Static Page 15

reality would hurt so much. He’d found her when he’d gone in to wake her for the day. It had become a quiet, special time for the two of them, those early mornings. It was the only time they took for Tuck to hold her as they talked and shared local news and gossip.

  He knew as soon as he saw her face that she was at peace. His first thought was that she looked like an angel, all soft and blond and beautiful. It didn’t comfort him that she’d feel no more pain; that she’d only been waiting for it to come for the last week or so. Nothing comforted him, it seemed. There was only a cold darkness in the area around his heart and it didn’t seem to be in any hurry to go away.

  All around him, people wept but claimed that it was for the best for Clarice. Tuck didn’t understand that. The best for her would have been to stay with him forever, to be his wife as she’d wanted for so long. His anger was nearly overwhelming and he wondered if he’d ever feel anything else.

  The end of May was warm and green. Flowers bloomed profusely everywhere he went. Nature was growing, thriving while he dealt with placing his beloved in the cold, dark ground. All he really wanted to do was to run, to go, to scream, to beat the life out of something, anything, as long as it would relieve the depression and anger.

  The ceremony was long and draining. Tuck just wanted it over. It seemed a thousand people came up to speak to him, to offer condolences. He spoke when forced to, out of politeness, clenching his teeth against the impatience, the anger. It seemed they would never stop coming. Finally, everyone began to clear away, but he remained unable to move from the chair. Sitting alone next to the pretty, gold colored casket he’d picked out just for her because it reminded him of her pretty, golden hair.

  He sat in a hard, metal chair, under a large canopy, the ground covered with a fake, green-grass outdoor carpeting that annoyed him. When he felt someone sit beside him he nearly groaned in frustration, why couldn’t they just leave me alone?

  “Most beautiful funeral I ever seen.” Flossie said quietly.

  Tuck closed his eyes in remorse for his mean thoughts toward whoever had sat next to him. Flossie didn’t deserve his ire. She’d been a rock for him, chasing off all the well wishers that visited his house every night. It seemed she was the only one who understood his desire to be alone.

  “Sheriff Bay Lopez says you’re not to return to work for at least another week. I say that’s hogwash. She’s too close to her time to be working alone. So I say you need to get yourself together and get back to work.”

  The laugh that burst from Tuck surprised him. He hadn’t known he could laugh, not at anything. “I’ll need a few more days at least Flossie, sorry for that. I can’t live in that house, I got to find a new one.”

  They sat in silence for a bit before Flossie spoke again. “Old man Baker has a rent house open over by the football field. No one stays there for long cuz of the noise. Don’t figure there will be any games until this fall though.”

  “That little yellow one? Where that fat stinky guy used to live? What was his name? Donald? Donaldson?”

  Flossie smacked him lightly on the arm. “That’s no way to talk about a man with a condition. But yes, that’s the house. It was Mr. Arnold Donald. Nice man, he just had an unfortunate odor.”

  “Arnold Donald, that’s it. Unfortunate name as well. Whatever happened to him?”

  It was quiet again. Finally Flossie gave a sniff and shifted in her chair. “He died.”

  Tuck dropped his head, “In the house, didn’t he?”

  “I know for a fact that Mr. Baker hired that cleaning crew from Collinsville and they do a right good job. So don’t you even think of using that for an excuse, Tucker Adams.”

  He looked over at the older woman and smiled. “Yes ‘mam. I’ll call Mr. Baker when I get back home.”

  Flossie gave a sharp nod before standing. “Gotta be going myself. You don’t stay here too long now. These men got a job to do and you don’t need to stand in their way.” She nodded toward the funeral home owners that were talking quietly to each other over by the hearse that had brought Clarice to the cemetery.

  After Flossie left, Tuck stood and moved toward the casket. He laid a hand on the top and said a quiet, final goodbye to the only woman he had ever loved. As he walked toward his pick-up truck, the birds were singing, the sun warm on his face. His mind began to fill with all the details he needed to take care of in the coming days. With one last lingering look back, he left the cemetery to start life over without his Clarice.

