“Help yourself. I’m going to hit the bathroom real quick.”
Bess ambled back to the bathroom. Checking her reflection in the mirror, she wiped gently at the circles under her eyes. She looked tired. But hell, she was tired.
Scott wasn’t on the couch when she came back into the living room. She noticed the garage door was ajar.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I wanted to see the radio. What the fuck happened?”
“Oh, it broke,” she said, embarrassed.
“And everything else?”
“Everything what?” She glanced past him into the room.
“There’s got to be thirty beer bottles in here, and it looks like there was some sort of fight…”
Broken glass bottles littered the edge of the wall. “I broke a few. You know, frustrated. Nothing… I mean this isn’t… I guess it’s a little bit messy.” She felt irritated. Why was he even in here? What right did he have to criticize her housekeeping? “You know, let’s get out of here. The radio broke. It’s no big deal.”
“Yeah, sure.” Scott gave her a small smile. “I’m going to get out of here. I need to get some sleep. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”
“Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I should get to bed too. Thank you again, Scott.”
He left without another word and Bess was once again alone. The house seemed different. She suddenly felt intruded upon. The clock said it was pushing midnight. She should sleep. Things would make more sense in the morning.
14
CAROL WAS AT the front counter with Wayne when Bess came into work the next day. They were leaning in together. “Thick as thieves,” Bess’s mother had always said.
“What are you two conspiring about?” she asked.
“Not conspiring,” Carol said. “We were talking about you, though.”
“I should go put the new stock out,” Wayne said, sliding out from behind the counter and around Carol. “I heard you were at Bible study the other night, Bess.”
“I was, yeah, the people were really nice.”
“They are. Real nice bunch. I’m glad you liked it. It’s good for you. Can’t have enough of that goodness in your life.” He gave her a pat on the back on his way to the back room.
“So why are you talking about me?” Bess asked.
“You’re basically the talk of the town,” Carol said.
“Do tell.”
“Detective Howland was in here earlier. He was looking at the journals we have for sale. Oh, and asking about you.”
“About me? Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. He wanted to know how you’d been at work. If you were erratic lately. About your job performance.”
“And what did you tell him?”
“I told him you were as terrible as usual,” Carol deadpanned. “What do you think? I told him you’re a model employee. Always on time. No personal issues. I basically lied, but shit, I care more about you than I do some stranger cop. But now I need to know what’s happening.”
“Nothing’s happening,” Bess said.
“Come on. You are acting a little erratic. I come over and your place is a wreck. There’s mud on the windows, trash all over the place, and when was the last time you really slept? You’ve been looking more and more ragged every time I’ve seen you.”
“I’m fine. Things have been a little off. I’m… I don’t know. I’m going through some things.” Bess felt tears rising and clenched her jaw to keep them at bay.
“I offered you time off if you needed it. The offer still stands.”
“Let me work today. Carol, please. I need this.” She didn’t know why she needed it, but she did. She needed the normalcy of it, the routine. She needed to feel like a part of the world, like anyone else.
“Work today. But then you’re taking a week off, and it’s not negotiable.” Carol was sterner than Bess had ever seen her. There was no place for argument.
Bess nodded. “You can go get something done, I’ll cover the counter.”
Carol left her there without another word. Bess imagined what life would be like if Carol fired her until the tears threatened to spill from her eyes and she had to distract herself by straightening the candy bars beneath the counter.
The front door swung open and Bess gave a bright, “Hello,” without looking up.
“Hello to you too, Bess.”
Bess’s head moved so quickly her neck cried out in protest. Daniel Mills was only feet from her, and she quickly moved behind the counter in order to have something between them.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Well, I came to see you, Bess. I thought that would be obvious.” He was smiling at her and the sight of his teeth made her anxious.
“Why would you want to see me?”
“I very much enjoyed having you in my class. I wanted to invite you back. Any time.” He sauntered up to the counter and leaned in toward her. Bess stepped backward, pressing herself against the wall. “You know,” he continued, “it’s funny how I had no idea about you. I mean, it’s a small town. You’d think you’d know just about everybody. But here you were—a total stranger to me. Hiding.”
Bess shook her head. “No.”
“Not hiding, you say? No, maybe being hidden.”
“Can I help you?” Wayne appeared, a stack of new releases in his hands. Bess had never been so happy to see him.
“No, thank you,” Daniel said, turning toward him. “I was having a chat with our newest Bible study buddy!”
“Oh, Brother Daniel, I didn’t recognize you,” Wayne said, smiling. He juggled the weight of the books over to one arm and stuck out his right hand in order to shake Daniel’s hand.
Daniel gave it an exaggerated pump. “Wayne Wilkes! It is so so good to see you. I hear we have you to thank for Bess coming in and visiting us.”
“It’s true,” Wayne beamed. “I told her over and over she needed to get into that study group. Told her how much she’d like it.”
“Well, I can’t speak for her, but we sure liked having her.”
The whole scene was too surreal, Bess felt the room tilt on its side and she gripped the counter hard to keep herself upright. Hot bile rose in her throat and she struggled to swallow it down.
“She loved it,” Wayne said. “Of course she did.”
“Of course,” Daniel agreed.
Bess fainted.
Carol was standing over her when she awoke. Her face was drawn, and Bess could see every line in exaggerated detail. Bess felt clammy, her body covered in a cold sweat. She tried to sit up and Carol put a hand on her shoulder, gently keeping her where she was.
“Don’t get up too quick,” she said. “I never should have let you work today.” This was more to herself, but it felt like a slap to Bess’s face.
“I didn’t mean to,” Bess said, childlike in her weakened state.
“Of course not,” Daniel said, crouching at her feet like a tiger.
“Thank God you’re okay,” Carol said
“Well, let’s not give him the credit for everything,” Daniel said.
“I’m sorry,” Bess said. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
Wayne slid down next to her and held out a plastic bottle of juice. “I ran down to the deli and got you some orange juice. For your sugar.”
“Thank you, Wayne.”
“You should go home,” Carol told her.
“I don’t mind driving her,” Daniel volunteered.
“No,” Bess cried out, startling everyone. Everyone except Daniel, who smiled. “I can drive.”
“Absolutely not,” Carol said.
“Then, can you call Detective Howland for me?”
“What? Is he your legal guardian now?”
“I need to talk to him, anyway.”
“Sure, why the fuck not. He gave me his card earlier. I’ll track it down.” Carol got up and walked away.