Bone Deep (11 page)

Now
Tom encouraged
Edison
into a canter and it was clearly a strain for the
old
horse. After a brief burst of speed, he slowed and began plodding again, blowing out his breath and limping slightly.

Tom stop
ped,
slid off the saddle
and
stooped to examine
Edison
’s hoof.

Sarah jumped off the fence and walked over to them. “Don’t let him fool you. There’s nothing wrong with him. He just doesn’t like to be ridden.”

Tom put the
horse’s foot
down, straightened and moved in front of
Edison
to peer into his
huge brown eyes
. He
petted the blaze on
Edison
’s forehead
and murmured something to the horse.

Sarah patted
Edison
’s
sweaty
flank. “Good heavens, you’d think he’d run the
Derby
. Lazy old thing.”

“He’s tired.” Tom moved around to the horse’s side again and started unbuckling the saddle.

Sarah watched his efficient movements. “You ride well. Too bad there’s not a real horse you can practice on.”

Together they removed
Edison
’s tack and rubbed him down
before
Tom led
the animal
to the pasture. The old horse rolled on his back in the grass to rid himself of the feel of the saddle.

“See, I told you
he’s all right
. Look at him frisk around now.”

They leaned against the split rail fence, watching
Edison
amble across the pasture without a limp while Millie
the cow
stood in the shade of a tree, occasionally pulling up a clump of grass.

Sarah smelled the
horse scent on Tom mingled with his sweat and the essence of
his body beneath that
. It had been a strange week, living with him in her home.
Time
passed quickly, yet it
seemed
like he’d lived with her for
much longer than a week
. Every day she grew more used to having him around as
their
routine of chores, meals and evenings spent with music and books
continued
. She couldn’t imagine her life going back to the way it was before Tom arrived, when her days stretched out before her in lonely bleakness.

S
he
hadn’t felt this alive since before the Army lieutenant arrived
on her doorstep
to tell her John had been killed in action. She had shut down on that day and not been able to rouse interest in anything or anyone until now.

But
while
she and Tom had developed
an easy
pattern, she was also
prickly
whenever they were together
, as if
wearing a mohair sweater against her skin. Deep inside she admitted that she
’
d never been this physically
aroused by any man
before--not even her husband.

Tom didn’t
talk
much, but she didn’t need him to. She knew he was there and listening to her. The mostly one-sided conversations didn’t feel awkward as they had at the beginning. Occasionally he would interject
a comment
so she knew he was truly hearing her. And now that he was so much more relaxed he would sometimes come out with a dry
observation
that set her laughing. He was definitely not mentally deficient despite the bizarre circumstances of his life.

Now it was Friday
again
,
a
week since she
’d
first encountered Tom at the carnival.
It was hard to
reconcile that brief amount of time with the complete turnaround in her life.

She watched Tom watch the horse for a moment then tapped his arm. “You ready for some dinner?”

That night after supper they settled in the living room for another reading lesson when
the sound of a car engine came from outside
. Without a word, Tom closed the book
and went upstairs.

Sarah went to the front hall and turned on the porch light. Looking through the glass she saw Mike and Grace’s car. She stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

Grace and Mike got out of the car and Andrew Harper emerged from the back seat.

Sarah
was taken aback at the sudden arrival of her friends but there was nothing she could do but smile
in welcome. “Hello.”

“Hi
.
” Grace May walked toward the porch. “We came to get you to go to the dance in
Camden
at the Grange Hall.”

“Oh, I don’t know
.
”

“Will Axtell and the Harmonizers are playing
.
” Mike
came
up behind Grace and put an arm around her waist. “They’re really good. I heard ‘em last year in Hooperstown at the Cherry Festival.”

“Come on, Sarah.” Grace May lifted her eyebrows and
rolled
her eyes toward Andrew standing
be
side of the car looking uncomfortable. “
We’re not going to let you
stay home on a Friday night. Go get dressed and come out with us.”

“I...” Sarah glanced at Andrew.
He smiled at her but dropped his gaze, seeming embarrassed that he’d ignored her express wishes about dating.

Grace started up the steps to the porch. “No arguments. Come on, I’ll help you pick out something to wear.”

“No!” Sarah stepped in front of the door. “I mean, no. I’ll get changed. Why don’t all of you sit out here on the porch? It’s a beautiful night. I’ll bring you something to drink while you wait.”

Before Grace could argue, Sarah went inside. She glanced at the stairs and thought of Tom waiting up in his room. She supposed it would be safe enough to invite her friends into the house but felt more comfortable with them out on the porch.
If they heard the floorboards creak overhead, they might be suspicious.

In the kitchen, she took three bottles of Coca-Cola from the refrigerator, popped the tops and carried them out to the porch. Grace and Mike sat on the swing rocking gently while Andrew perched on the railing across from them.

