Lucy and Jessica had once again made plans to play at the Logues’ home after school.
“Why does she have to be so social?” Sheridan asked Marybeth.
“I can hear you, you know,” Lucy said over her shoulder to Sheridan. “Maybe it’s because I have good friends.”
“She’ll probably be a cheerleader, for goodness sake.”
“That’s because I’ll have something to cheer about and won’t be crabby all the time, like some people.”
Which caused Jessica to giggle. “Put a gag in it, Lucy.”
“Girls . . .” Marybeth cautioned.
Driving down Second Street, Marybeth smiled to herself. Although Sheridan participated in plenty of activities at school and church, she had never felt the need to fill her social calendar beyond that. She didn’t get many calls at home, and rarely made any to classmates. Sheridan’s best friend, Marybeth thought with a gulp, was probably Nate Romanowski.
Marybeth turned into the winding, tree-shrouded driveway out of habit and nearly rear-ended a stopped vehicle. She slammed on her brakes, the van did a quick shimmy, and they avoided hitting the pickup with a camper in the back of it by less than a foot.
“Cool,” Sheridan said. “Nice maneuver.”
Marybeth blew out a breath and sat back. That had been too close. It was her fault. She had assumed the driveway would be empty the way it always was.
“Everybody okay?”
They all said they were, and then Lucy and Jessica were scrambling for the door handles.
Because the van was designed to automatically lock all the doors when it was in gear, Marybeth had to hit a toggle switch to open them. She hesitated as she reached for the switch to let the girls out.
The camper pickup she had almost slammed into was old, red, dented, and splashed with mud. It listed a bit to the side, as if one of the shocks was bad. The old truck had dirty South Dakota plates.
“Do you have visitors, Jessica?” Marybeth asked, turning in her seat. Jessica gave up on the door and looked up nodding. “My grandma and my grandpa are here.”
“Well, I’m sure that’s nice for you,” Marybeth said, trying to think if either Cam or Marie had mentioned their company at the office. If they had, she couldn’t remember it. The atmosphere in the office had been tense all week, with lots of closed doors.
“Yeah,” Jessica said without enthusiasm. “They’re from South Dakota?”
“Um-hmmm.”
“Will they be staying with you very long?”
Marybeth saw Sheridan look up at her with an exasperated expression. She wanted to go home, not listen to her mother pry for information.
“I don’t know.”
“How long have they been here?” “A week, maybe more.”
Maybe that’s why Cam has been so irritable at work, Marybeth thought. It was bad enough with the mutilations in the news, the stubborn Overstreet sisters causing problems, the poor financial conditions in general for the Logues—and now his parents were visiting. Cam’s dark moods seemed to make a little more sense.
“Lucy, maybe it would be best to skip it tonight if the Logues have company,” Marybeth said.
Both Lucy and Jessica howled in protest. “You’re sure it’s okay?”
“Yes!” Jessica insisted.
“And you’re sure your mom said she’ll bring Lucy home tonight?” “YES!”
“Okay, then,” Marybeth said, pushing the toggle to unlock the doors. Lucy bolted forward and gave Marybeth a quick kiss on the cheek.
“See you, Mom.”
Marybeth watched both girls skip around the pickup and toward the house. Sheridan sighed from the back. Marybeth started to put the transmission into reverse, then halted. Something didn’t seem right to her. Nothing logical, nothing she could articulate. But when it came to her children, she always let her feelings hold sway, and she did that now.
“Mom? Are we leaving?”
Maybe it was simply because Marie had not said anything to her, Marybeth thought. They shared everything, Marie and Marybeth, things she knew Joe would blanch at if he overheard. They discussed wants, needs, ambitions, sometimes like schoolgirls. Marybeth knew, for instance, that Cam had not been interested in sex since he got the Timberline Ranch listing. This troubled Marie, especially since they had agreed to try to get pregnant again. Marybeth was more guarded with her secrets, although 106C. J. BOX she had poured out her frustration on the disheartening state of the Pickett family finances.
The arrival of a fatherand mother-in-law was a big event, Marybeth knew. How could Marie have failed to mention it? Or had Marie said something and Marybeth, in the nonstop rush her life had recently become, simply not heard?
“Okay,” Marybeth said, as she began to back out of the driveway. She saw Sheridan slump back into her seat in over-obvious relief. “I just . . .”
“. . . have trouble letting go,” Sheridan finished for her.
Marybeth backed out of the driveway and onto the road and started back through town toward the Bighorn Road.
13
There’s something outside I’ve got to show you that will scare the pants off Hailey Bond,” Jessica Logue told Lucy Pickett as they entered the house.
“Are you sure it’s okay?”
“Of course it’s not okay, Lucy.” They smiled at each other.
Because Jessica’s parents weren’t yet home from work, Jessica and Lucy dropped their backpacks in the living room and went straight through the house toward the back door. Lucy heard the sound of a television from the darkened family room, and as they passed by she saw the blue glow from the screen.
“Jessica, honey,” someone called.
“Hi, Grandma,” Jessica said but didn’t slow her stride. “Come in here so we can see you. Who is your friend?”
Jessica stopped abruptly, then turned to Lucy and rolled her eyes. She led Lucy into the dark room.
It took a moment for Lucy’s eyes to adjust to the darkness. When she could see, she could make out two people in the gloom. They were lit softly by the light of the television, which reflected in two pairs of oldfashioned, metal-framed eyeglasses.
“Lucy, this is Grandma and Grandpa Logue.”
“Hi,” Lucy said. Jessica’s grandparents were small, thin people. Her grandmother wore an oversized sweatshirt with a heart embroidered across the front of it. Her hair was dull gray and cropped close. Jessica’s grandfather looked like something out of an old movie about farmers: flannel shirt buttoned to his chin, wide suspenders, baggy, stained trousers, and heavy work shoes. They were watching a talk show about bad families.
Lucy saw that Jessica’s grandmother had a pile of knitting on her lap, and could see the glint from the metal knitting needles. How could she even see what she was doing?
“Why don’t you have the lights on?” Lucy asked.
“Why waste electricity?” Jessica’s grandmother asked back.
“We don’t waste electricity in our family,” Jessica’s grandfather said with a high twang. “Don’t waste water, either.”
Lucy didn’t know what to say to that.
“We’re going to play,” Jessica said, and Lucy was grateful to her changing the subject.
“You be careful,” Jessica’s grandmother cautioned. “Stay close to the house. Nice to meet you, little girl.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Lucy said.
Outside, Jessica widened her eyes and gestured “follow me.” They were in the heavy trees behind the house. It was cool and still, and the curled cottonwood leaves crunched beneath their feet. Lucy was glad to be outside, away from Jessica’s grandparents.
Lucy thought how old Jessica’s grandparents seemed to be, especially compared to Grandmother Missy, who was now out on that ranch. Grandmother Missy seemed years younger. Lucy sometimes wished she was more like a real grandmother, but Jessica’s grandparents took being old a little too far, she thought.
They were a long way from the house. “Jessica . . .”
“I know. We’ll take a look at it and get right back to the house before my mom and dad get home.”