The Snow White Christmas Cookie

an accident on the job. And he shows up every morning, which is more than I can say for a lot of them. They stay up half of the night boozing at the Rustic and some of ’em are still so wasted when they show up that I have to send ’em home. You got to have your head on straight when you’re manning a plow truck. If you don’t you’ll sideswipe a telephone pole. But those boys just don’t give a damn. I call ’em boys but they’re not. Pat’s twenty-six. When I was his age I already had a wife and an eight-year-old daughter.” He peered across the table at her. “Why are we talking about this?”

“You have routine access to the mailboxes on Hank Merrill’s route.”

“So?…”

“So someone’s been stealing from those boxes. They’ve taken mail, small packages, Hank’s tips…”

“And my money.” He stabbed himself in the chest with a blunt thumb.

“Do you know anything about this, Lem?”

“You bet I do. I know that some bastard’s taking food out of my mouth. I know that if I ever get my hands on him I’m going to-to…” Lem broke off, glowering at her. “You think I’m the thief? Why would I do something crazy like that? No, don’t tell me. I already know the answer. You think I’m hiding money from Tina so I can spend it on Debbie, am I right? That is total bull. How does this stuff even start? I’ll bet it’s Rut Peck. That old geezer’s always flapping his gums. Especially after he gets a glass of stout in him. Let me ask you something-why is my marriage any of your business?”

“It’s not.”

“Damned right it’s not. Debbie’s husband left her for a younger woman last summer, okay? And she called me out of the blue. I hadn’t heard from her in ten, twelve years. Debbie was the first girl I was ever with. We were each other’s first. And she was feeling kind of sad and sentimental, so I met her for lunch in Mystic. She’s way out of my league now. All frosted and polished. Designer clothes, fancy perfume. She sure smells good. You know what Tina smells like? Tina smells like Windex. Anyhow, we ended up taking a room at the Mohegan Sun-strictly for old times’ sake. It was just that one time, I swear. That one time and then another time two weeks later. But I’m not carrying on some kind of love affair with her. Us being together, it was just something Debbie needed. And I was happy to help her out. I mean, she and Tina are the only two women I’ve ever been with in my whole life. First Debbie, then Tina. There are still folks in Dorset who think Debbie was my true love and that I only married Tina because I knocked her up. That’s bull. Tina and me have had a lot of good years together.”

“And how are things between you right now?”

Lem narrowed his gaze at her. “Why are you asking?”

“You seem a bit snappish with each other.”

“We’ve hit a rough patch,” he acknowledged. “It happens. Hell, we’ve been together almost twenty years. And I still love that little peanut, too. Trouble is that she doesn’t feel the same way about me. She used to call me her big poppa bear. Now I come home from work and she’s on me, yap-yap-yap. Telling me I ought to lose weight, shave off my beard, grow my business, yap-yap-yap. She’s just not happy anymore. I don’t know why. Maybe her mom does. Tina’s on that damned phone with her day and night.” He glanced up at the doorway as Tina returned now. “I need a smoke,” he said abruptly. “Do you mind?”

“Go right ahead,” Des responded.

He got up and lumbered out of the lounge, digging a rumpled pack of Camels out of the pocket of his coveralls.

Tina sat back down and set her phone on the table in front of her, gazing down at its screen every few seconds. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of it. “I guess you want to talk about Kylie.”

“That would be great.”

“I wish I could get through to her,” Tina said with a shake of her frizzy head. “All she thinks about are clothes and boys. I keep telling her, sweetie, you have got to figure out who you want to be. Otherwise you’ll end up like me-cleaning other people’s toilets for a living. Mind you, I make as much in a week as a lot of my customers do. And I could tell you some things that nobody else knows. Trust me, if you really want to find out what’s going on, ask a cleaning lady. But this isn’t the life I wanted for myself. I wanted to be a nurse. I want Kylie to be a nurse. Now I don’t know if that’ll even be possible with her ankle all busted up like that. A nurse has to be on her feet all day.” Tina looked at Des curiously. “What did you and Lem talk about?”

“He told me that you two have hit a rough patch.”

Tina bristled, her nostrils flaring. “If by that he means he’s mixed up again with that fancy tramp, Debbie, then I guess we have.”

“He said he isn’t mixed up with her.”

“And you believed him? He’s a man. Men lie.”

“Are you seeing someone else, too?”

“What gives you the right to ask me that?”

“I’m trying to assess the stability of Kylie’s home life for my report. My general impressions can be a determining factor in whether the district prosecutor decides to prosecute her case. But if you don’t want to talk to me…”

“No, no, I’ll talk to you.” Tina shot a furtive glance over her shoulder at the door. Lem was still outside having a smoke. “Yes, I do have a male friend. He’s sensitive and caring. He respects me. He loves me. Lem doesn’t anymore.”

“Want to tell me a little bit about him?”

“His name’s Matt. He works for Verizon. He’s married to someone else, too. A woman who doesn’t love him or understand him. Matt is here for me emotionally. He listens to me. And he’s incredibly affectionate. I don’t just mean the physical part. Although that’s been amazing. I swear, every time I think about him my heart starts beating so fast. Me and Lem haven’t exactly been burning up the sheets lately. And even back when we were he never took my needs into consideration. Matt does. He’s so romantic and nurturing.”

“Where did you two meet?”

“On a dating site. It was like he was my best friend instantly. Right away, I was telling him things that I’ve never told anyone. And so was he. It was totally amazing. He’s…” Tina hesitated, reddening. “Matt’s my soul mate. I’ve never been this close with anyone in my whole life. We must text back and forth a hundred times a day. Lem thinks I’m texting my mom. I’m not. It’s Matt. It’s always Matt.”

“Where does he live?”

“Just outside of Tacoma.”

“Tacoma, Washington? How often are you able to be together?”

“We’re together constantly.”

“I mean in the flesh, Tina.”

“We haven’t been together that way yet. But real soon, we’re hoping.”

“Are you telling me you’re in love with a man who you’ve never met?”

Tina sighed at her impatiently. “Matt and I have an intense bond.”

“Meaning, what, you sext back and forth a lot?”

“You’re making it sound smutty. It’s not like that. What we have is romantic and intimate and so hot. I’ve done things with Matt that I’ve never done with Lem. He’s just so loving and tender. Know what he said to me just now while I was out in the hall?”

“Really can’t imagine.”

“He said ‘Every time I’m inside of you I feel like I’m where I was meant to be all along.’ Lem’s never felt that way about me. Not even when we were a couple of sex-crazed teenagers. And now he doesn’t even want me. He wants Debbie, who’s not even that good-looking anymore. Which Matt is, by the way. He’s tall and slim with good shoulders and strong hands. He has the most amazing blue eyes.”

“And you know this how?”

“He sends me pictures of himself.”

“Nude pictures?”

Tina reddened again, nodding. “And I send him pictures of me. I take them in the bathroom mirror with my phone.”

“You’re not worried that he might show them to someone else?”

“Matt would never do that to me. Our relationship is built on trust.”