“Sorry I don’t have any beer,” Sarah said, handing out the chilled bottles.

“Thanks.” Andrew still looked embarrassed. He
lowered
his voice. “Look, I’m sorry to surprise you like this. Grace said
—
”

“It’s okay,” Sarah interrupted. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

“Take your time. We’re in no hurry
,
”
Grace said.

Back inside, Sarah raced upstairs and knocked at Tom’s door. When he opened it, she was struck anew by
his strangeness
.
O
ver the past days
, s
he
’
d gotten so used to
the way he looked
that she hardly noticed his
tattoos
anymore.

“I’m sorry. It’s my friends, the ones who were with me at the carnival last weekend. They want me to go out dancing and Grace won’t take no for an answer.”

He nodded.

“I feel bad leaving you here.”

“It’s all right. Go have fun.” He smiled briefly then started to close the door.

Sarah hesitated, feeling guilty about leaving him alone. “I shouldn’t be back too late. Don’t feel you have to stay in your room. Make yourself comfortable, listen to the radio or read. Get a snack from the kitchen.”

He nodded again and closed the door softly.

Sarah went to her room and put on her dark green dress with the flared skirt, her
dressy
high heels and a little makeup. She brushed out her
auburn
hair, decided she didn’t want to take the time to put it up and tied a green satin ribbon in it instead. With a last guilty glance at Tom’s closed door, she ran down the stairs.

She sat on the porch for a while talking with her guests while they finished their drinks and wishing they
’
d hurry. She was painfully aware of Tom isolated in his room,
hearing
their voices and laughter drifting up through his open window.

“Did you hear that Frank’s selling the Texaco station? I guess he and Maizie are moving south to be near their kids.” Mike drew on his a cigarette and slowly puffed out a smoke ring.

Grace spoke
over
him, carrying on a parallel conversation as the pair of them often did. “Sarah, you won’t believe what Trixie Ross did. She broke off her engagement with Steve!”

“Moving to
Tall
a
hassee
, I guess,” Mike continued.

“They’ve been going out since we were in high school. She’s kept him on a string all this time and now she’s dumped him.”

“Too hot and too many alligators for me.”

“I heard that she’s taken up with some fellow from over in
Camden
. Maybe we’ll see them tonight at the dance.”
Grace set her empty Coke bottle on the
porch
rail
beside the swing.

Mike checked his watch. “I guess we
’d
better be going or the dance’ll be half over by the time we get there.”

Grace stood
. “We should get going.” She frowned at Mike, who was sipping the last of his soda. “Hurry up and finish that or we’ll be late.”

Sliding into the back seat of the car next to Andrew, Sarah breathed in a cloud of his too-s
trong
cologne.

He leaned over to whisper again, “Sorry about this. I didn’t plan it. I know you told me you weren’t ready to date, but Grace...”

“I know. When she makes up her mind, she doesn’t stop
un
til she gets her way.” She laughed. “That’s how she got Mike to pop the question when he was dragging his heels.”

“So this isn’t a date,” Andrew said. “Just friends going to a dance and having a good time.” He grinned and Sarah thought he looked like an overgrown schoolboy despite the flecks of gray at his temples.

“Okay.” She smiled back.

They drove almost an hour to
Camden
. The parking lot
of the Grange Hall
was full
. M
usic and lights poured out of the open doors of the brick building. Inside, the crush of bodies and mingled
odors of sweat, cigarettes and various
perfume
s
made
it hard to breathe
.

The dance floor was crowded. The band played
Sing, Sing, Sing
,
which
had the dancers swinging as best they could in the limited space. Mike was right,
though
The Harmonizers
were no Benny Goodman Orchestra, they
weren’t half-bad
.
Sarah found her head bobbing and her toe tapping
to the beat
.

“Let’s try to find a place to sit,” Grace yelled over the music.

They threaded their way through the crowd to the back of the hall without finding a single
available
chair.

“Hell, might as well dance then.” Mike grabbed Grace by the
hand
and
pulled
her out onto the floor.

“Do you want to?” Andrew leaned down to ask Sarah.

She nodded.

A half-minute after they started dancing the song finished. The band slowed down the pace with the melodious
Moon Glow
. Sarah shuffled in a small circle in Andrew’s arms and the dance floor grew more crowded as even non-dancers got dragged out to sway with their dates to the romantic tune.

Sarah was overpowered by Andrew’s cologne at this close range. She tried to maintain a little distance between them but with the press of bodies she found herself rocking in a close embrace. His cotton shirt was hot and damp with sweat beneath her hand resting on his shoulder. His hand that clasped hers
was also
moist.

When the song was finally over, Sarah stepped back, fanning her face. “Whew, it’s hot in here. Shall we find the others and step outside for a minute?”

“Sure. I’ll get some punch too,” Andrew
agreed
.