What I Love About You (7 page)

“Turn the egg a little to the right,” she told the young mother, and snapped several more photos.

Since Michael’s release day was looming, she’d actually taken his call the other day. She wished she hadn’t. He’d told her that he planned to spend a lot of time with Charlotte and acted like she should just want that to happen. He’d been real pushy. Pushy like he’d always been when she’d been young and naive and allowed it. She was no longer that person. She was a grown-up. A big girl. A woman and mother. She wasn’t intimidated by Michael, but the closer it came to his release, the more she felt anxiety.

While the young mother changed the baby into a christening gown, Natalie staged the next composition. She changed the backdrop to a gray damask and pushed her great-grandmother’s red velvet settee in front. The Victorian couch was bare in a few places but gave a photograph character and balance.

One of the last people she’d photographed had been Mabel and her smoky eyes. Thinking of Mabel made her think of Blake. Thinking of Blake made her think of his hand brushing her cheek that night in her kitchen. Maybe he was right. If the touch of a man’s hand on her face made her go all tingly, maybe she did need to date. But not the kind of date he’d been talking about.

Tonight Charlotte was staying with the Coopers and Natalie was going on a date with Lilah. It was the Saturday after Halloween, and Natalie was hitting the town in her Robin costume. Mort’s Bar was having its annual costume contest, and the winner would receive a jackalope trophy made by a local taxidermist. Natalie didn’t plan to enter as she’d rather not win a stuffed jackrabbit with deer antlers.

The mother sat with the sleeping baby in her lap, and Natalie clicked photos from different angles and light settings. The problem with dating anyone but Lilah was that she lived in Truly, Idaho, population ten thousand—in the summer. Once the snowbirds left in September, the population dropped to about twenty-five hundred. She knew most of the men in town, knew them and knew their wives.

After several more shots, Natalie and the young mother moved behind the customer counter and plugged the photo card into the commercial printer. The woman looked at all the pictures, chose the ones she wanted, and ordered different sizes. The shop wasn’t busy and Natalie printed the pictures before the woman left.

At five o’clock, she drove home to feed Sparky and let him out to do his business. He was house-trained now, and she’d even managed to get him to do his business in one area. The puppy took off for Blake’s yard and took a dump on his lawn. Natalie smiled. He’d left town and left training the dog to her. It just seemed right that Blake had to pick up poop. She glanced up at all the dark windows in the big house.

He already had a two-week crap collection, if he didn’t get home soon, he’d have to use a backhoe. There was neon pink in some of it, but Natalie wasn’t about to investigate.

The puppy sniffed around and searched for another spot. Last night, she and Charlotte had taken Sparky with them while they’d trick-or-treated in their small subdivision. Charlotte had dressed up all nice and warm in a horse costume of brown corduroy. Her cute little face stuck out of a horse’s head, and the costume had a long yellow mane and tail. Natalie had sewed a bow tie on the neck and Charlotte had pranced the neighborhood, neighing and stomping her foot. She’d been in full Bow Tie mode. Natalie loved when Charlotte was Bow Tie. She loved to make jumps and announce races, and last night Charlotte had added a new animal to her barnyard. Sparky the sheep. While Natalie had dressed as a cowgirl, they’d put a sheep costume on the puppy. Too bad the dog had spent most of the night trying to bite it off.

Sparky finished his business in Blake’s yard like a good dog, and after Natalie put the dog back in her house, she grabbed her purse and garment bag and drove all the way back into town. Lilah lived in the apartment above the salon where she worked, and Natalie parked in the little lot behind the Cutting Edge and Allegrezza Construction. A freezing breeze practically blew her up the wooden stairs to the green door at the top.

“Get in here,” Lilah yelled, and shut out the cold wind behind them.

The one-bedroom apartment was about as old as the town itself. The appliances had been replaced recently, but a few throw rugs covered the thin linoleum in the kitchen. Still, the big window seat that overlooked Main Street, and the old claw-foot tub in the bathroom, almost made up for the size of the apartment.

“Let me see your costume.” Lilah grabbed the garment bag and moved into her bedroom. “Not slutty enough,” she determined as she held up the shiny green and red costume.

