ‘Salad,’but my heart says, ‘Heck yeah!’”
Trailing behind them, I secretly take out my flask. “Here’s to you, Roch.” I salute the saint under my breath before downing the Gentleman Jack and exiting the chapel.
