Читать книгу Whatever it takes - Paul Cleave - Страница 18

Thirteen

Compared to the mammoth-killing temperatures inside the police station, getting back into the car is like catching a rocket ship to the sun. I pilot it out of the parking lot and into the shade of a large elm tree over the road. I dial Alyssa’s number. She doesn’t answer and I leave a message.

I drive back to Saint John’s. I pass an outdoor swimming pool that only has a few people using it, but will fill up with kids when school is out. The one I used to go to when I was younger has closed. Every summer me and Drew would win medals at that pool, at least until we started competing in state championships where we’d be up against guys who were bigger and faster. I pass a supermarket where, when I was fourteen years old, I got my first job packing groceries. I drive past the bowling alley where I once dropped a ball on my foot and broke my toe, all while Maggie couldn’t stop laughing.

I call Maggie. I tell her I’m heading back to the church, and she tells me she’s heading to the school. She says Damian isn’t feeling well and she’s on her way to pick him up. She asks how I got on with Drew, and I tell her everything he told me.

“Frank didn’t tell me Drew had been to see him,” she says. “I wouldn’t have called you if he had.”

“That’s probably why he didn’t tell you.”

“Did Drew say who the father was?”

“I didn’t ask,” I say. “It doesn’t change anything.”

“I’m glad we have an answer,” she says. “But you’ve come all this way and . . . and for that I’m sorry. It feels like I’ve wasted your time.”

Up ahead a brand-new building is replacing an old one. I can’t remember what used to be there. People in brightly colored vests are scurrying around, cutting and nailing and bolting. I think about the town having expanded, and how it will expand some more. At some point it will double, and then over time it will double again. In a hundred years this new building will be pulled down to make way for another one. That’s what progress is — pulling apart the past and making it better.

“I’m glad you called,” I tell her. “It was good coming back here.”

“You mean that?”

“Of course. Even somewhat cathartic.”

“I’m glad,” she says. “So what are you going to do now?”

It’s a tough question, and one I’ve been asking myself on the drive from the station. “Do you think we should tell Father Frank the truth?” I ask her.

“I don’t know,” she finally says. “I . . . I guess not.”

“That’s my feeling too. Let’s tell him what Drew told us, that she’s safe but everything going on here is too much for her to handle. I’ll talk to her, and see if I can convince her to return home.”

“Are you going to head back home today?”

“Yes.”

“It’s just . . .” she says, but then doesn’t say what. I stay silent as she formulates her thoughts. “It’s silly, you know? You coming all the way out here and going right back.”

“I have no reason to stay.”

“I . . . I guess I can see that,” she says. “I have to pick up Harry after school. How about I come and get you from the church after that, and drive you back out to the airport?”

“I’d appreciate it,” I say, trying to imagine how I’m going to spend the next few hours. Maybe I should go back to the pool.

She goes quiet again. More silence on my end and more thoughts being formulated on hers. “You . . . you should stay,” she says.

I don’t say anything.

“At least for a night. We could have breakfast tomorrow morning after I’ve dropped the kids off at school. Catch up some before I take you to the airport. It’ll be easier for me to do that, because it means I won’t have to get home late tonight.”

Seeing Maggie has sparked up emotions I haven’t felt in a long time. I wasn’t kidding when I told Drew earlier I’d moved on — I have — but I also can’t deny that the reason I’ve let my relationships since then peter out is because none of those women were Maggie. So maybe I haven’t moved on as much as I thought. After all, I beat a man unconscious so I could get my phone back to be able to return Maggie’s call.

“Noah?”

“I’d like to stay, except for the fact Old Man Haggerty is probably putting together some kind of lynching party.” I make the turnoff into the church. I park the Toyota where I found it earlier. The engine sighs with thoughts of retirement when I shut it off.

“How about I meet you at the church in forty-five minutes? Maybe we can figure something out. Then if you want to go, I’ll take you out to the airport.”

“Okay. Thanks, Maggie.”

I find shade beside the porch where the lawn is greener and longer than anywhere else. I lean up against the apple tree and decide to help out its overweight branches by lessening the load. I polish my apple up against my shirt and carry it inside. The air is thicker and I can hear the oxygen machine and the fan and Father Frank’s chest singing out its death rattle. I’m a couple of steps in when I hear a creaking floorboard behind me. I don’t manage to turn all the way before something hard and heavy smacks me in the side of my head. I hit the ground in a heap and stare at a pair of feet in a pair of cowboy boots.