“You ever gonna say what yesterday morning was all
about?”
“What do you mean?”
“C’mon, Deb’rah. I may not have been a full-time
dad after Jonna and I divorced, but I got up there at
least twice a month and I know my son well enough to
know he wouldn’t pass up a Canes game on his own.”
126
HARD ROW
I was silent.
“He’s not giving you a hard time, is he? Talking back
when I’m not around? Disobeying?”
“Nothing like that. Honest. It was just a little bump
in the road and we agreed that this is the way to smooth
it out. If it was something serious, I’d certainly tell you,
but I gave him my word and I don’t want to go back
on it, okay?”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He looked down at me with a rueful smile. “Got more
than you bargained for, didn’t you, shug?”
“I’m sorry Jonna’s dead,” I said honestly. “And I’m
sorry for the way this happened, but Portland and I had
already planned on getting the custody arrangement
amended so that you could have Cal here for holidays
and summers.”
He shook his head. “Poor Jonna. She wouldn’t have
stood a chance with you two.” Then his smile faded.
“I’m just glad we didn’t have to put Cal through a court
battle, glad he didn’t have to choose between us.”
I squeezed his hand and we walked down the drive
to where the young crepe myrtles began. In this silvery
light, they were a double row of pale slender sticks and
leafless twigs.
“I’ll probably be sore tomorrow from all the work we
did today, but they’re going to be beautiful,” I said.
Dwight turned and looked back toward the house.
“I was thinking we could put more pecans on the south
side. They’ll shade both bedrooms in the summer, but
they won’t interfere with the solar panels or the power
lines.”
127
MARGARET MARON
I smiled.
“What?” he said with an answering smile.
“I was just thinking how old we’d be before any trees
get tall enough to interfere with the wires.”
“Less than fifteen years if we keep them watered and
fertilized.” He gave a contented sigh. “We really are
married, aren’t we?”
