“Sounds good,” he mumbled. He was distracted as the salesclerk behind the counter handed his card back and said, “Sorry, sir, but it’s been declined. Do you have another card we can try?”
He knew his face was flushing as he replaced the Visa with a debit card. He didn’t want to use the debit card because Marybeth kept close track of their checking account balance, and she might see he’d gotten her a gift before he had a chance to give it to her.
“Do you know why the Visa card won’t work?” he asked her. “This is kind of embarrassing.”
“I’m late paying bills this month,” she said. “You know how it’s been. I’m sorry. What are you buying, anyway?”
“Don’t ask,” he said.
“Joe, don’t get me anything. I don’t need anything, and we’re tight this month.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, trying to get her off the subject. He was relieved when the sales clerk swiped the debit card and it seemed to be processing.
“Did you even hear what I said?” she asked, annoyed.
“Yes. Let’s kill your mother.”
The sales clerk glanced up at that and Joe turned away, embarrassed again.
“She’s sashaying around town like a school girl on Marcus Hand’s arm,” Marybeth said. “She’s all giggly and silly and spending money like it was going out of style. Joe, she drove the Hummer—the very car they found the rifle in —and bought Hand an elkhorn chandelier display at the furniture store for fifteen thousand dollars. Just bought it outright and asked them to deliver it to the ranch. Then she took him to the country club and paid the golf pro to keep everybody else off the course while she and her lawyer played a round in private. She acts like she doesn’t have a care in the world, and everybody’s talking.”
“Don’t pay attention to them,” Joe said.
“It’s not about me,” Marybeth said. “It’s about her. She acts like she’s just above it all—above the law with her big-shot Jackson Hole lawyer. If she deliberately set out to make a bad impression around town—to taint her jury pool—she couldn’t do a better job.”
He sighed. “I don’t understand her,” he said.
“I don’t, either. But now even her country club set is turned against her. She’s not thinking.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Joe said. “Your mother never does anything that won’t benefit her in some way. She’s got something going—we just don’t know what yet.”
“That was a cruel thing to say.”
“But true,” he said. Then: “You know, I could just come home and, you know, let the chips fall where they may.”
Silence.
He said, “I didn’t mean that. I’m just frustrated. I drove all night and I’ve got nothing to do but wait for a call. Meanwhile, your mother is buying chandeliers for her lawyer.”
“I know,” she said. “She’s her own worst enemy sometimes.”
“I thought I was,” Joe said, as the sales clerk gestured to him asking if he wanted the watch wrapped. He nodded yes.
“No,” Marybeth said, “you’re the one who is going to save her skinny old ass despite herself.”
Joe thought about the forty-five miles over the mountains to Laramie from Cheyenne and looked at his watch. He didn’t know Sheridan’s class schedule, but he found himself driving south down Lincolnway toward an exit ramp to I-80 West. As he merged onto the highway he speed-dialed her cell phone.
“Dad?” She was clearly surprised. He could hear wind and other voices in the background, like she was walking along in a pack of students.
“Hi, honey.”
“Dad, is everything all right?”
“Fine. You sound frantic.”
“You never call me, okay?”
He started to argue but had to concede she was right. “I’m in Cheyenne. What’s going on?”
He heard her tell someone, “Just a minute, I’ll be right there.” Then to him: “Ah, nothing. I’m still trying to figure out my way around. It’s all a little confusing and I’m tired all the time.”
“Are you getting enough sleep?”
She laughed, “What do you think?”
He dropped it. “What’s your afternoon look like?”
The hesitation made him think for a moment the call had been dropped. “I’ve got class and then I’m meeting some friends for coffee. Why? Were you thinking of coming over?”
Joe said, “You drink coffee?”
“Of course you do,” he said. His ears felt hot. He said, “No, I just had some time to kill so I thought I’d check on you. See how you were doing.”