  - 6 -

  It was the Fourth of July and in Bay’s opinion, hotter than the depths of hell. Flossie assured her it was only because she was pregnant and felt the heat more than normal people. Flossie liked to tell the scariest old wives tales she could think of, or in Bay’s opinion, make up, about pregnant women. Bay had made a promise and would have happily sworn to in blood that she would never ever have sex again and risk getting pregnant again. This was hell, had to be, because it was so damn hot.

  Feeling as mean as a cat that had its tail stepped on, she sat in her air conditioned office with a small desk fan blowing straight on her face and still felt like she was going to sweat out an entire lake. The parade was scheduled to happen in two hours and no matter what sort of protocol the Mayor demanded from the Sheriff, she just didn’t see herself moving from this spot. Tuck was just going to have to lead the parade and the other boys could block traffic.

  Cursing her long heavy hair for being so hot and giving her a headache, she searched around for a pair of scissors. She was cutting the stuff off, right here right now. Giving a shout of triumph when she found the old rusty pair, she held them in one hand and grabbed a handful of hair with the other.

  “NO!” Tuck yelled.

  Bay jumped, managed to bite back the scream, and turned the scissors around to use a weapon all in the blink of an eye. Her eyes round, breath shaky she stared at Tuck who had nearly lunged all the way across her desk. “What are you doing?” She managed to whisper.

  Tuck stared at the scissors pointed at his face. “I uh... you were going to...”

  She could see the confusion in his eyes and frowned. “I was going to chop off this freakishly hot blanket of hair.”

  Bay watched, relaxing and becoming fascinated by slow pink color creeping up Tuck’s neck and face. He eased back away from her to sit in the chair across from the desk. “That’s sort of not what it looked like,” he growled.

  Tossing down the scissors, Bay glared at him. This whole baby thing was his fault. She was huge, hot, and waddled like a duck when she walked. Not to mention, tired. Bay didn’t know when she’d last gotten a full night’s sleep. Pointing to him, she narrowed her eyes, “You. You will lead this damn parade. You will tell the Mayor that I don’t care what he wants. This baby is a week late in coming, I’m hot and I’m not leaving this office or this fan. You can’t make me.”

  Tuck knew better than to smile. Biting his tongue hard enough to keep that from happening, he nodded. Swallowing back any hint of laughter in his voice he answered, “Yes ‘mam. I’ll handle everything. In fact if you wanted to go on home, I’m sure me and the boys can handle this evening’s fireworks.”

  “You’re damn right you’re gonna’ handle the fireworks, too. I’m not walking around that damn field in this heat. And I’m not going to the damn picnic before the fireworks either. But I will stay right here behind this desk outlining your schedule for working up at the school this fall.” Seeing the startled look in his eyes made her feel so much better. She had no intention of making him handle the school but it was her secret pleasure to not let him know that. Poking at him about it was her own little revenge for the soccer player inside of her.

  “Uh, yeah. Well, I guess I better head on up to the field for the parade line up. Some of those floats are pretty big. You, uh, well you might like to watch from inside. Parade will pass right in front of the office here.” Tuck eased from the chair looking for an escape.

  “I know exactly where the parade is
going to go, Tucker Adams. Didn’t I have to sit in those planning meetings while you didn’t?” Even Bay was beginning to think her case of the nasties was getting a little too nasty. She wanted to be alone in her misery. She wanted this person, this man responsible for her misery, out of her office.

  Tuck attempted to meet her angry stare and decided he had risked enough and took his leave. Bay could hear Roy’s chuckles and thought about sending some ire his way but then decided that would mean getting up and she wasn’t ready to do that. Leaning back and closing her eyes, she shifted in the chair, annoyed at the irritating pain in her back.

  If this kid didn’t get out of her soon... She sighed, and tried to relax. This was going to be a long day and she’d have to find a way to deal with it. Biting the heads off everyone that came near wasn’t going to make her feel better. Rubbing a hand over her mound of belly, she wondered idly how the kid could sleep when it was so hot.

  Melody came in just before the start of the parade. Bay sent another silent thank you to the stars for sending Melody to her. The girl had been a godsend,