Red Rock, and—well, hell of a night to be driving. How about there?”
“I think we’re just getting the edge of it,” Chee said. “Did Leaphorn get my message?”
“Yep. He said not to worry.”
“What do you think? Demott’s a rock climber. Is Nez going to be safe enough?”
“Except for maybe frostbite,” Deke said. “Nobody’s going to be climbing those cliffs tonight.” And so Chee opened the envelope and extracted the note.
“Jim. Sorry I missed you. Going to get a bite to eat and will come by your place—Janet.” Her car wasn’t there when he drove up, which was just as well, he thought. It would give him a little time to get the place a little warmer. He fired up the propane heater, put on the coffee, and gave the place a critical inspection. He rarely did. His trailer was simply where he lived. Sometimes it was hot, sometimes it was cold. But otherwise it was not something he gave any thought to. It looked cramped, crowded, slightly dirty, and altogether dismal. Ah, well, nothing to do about it now. He checked the refrigerator for something to offer her. Nothing much there in the snack line, but he extracted a slab of cheese and pulled a box of crackers and a bowl with a few Oreos in it off the shelf over the stove. Then he sat on the edge of the bunk, slumped, listening to the icy wind buffeting the trailer, too tired to think about what might be about to happen.
Chee must have dozed. He didn’t hear the car coming down the slope, or see the lights. A tapping at the door awakened him, and he found her standing on the step looking up at him.
“It’s freezing,” she said as he ushered her in.
“Hot coffee,” he said. Poured a cup, handed it to her, and offered her the folding chair beside the fold-out table. But she stood a moment, hugging herself and shivering, looking undecided.
“Janet,” he said. “Sit down. Relax.”
“I just need to tell you something,” she said. “I can’t stay. I need to get back to Gallup before the weather gets worse.” But she sat.
“Drink your coffee,” he said. “Warm up.”
She was looking at him over the cup. “You look awful,” she said. “They told me you’d gone up to Mancos. To see the Breedlove widow. You shouldn’t be back at work yet. You should be in bed.”
“I’m all right,” he said. And waited. Would she ask him why he’d gone to Mancos? What he’d learned?
“Why couldn’t somebody else do it?” she said. “Somebody without broken ribs.”
“Just cracked,” Chee said.
She put down her cup. He reached for it. She intercepted his hand, held it.
“Jim,” she said. “I’m going away for a while. I’m taking my accrued leave time, and my vacation, and I’m going home.”
“Home?” Chee said. “For a while. How long is that?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I want to get my head together. Look forward and backwards.” She tried to smile but it didn’t come off well. She shrugged. “And just think.”
It occurred to Chee that he hadn’t poured himself any coffee. Oddly, he didn’t want any. It occurred to him that she wasn’t burning her bridges.
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“Think?” he said. “About us?”
“Of course.” This time the smile worked a little better.
But her hand was cold. He squeezed it. “I thought we were through that phase.”
“No, you didn’t,” she said. “You never really stopped thinking about whether we’d be compatible. Whether we really fit.”
“Don’t we?”
“We did in this fantasy I had,” she said, and waved her hands, mocking herself. “Big, good-looking guy. Sweet and smart and as far as I could tell you really cared about me. Fun on the Big Rez for a while, then a big job for you in someplace interesting.
Washington. San Francisco. New York. Boston. And the big job for me in Justice, or maybe a law firm. You and I together.
Everything perfect.”
Chee said nothing to that.
“Everything perfect,” she repeated. “The best of both worlds.” She looked at him, trying to hold the grin and not quite making it.
“With twin Porsches in the triple garage,” Chee said. “But when you got to know me, I didn’t fit the fantasy.”
“Almost,” she said. “Maybe you do, really.” Suddenly Janet’s eyes went damp. She looked away. “Or maybe I change the fantasy.” He extracted his handkerchief, frowned at it, reached into the storage drawer behind him, extracted paper napkins, and handed them to Janet. She said, “Sorry,” and wiped her eyes.
He wanted to hold her, very close. But he said, “A cold wind does that.”
“So I thought maybe as time goes by everything changes a little. I change and so do you.” He could think of
