“Hey,” said Danny. “I can hear you. Who’s out here?”

Coot tried to think of something to do, but nothing was coming to mind. He was too preoccupied with the smell of the outhouse.

“Hey,” said Danny. “I can see you two out there. Who is that?”

Judy grabbed Coot’s hand and led him from behind the outhouse in one swift movement. When they were in Danny’s full view, she pulled Coot into her and kissed him right on the mouth. She kissed Coot so hard it felt like his head was going to pop off his neck and drift right into the pearly gates.

It was the first time a woman had ever kissed him.

Coot kept his eyes open. Her eyes were open too. Their noses were smashed together. Behind Judy, he could see Danny in the dark, watching.

Danny let out a single laugh. It was a demeaning laugh. “Don’t you have any pride, Coot? That girl’s nothing but trouble.”

Coot tried to open his mouth to speak, but he was too busy trying to remember whether his name was actually Coot.

Judy answered, “If you keep standing there, watching us like that, I’m gonna charge you admission.”

Danny waved them off and walked away, saying, “You could do a lot better, Coot. A lot better.”

In a matter of seconds, Coot was holding a shovel and digging again. The blood had rushed into his head and was making his face feel hot. He imagined Judy walking a church aisle, wearing white. He imagined living with her in a cabin on a hill with a family of children running around his feet while he read a Sears and Roebuck catalog, smoking a pipe.

His shovel hit something unforgiving.

“I found it,” he said.

He dug the tin box out of the earth with his bare hands. The box was rusted orange and brown. He wedged the lid off using the blade of the shovel. There it was. A roll of cash, tucked inside a rubber hot water bottle, unaffected by the years.

Judy looked at the money with an open mouth. “How much is it?”

“Enough.”

“How long have you been hiding this?”

“A long time.”

She grabbed the wad of cash and held it in her hands. Her eyes sparkled. Her face was glowing. “Coot, I didn’t think you had this much. We’re rich. Rich.”

Coot started filling the hole with dirt. Judy pressed the cash against her chest, even though it soiled her clothes. She held a solemn look. “Sorry if I shocked you earlier,” she said. “I mean, kissing you like that . . .”

Coot kept shoveling. His mouth was still numb from the throes of unbridled passion. He was working on a marriage proposal that was eloquent but succinct.

“I just didn’t know what else to do, you know?” she went on. “I improvised. That was all.”

“It’s okay, Judy.”