Took him a moment, but he figured out what it was. It was relief.
He took out his cell phone, thought for a moment, put it back in his pocket. The diner had a pay phone, and he spent a couple of quarters and placed a call. The girl who answered put Sully on the phone, and Colliard said, “That order you placed the other day, I wanted to tell you I’ll be able to fill it tomorrow.”
“You sure of that, are you?”
“It might take an extra day.”
“A day one way or the other doesn’t matter. The question is do you have the goods for the transaction.”
“I do.”
“It seems to me,” Sully said, “that it’s a hard question to answer ahead of the event, if you take my meaning.”
“I know it for a fact,” Colliard said. “What I did, I went and took inventory.”
“You took inventory.”
“Checked the shelves myself.”
He finished his coffee, and stayed at the table long enough to make another phone call. He used his cell phone for this one, there was no reason not to, and called his own home. The first three rings went unanswered. Then his wife picked up just before the phone went to Voice Mail.
He asked how it went at the doctor’s office, and was pleased to learn that everything went well, that the baby’s heartbeat was strong and distinct, that all systems were go. “He said I’m going to be a perfectly wonderful mother,” she reported.
“Well, I could have told you that.”
“You sound—”
“What?”
“Better,” she said. “Stronger. More upbeat.”
“I’m going to be a perfectly wonderful father.”
“Oh, you are, you are. I’m just happy you’re in such good spirits.”
“It must have been the casserole. I had some for breakfast.”
“Not cold?”
“No, I microwaved it.”
“And it was good?”
“Better than good.”
“Not too spicy? So early in the day?”
“It got me off to a good start.”
“And it’s been a good day,” she said. “That much I can hear in your voice. Did you—”
“I got the job. Well, case by case, the way I said, but they’re going to be giving me work.”
“That’s wonderful, honey.”
“It may take a while to get back where we were, but we’re finally pointed in the right direction again, you know?”
“We’ll be fine.”
“Damn right we will. And we’ll be able to keep the house. I know you had your heart set on a trailer, but—”
“I’ll get over it. What time will you be home? I should really get dinner started.”
“Let’s go out.”
“Really?”
“Nothing fancy,” he said. “I was thinking along the lines of pizza and a Coke.”