“I wasn’t going for slutty.” The two of them got ready to go out for Halloween together as they had all through school. The difference was that now they drank wine and ate real fruit instead of Kool-Aid and fruit snacks. They laughed and joked about things that only the two of them would laugh and joke about. Like the time they’d taken Mildred Van Damme’s obese goat for a power walk or lost their gloves hooky bobbing on Sid Grime’s bumper.

At nine, they walked down the wood steps, Natalie in her shiny green shorts and a shiny red bustier. A yellow R on her right breast matched her yellow utility belt. The yellow satin cape tied at her throat and fell to her knees. Shiny green gauntlets covered her forearms, and she wore her black boots. Her costume was so tight she wasn’t wearing underwear, but she wouldn’t call it risqué. Her boobs weren’t popping out—well maybe they were a little, but her butt wasn’t hanging out. Not like Lilah, who’d tarted herself up like a dominatrix. She wore black leather and carried a whip, and Natalie was fairly certain it wasn’t a Halloween costume.

She ducked her head against the wind whipping her curled hair about her face, and she would not have been surprised if it blew off the fake eyelashes Lilah had glued to her lids. Natalie had half a buzz, and she’d let Lilah do her makeup. Lilah made her look more like a vixen than a superheroine.

With the velvet cape tucked around her for warmth, they ducked between the salon and the construction company. A block down the street, Mort’s Bar pulsed and vibrated with electric light and country music. There were four bars in Truly, but Mort’s was more than a bar. More than just a place to drink cold beers and get into a fight on Friday nights. Mort’s was an institution. Old like Princeton or Harvard, only for dumb people who wanted to get an education in getting tanked.

Natalie and Lilah passed devils and slutty nurses as they walked down the sidewalk and ducked beneath the “No One Under 21” sign above the bar’s door.

The heavy thump of the jukebox and the smells of hops and old wood filled Natalie’s nose as she stepped inside. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light. She hadn’t been in Mort’s in years, but it hadn’t changed. An array of antlers still hung above the long mahogany bar. The jackalope the original Mort had “bagged” back in ’52 still hung front and center. Behind the cash register and bottles of alcohol, a mirror ran the length of the bar, while three bartenders pulled beers and blended drinks.

“What can I get you girls?” the owner of Mort’s, Mick Hennessey, asked as they wedged themselves in at the bar. Out of the four bars, Mick owned two—Mort’s and the saloon that had been handed down through generations and bore his last name.

“White wine,” Natalie answered.

“Dirty Redheaded Slut.”

A smile curved Mick’s handsome face. “You got it.”

Natalie looked at her friend within the shadows and neon glow. “Seriously?”

Lilah shrugged her bare shoulders. “I like them.”

“You like the name.”

Lilah flipped the ponytail of the sleek black wig she wore. “You should try one. Lighten you right up.”

“No thanks. Charlotte goes to school with Mick’s son. His wife is a Thursday helper. I’m not going to get drunk on Dirty Sluts.”

“Dirty
Redheaded
Sluts,” Lilah corrected her as she took off her jacket. “Are you going to wear that cape all night?”

“I’m cold.” Which was true, but she discovered that she wasn’t all that comfortable wearing a bustier in public. Not now. After a few glasses of wine, she might lighten up.

Natalie felt an arm slide around her shoulders before a voice said, “Hey sis. What’s up?”

Lilah sighed and asked her brother, Tommy, “Is your wife here?” It was no secret that Lilah couldn’t stand her sister-in-law, Helen. Helen owned a hair salon in town, but Lilah refused to work there. Helen had a reputation for giving shitty cuts and bad color.

Tommy hung one arm around Natalie and the other around his sister. “She’s at home with the kids.”

Natalie had known Tommy Markham for as long as she’d known Lilah. At one time, he’d been a good-looking guy, but his lifestyle was quickly catching up with him.

“How are you, Nat?” he asked.

“I’m okay. Business is good. Charlotte’s good.”

Their drinks arrived and Tommy put them on his tab. They toasted with their glasses, then Lilah left her at the bar to chat with Tommy. They talked about his parents and his sons, who played junior high football. He bought her another glass of wine and a vodka shot.

“Are you trying to get me drunk, Tommy?”

He grinned, and a bit of his youthful charm shone through. “Maybe.”

It was no secret that Tommy was a dog and a serial cheater. It was also no secret that the Markhams in general were horny people. Natalie shot the lemon-flavored vodka down her throat and let out a breath. “You’re like a brother.”

