Читать книгу Calling Home - Janna McMahan - Страница 14

The first day Virginia let Jim Pickett in her kitchen and offered him a cup of coffee she had felt a fluttery lightness in her chest. He was more handsome than he had been in high school, his face more rugged and masculine. Jim had started swinging by the house to give Will a ride to work every weekend. Her son had mercifully chosen not tease her about their apparent attraction, choosing instead to ignore the possibility.

On the third morning Jim sat at her table she offered him breakfast. After that it became a Saturday routine, with Jim joining the family for the last few minutes of their meal, seemingly eating only leftovers, but devouring enough food it was apparent he had not eaten. She had invited him to watch Will play ball. Jim showed up with a heavy blanket that he offered to share with Virginia. She had thought it would be wrong to show any public displays of affection; after all, they had not even verbalized their interest to each other. Then her gaze had fallen on Roger standing down the fence line, his fingers hooked through the chain link. Suddenly she felt cold and needed the warmth of the blanket and Jim close to her.

When he had finally asked her to dinner she had acted nonchalant. But on the day of their date Virginia had laid her three good outfits out on the bed and dressed and undressed without satisfaction. Shannon helped her apply makeup, which Virginia had then buffed to nonexistence.

Jim picked her up on time. He wore a sport coat and jeans. They got in the car immediately, as though if they didn’t leave that minute, one of them might change their mind. They drove an hour to Bowling Green to see Coal Miner’s Daughter. Afterward they went to The Iron Skillet, where a line of people trailed out from the entrance. Couples sat on benches to the side of the fake double barn doors. Children played in the graveled landscaping. The place was designed to look like a weathered tobacco barn, which didn’t make sense to Virginia. Why anyone would want to eat in a barn was beyond her, but there was no telling what would appeal to people in a city like Bowling Green. It wasn’t big like Louisville, still had people who wanted to play at being country folks, or maybe they wanted some of the food they grew up with instead of thin excuses for hamburgers and greasy attempts at biscuits.

“Twenty-minute wait,” Jim said when he came back out. “Want to go somewhere else?”

“I can wait if you can.”

“Let’s have a drink.”

Virginia had never actually had a drink in a bar, but she said okay as if she had done it every day of her life. The lounge was packed, but a name was called and a couple vacated their relaxed spot next to the fireplace and Jim sat down. When the waiter came around, he ordered a bourbon and Coke.

“Something for the lady?”

“What would you like, Virginia?”

“Oh, something without too much alcohol,” she said.

“A glass of Chablis?” the waiter suggested.

“What’s that?”

“White wine.”

“Okay. I’ll try it.”

When their server had gone, Jim said, “So, how’d you like the movie?”

“Oh, I loved it. I thought Sissy Spacek was so good. I heard she sung all her own songs for that movie. Can you believe it? She sings as good as Loretta Lynn.”

“I agree.”

“I just hope the rest of the world doesn’t think that’s what all of Kentucky’s like.”

“Only Appalachia.”

“Shoot. I’ve got relatives in Paintsville and Prestonsburg and they don’t live like that.”

“You know somebody does though.”

“True, but still, they seemed so pitiful. I wanted to cry a couple of times.”

The waiter flipped two square napkins onto the tiny tabletop and set their drinks down. “The hostess said to tell you the wait will be a little bit longer than anticipated. I’m Eric. Holler if you need anything.”

The wine was sour in Virginia’s mouth. “It’s real good,” she said and smiled.

Jim took a big gulp of his drink and sat back to watch the silent basketball game on the bar TV. Players raced back and forth on the screen, their movements followed closely by jerky camera shots.

“Kentucky had a bad season,” Jim said. Basketball was always the topic of spring conversation, particularly if the Wildcats were winning. Virginia never understood why people got so tied up with certain teams, crazy about them like they had gone to that school. Seemed like everybody she knew followed UK basketball even though most of them had never set foot on campus. “They did okay in the SEC tourney. Got nudged out by two by LSU. But they were out of the NCAA tournament early.”

“Did you go to Kentucky?”

“Two semesters. Then I got married and moved to Indiana.”

Virginia finished the last sip of wine, and a tingly sense of calm came over her. She relaxed into the overstuffed chair.

Jim’s eyes were gray, with smile lines crinkling the corners. “Want another drink?”

He held up two fingers to the bartender, who nodded.

“You haven’t said, do you and Mary Jane have any kids?”

“No. Never got around to it.”

“Guess that would make getting divorced a little easier. No kids to fight over.”

“You and Roger fighting over the kids?”

“Not exactly. He’s not even interested. We’re not Kramer vs. Kramer.”

“Mary Jane drug me to see that. Strange to think a woman would run out on her kid like that.”

Virginia straightened in her chair. “Men do it all the time and nobody ever blinks an eye, but if a woman runs away, well, she’s dirt for sure.”

