BooksBarbecue
Back When Darkness Loves Us
Chapters (56)
  1. CoverImage
  2. Title page
  3. Copyright page
  4. Introduction by Grady Hendrix
  5. Foreword by Theodore Sturgeon
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. WHEN DARKNESS LOVES US
  8. Part One
  9. 1
  10. 2
  11. 3
  12. 4
  13. 5
  14. 6
  15. Part Two
  16. 1
  17. 2
  18. 3
  19. 4
  20. 5
  21. 6
  22. 7
  23. 8
  24. Part Three
  25. 1
  26. 2
  27. 3
  28. 4
  29. BEAUTY IS ...
  30. 1
  31. 2
  32. 3
  33. 4
  34. 5
  35. 6
  36. 7
  37. 8
  38. 9
  39. 10
  40. 11
  41. 12
  42. 13
  43. 14
  44. 15
  45. 16
  46. 17
  47. 18
  48. 19
  49. 20
  50. 21
  51. 22
  52. 23
  53. 24
  54. 25
  55. About the Author
  56. About the Cover

“Yes.”

“Well, God knows she didn’t get any of that with Harry. That might have been all it took.” He put his bag in his van. “I’m going to come back and bring some people, Leon, and have Martha take a few tests, okay?”

“Sure. I mean . . . okay.”

“Keep her in the house. Let’s not let her out at the mercy of the townspeople just yet, okay?”

“Okay.” This coincided just fine with Leon’s feelings.

“Can you stay on? Want me to talk to your folks?”

“No, that’s okay. They know where I am. I’ve been fixing this place up some, and told them . . .”

“What about your apartment?”

“That’s okay. Rent’s paid.”

“Might want you to stay on here for a couple of months.”

Leon kicked some more stones around.

“Okay, Leon? Listen, this is really important to that lady in there.”

Leon looked up, intent. “She is a lady, isn’t she?”

“She sure is.”

“Okay.” He smiled. “I’ll stay. No problem.”

“Good.”

They shook hands, and Dr. Withins was on his way. Leon wandered around the yard for a while, then went back inside where Martha waited to continue her reading.

“Leon?”

She broke his reverie. He looked up. She was smiling at him, a soft, gentle smile.

“What’s roguehouse?”

“Let me see. Roughhouse. It means to play hard. Wrestling and that.”

“Oh.” She returned to her book.

She’d lost weight. She was working in the yard, learning how to plant trees and bushes; her arms had gotten a little tan. She helped paint the trim around the house and handed Leon tools when he fixed the plumbing. And they talked. She was insatiable for knowledge. They talked about everything Leon knew. She asked questions incessantly—about Morgan, about politics, about how things worked. When they weren’t talking, she was reading.

He finished his beer and stood up. “I’m ready for bed.”

“You go ahead. I’m just going to finish this chapter.”

He slid between the sheets and turned out the light. Hands behind his head, he looked at the ceiling. Dr. Withins was coming by tomorrow and bringing his tests and some other doctors. Leon was a lot more nervous about it than Martha was. He felt responsible, after all. And protective.

His eyes were beginning to close when she came in and slipped into bed, turning on her side away from him. He put his arm around her and drew her close, cupping her breast in his big hand. They nestled together like two spoons and went to sleep.

14

CHAPTER 14

Harry came home the next morning, offering no explanation of where he’d been all night. Fern smelled the stench of stale whiskey as he passed by her to the bedroom. Martha was tucked into their bed. He gave the child barely a glance as he changed his clothes, then went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

“Harry, sit down.”