“But I’m not. No one would have to know.”

“Gross, Tommy.” She grabbed her wine and turned away.

“Ah, don’t run away,” he called after her as she moved through the bar toward Lilah, standing beneath a big moose head. She got halfway across the bar before she was stopped by Suzanne Porter. Suzanne was dressed as a sexy mouse, which fit. She’d gone to school with Suzanne, and the girl had always been quiet but wild.

They talked about kids and business, and Natalie’s cheeks glowed with a happy buzz until Suzanne asked, “When’s Michael getting out?”

“I’m not absolutely sure,” Natalie answered. “Ask his mother and father.”

“He won’t be staying with you?”

Natalie looked at Suzanne’s whiskers and red nose. “Of course not.” She excused herself and found Lilah cozying up with none other than Frankie Cornell. “Hi, Frankie,” she said, and kept her gaze glued to his vampire fangs drawn on his lips and chin.

“Hey, Natalie. I sent my Halloween pictures to your business.”

She hadn’t seen them yet, but she hoped they weren’t photos of his magnum wang. “Thanks for the business.”

“You’re welcome. Just doing my part to keep my business local.”

Natalie took a drink and looked at Lilah over the rim of her glass.

Lilah had a big grin that reached her eyes and made them shine with humor. “That’s what we love about you, Frankie.”

Frankie beamed beneath the attention. “I hear Michael’s getting out soon.”

Natalie lowered her glass. “That’s what I hear.”

“That’s great!” Frankie, never good with social cues, rattled on about high school and football and how nice it was going to be to see Michael again. “Remember that game against the bulldogs when Michael threw that touchdown pass in the last three seconds?”

Lilah, who
was
good at social cues, tried to change the subject several times, but Frankie was stuck on the same track. Finally Lilah just gave up and threaded her arm through his. “Come buy me a drink, Frankie,” she said, and led him through the crowd toward the bar.

Natalie found a group of friends at a high table in one corner of the bar. Some of them had children around Charlotte’s age, and they chatted about kids and jobs. They talked about the upcoming Truly Winter Festival, speculated who might win the ice sculpting trophy, and laughed about last year’s spectacular snowmobile wipeouts.

Then the subject turned to Michael, and Natalie wasn’t laughing anymore. She’d buried her past with Michael long ago, but with his impending release, it was brought up fresh, and suddenly her life was the subject of speculation. Everyone wanted to know when Michael was getting out. Where was he going to live? Did he have to pay restitution? What did Charlotte think of her daddy coming home?

Natalie finished her wine and excused herself. She wrapped her cape around herself and found Lilah by the bar hanging out with her brother and some guy named Steve.

“If one more person asks me about Michael, I’m going to crack a chair over somebody’s head.”

Lilah took a bite of a green olive on a toothpick. “You’re not a brawler.”

She looked into her friend’s smoky eyes. Either Lilah had smeared her makeup or Natalie was getting drunk. “I can throw down.” She held up the forearms covered in shiny green gauntlets. “I have superpowers.” She knew it was the alcohol, but she kind of felt like she could kick some butt tonight.

Lilah laughed. “You ran home crying when Linda Finley threw bird poop on you.”

“That was the sixth grade and it landed in my hair.” She dropped her arms. She’d never been in a fight in her life, but if one more person asked about her ex-husband, she could probably go all flying snooker crazy on someone.

Lilah shook her head. “Steve, dance with my friend Natalie.” She patted the guy on the shoulder and warned, “Behave.”

“And don’t mention Michael.”

“Who’s Michael?”

“Exactly.”

She and Steve moved to the small crowded dance floor and he wrapped his arm around her waist. All respectable like a real gentleman. “I like this Catwoman costume.”

Catwoman?
“I’m Robin. Batman’s sidekick.”

“Robin’s a guy.”

“Not tonight.” Over Tyler Farr’s “Redneck Crazy,” she told Steve how long it had taken her to find the costume on the Internet. “Most were inappropriate.”

“I like inappropriate.” To prove it, Steve slid his hand down her green shorts and cupped her butt. She pushed at his shoulders and left him standing on the dance floor. What had she expected from a friend of Tommy’s?

She found Lilah chatting with a cute young bartender. “I’m going home.”

“Are you going to crash at my place?”