“Goddamn, Frank, I can’t believe it. And here I was, all set to inherit,” he said, looking around. The room was simply furnished, but felt very livable, not Spartan in any sense. The house had lots of windows, woodwork and built-in cabinets and shelves of the type so common in houses built in its time. In that way, it was not very different from my own.
Mike Sorenson turned to me and said, “Would you like something to drink, Miss Kelly? How about a beer or a Coke?”
“I’ll opt for the caffeine, thanks.”
He turned to Frank. “You doin’ okay there, buddy?”
“Fine, Mike, thanks.”
He started to walk off when Pete said, “Aren’t you forgetting somebody?”
Sorenson stopped at the kitchen door and turned around, saying, “Why, yes, I believe I am.” He flipped Pete the bird. Pete returned the favor with a gesture of his own.
Pete turned to Frank. “You supposed to watch him, or is he supposed to watch you?”
“Baird, you are a professional pain in his ass and you know it.”
Pete laughed. “He makes it so easy.”
Sorenson came out with a glass of Coke and ice, and sat down in a chair next to my end of the couch. Pete, giving up on being waited upon, went in to get a beer. He came back out and sat in a chair opposite Sorenson, near Frank. He lifted the beer toward Sorenson and said, “Thanks, pal.”
“It was nothing,” Sorenson said.
“So bring me up-to-date,” Frank said. “I read about what happened in front of the bank yesterday.” He looked over at me. “You didn’t tell me, Irene,” he chided.
“Sorry, Frank. You weren’t feeling so hot and I was tired of thinking about it all.”
“What happened in Gila Bend?”
Pete jumped in and told the story of our day in Arizona. As I was reminded of it, I could feel myself getting depressed, ebbing away from the excitement of seeing Frank doing so well and back into a sense of numbness. Pete was quite animated in his telling; but I felt myself becoming more withdrawn as he went on. By the time he got to the Tannehill part of the story, all I could see before me was Elaine Tannehill’s last moments replayed again and again.
“Irene?” I vaguely heard Frank next to me and turned toward him. I tried a smile, but couldn’t manage it.
“Mike,” Frank said to Sorenson, “why don’t you and Pete take a walk on the beach?”
I thought we were in for more banter, but he just said, “Sure. Let’s go, Pete.” And the two of them left without another word.
When they were gone, Frank patted the place next to him on the couch. “Scoot over here,” he said.
I moved over.
He put an arm around me and I gingerly put my head on his shoulder, trying to avoid his ribs.
“The ribs aren’t so bad,” he said, reading my intentions. “It’s the other side anyway.”
I relaxed a little. He didn’t say anything for a long while, just stroked my hair and held me.
“You must feel like your whole life has been turned upside down,” he said quietly. “But it won’t stay like this. Just keep telling yourself that. You’ve got to keep being a fighter, Irene. Don’t let it beat you.”
“I feel like it already has, Frank.”
He reached over and took my hand. He ran his thumb gently along the backs of my fingers, not saying anything more
I looked up at him. “I’ll be okay,” I said, and put my head back down on his shoulder. “How are you feeling?”
“Right now,” he said with a grin, “I feel pretty damn good.”
This mood was broken when we heard the front door open and Pete and Mike Sorenson came trooping back in.
“Uh-oh,” Pete said, looking at us, “I told you we would interrupt something.”
“Sorry, Frank,” Sorenson said, “but I was freezing my nuts off out there.”
“Hey, look,” said Pete, “why don’t Mike and I go out for a bite to eat or something?”
“Never mind, Pete,” I said, “I need to be getting home. And I’m sure the Unsinkable Frank Harriman here could use some rest, too. Not to mention that Officer Sorenson is supposed to be keeping an eye on him. Okay if I come back tomorrow afternoon, Frank?”
“Sure,” he said, “I’m probably not going into work until Monday.”
“Thanks for the pep talk,” I said.
“No problem. Take care of yourself.”
We said our good-byes and Pete took me over to Lydia’s. The house was dark when we pulled up. I had forgotten that she would be off on her big date.
“You gonna be here alone?” Pete asked, sounding a little worried.
“I’ll be okay. There’s a ferocious cat in there.”