“I don’t know. When Mary Jane and me got divorced you would have thought I was the devil incarnate the way she talked about me to the judge.”

“Why’d you get divorced?”

“Irreconcilable differences.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Hell if I know. I guess it means we don’t get along.”

“Sounds like a good thing to say without saying anything.”

“That sums up our whole marriage,” he said. He seemed sad, but he winked at her. “So why did you and Roger split up?”

As their second round of drinks arrived, Virginia took the moment to ask herself if she wanted to be honest. Should she make Roger sound like the dog he was or should she take the less bitter route? She settled on a noncommittal answer. “I’m sure Roger had his reasons for leaving. He’s just not sharing them with me.”

“Ah, communication problems. Any good marriage counselor’ll tell you that’s the first thing to go when a marriage is falling apart.” Jim sneered.

“You and Mary Jane went to counseling?”

“For a while. But it didn’t work. Waste of money.”

“I don’t guess it’s any secret that Roger moved in with that woman who runs the Beauty Boutique.”

“Yeah, I heard tell.”

“I suppose that sums up our problems right there.”

“He’s an idiot. Why would a man go out for cheap pizza when he can get filet mignon at home? You know, I always had a crush on you in school.”

“You lie. You didn’t know I was alive.”

“I was going to ask you out, but then I heard you and Roger were getting married.”

Virginia gazed at the little pond outside the window. Two ducks paddled in the ridiculously small pool of water. Droppings littered the mulch chips. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Okay. Let’s talk about that game. Bet you’re proud of how Will pitched tonight.”

“I am.”

“He’s got a good head on his shoulders. I hope that Western scout takes a shine to him. I tried to walk on the baseball team at UK but didn’t make it. College sports are a big step up from high school. You go to college?”

“Lord, no. I got married and started raising kids.”

“You were a year behind me, but I remember everybody thought you were smart.”

“I did okay.” A little stab of pain hit Virginia when she remembered how her grades had fallen off her senior year when Will was a baby. She ended up graduating near the middle of her class and even that had been a struggle.

“Does Will have good marks?”

“His grades are fine, but Shannon’s the one with the straight A’s. She studies her little head off.”

“What subjects does she like?”

“Science and math. You wouldn’t believe some of the classes they’ve got her taking. Advanced placement they call it. Chemistry and trig and economics. When I was in school I took typing and home ec and history.”

“I think kids have a lot more to learn now.”

“Shannon really takes to science. She’s always carrying around some bug or frog or snake and talking about how it reproduces and how pollution and people are destroying where animals live. I don’t understand half of what she talks about, but she’s won a lot of speech contests. When I was a kid everybody was trying to kill animals and weeds and insects so they wouldn’t eat our crops and now she’s off on some campaign to educate everybody not to kill things. She’s getting all geared up for Junior Miss this fall. Both my kids are competitive. They have ribbons and trophies all just so in their rooms.”

Shouts erupted in the bar, cutting off their conversation. Jim got up to get a closer look at the small screen. When he sat back down he shook his head as if to say it was nothing important. “Will fish? I haven’t been in a long time. Not since I got back to Falling Rock. I need somebody to show me the good spots.”

“Oh, he’d love that, I’m sure. He likes to fish. Hunt, too. Anything outdoors, Will’s good at.”

“He seems pretty industrious.”

“Both my kids work hard. They’ve had to since their daddy’s such a slack-ass. Oh, there I went and said something bad about him and I promised myself I wouldn’t.”

Jim laughed out loud. “It’s okay. Fresh wounds. Believe me, I understand.”

“I guess I’m fortunate my kids are so smart. I don’t have to worry about them too much. At least not Will. Now Shannon, she’s got a bunch of book sense, but not a whole lot of common sense. I have to keep her on a tighter leash.”

“That so?”

“Both of them are chomping at the bit to get out of Falling Rock, but Shannon’s the one who’ll try anything. Will’s a little more careful. He plays more by the rules. Shannon wants to go to some rock concert in Louisville and she’s mad at me because I won’t let her go.”

“What’s the band?”

“Some guy named Pink Floyd. I’ve never heard of a guy named Pink. I guess it could be a girl.”

“That’s the band’s name. I’ve heard their music.”

“What’s it like?”

“Interesting. Strange. Loud.”

“Think that concert is somewhere a fifteen-year-old girl needs to be?”

“Not really. Probably a lot of drugs.”

“And what about all those people who died up in Cincinnati last December? That sounds too rough to me.”

“That was a Who concert. They had festival seating, which is a free-for-all. No assigned seats. People got crushed trying to rush in to be right in front of the stage. Most places don’t have festival seating anymore.”

“Still, I don’t think it’s right for her to go. She said I favor Will because I let him, but things are different with boys. You don’t worry so much about boys.”

“Yeah.”

“Fewer things can happen to a boy. You know?”

“I don’t blame you. I know what boys are like. If I had a daughter, I’d probably never let her out of my sight.”