Chapters (65)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Part Two
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Part Three
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- About the Publisher
“So do you,” I said.
“Why’d you leave without us?”
“Because I didn’t want you to come.”
“Why not?” she said. We were standing next to the gate I’d opened two nights ago. Now it had drifted snow covering it.
“I wanted to make a phone call, okay?” I said. “Am I allowed to make a goddamn phone call?” I didn’t wait for her to ask me who I wanted to call. I took off on the shoulder of the highway.
Cally followed, trying to keep up. “I don’t care who you call, okay?” she said. “I thought since you had my credit card, they might want my signature!”
“You already said that.” A car flashed their brights at us, so we stopped and moved farther back. The car drove past, slowly. I took the car carrier from Cally. It was only about a quarter mile to the Mobil.
Inside the gas station, it felt like a hundred degrees. I set down the car carrier. Cally took the blanket off the baby and unzipped the baby coat. The guy behind the counter looked bored out of his mind, but we were some entertainment.
“I’m gonna take a couple gallons of unleaded,” I said, and he gave me a thumbs-up. I went out to the nearest pump and filled up the can. When I came back, Cally was looking for something in an aisle at the back. I waited by the front. There was a rack of Wisconsin maps, a small freezer with frozen candy bars, and a row of auto supplies. “Hey, if I need a jump, can you give me one?” I asked the guy behind the counter.
“Yeah, but I can’t leave until two,” he said. “When my replacement gets here.”
I looked at my watch. “That’s four hours from now.”
“Sorry. I can’t leave the shop unattended, ya know?”
The kid let out a screech like an animal and wiggled her arms and legs. Cally came over, picked up the carrier, and started swinging it.
“Fine,” I said. “If that’s the soonest you can come.”
“And do you have a new battery we could buy in case ours won’t take the charge?” asked Cally.
“Sure,” said the clerk, looking at me. “I can throw one in the truck just in case.”
Cally smiled because she always thought she knew more than me about cars. True, she could jump a battery practically with her eyes closed. And true, her dad had taught her about engines. So much that I’d given up on arguing about it with her. But I didn’t have to like it.
“Give me your name and address?”
“Dennis Wilkins,” I said, watching him write it on a scrap of paper. “Do you guys have a pay phone?”
“Yeah, it’s outside,” said the guy.
“What do I owe you for the gas?” I gave him the credit card.