Desert Heat

Joa

“What do you think?”

“I told him you shouldn’t make up your mind until we checked to see if his name is in Tony’s book”

“It isn’t,” Angie Kellogg said. “I already looked.”

TWENTY-TWO

That evening, the visitation at the mortuary went on for hours. Joa

Toward the end, when visitors were finally begi

“Hello,” said the woman, holding out her hand. “You must be Joa

Cora, Joa

But Cora, with her bleached blonde hair and amazing makeup, looked every bit the fallen woman Sandra He

“When I heard the funeral was scheduled for Saturday, I told Uncle Henry that I didn’t know if I’d be able to get off, since weekends are always the busiest time at Harrahs. Have you ever been to Laughlin, Nevada, by the way?” she asked, pausing minutely for breath. “It’s just across the Colorado from Bullhead City.”

Joa

Again she paused for breath, but Joa

Joa

“Oh, yes. There it is, just as pretty as he said it would be. And he told me about the rest of the surprise as well.”

“What surprise?”

“About the money. He told me he wasn’t going to tell you about it until your a

Uncle Henry reached out and patted her elbow with one of his bony, gnarled old hands.

ere, there,” he said. “Don’t take on so, girl.”

Jim Bob and Eva Lou, en route to the door, happened by at that precise moment. Jim Bob stopped and looked down at the little old man in puzzled consternation, as if trying to remember the name of someone he knew.

“Henry?” he asked tentatively. “Is that you?”

Uncle Henry smiled broadly. “Jimmy B? I’ll be damned. The last time I saw you, you were still in short pants. It’s a shame that it takes such a sad occasion to get together after all these years. I mean, I barely remember what the original argument was about all those years ago, and now it doesn’t matter.”

“Uncle Henry?” Joa

Jim Bob nodded. “He’s my mother’s second-oldest brother. He and the rest of the family had a falling out years ago, when I was just a boy. Uncle Henry, this is Joa

Uncle Henry nodded. “Glad to make your acquaintance, and this is Cora. She’s actually my third wife’s niece-my wife’s dead now-but that’s too confusing, so we just say she’s my niece. She’s a dancer during the weekends, but she helps out in the office during the week.”

“Office?” Jim Bob asked. “What office?”

Uncle Henry waved impatiently. “Now that I’m too old and broke up to go out prospecting any more, I’ve got me a little one-man office in Searchlight. Sell a few things now and then, lease a few mineral rights here and there. That’s where Andy’s little windfall came from, by the way. Over the years, I’d put one of the grandnephews’ names on a claim, and if that one came in, I’d send them the money. Told ‘em not to say where it came from, of course. Didn’t want ‘em to get in trouble for having anything to do with an old black sheep.”

Cora blew her nose. “You’re not so bad for a black sheep,” she said. “And none of those kids ever turned the money down, either.”

“Including you,” he said with a smile.

She nodded. “Including me.”

“And you only give the gifts in cash?” Joa

Uncle Henry straightened in his chair. “Young woman, the Income Tax is the most abominable piece of illegal legislation ever palmed off on this land, but it exists. And to my mind, the only thing lower than a revenuer is a banker, so I try to conduct my business in a way that keeps those vermin out of it. If I give away less than ten thousand dollars at a time, nobody gets excited. And if I do it in cash, I don’t have to deal with banks. If I have a gift to be delivered, Cora usually handles it for me on her days off from the casino. I don’t like banks, but it’s still a very bad idea to send that much cash through the mail, understand?”

“Yes,” Joa

Joa

“Some guys out of Elko,” Uncle Henry said. “They leased it for exploratory purposes, and I gifted half of what they paid to Andy. Those guys’ll have six months with an option for six more after that. I can’t tell if they’re for real or not, but their money was good. If there’s more coming, believe me, you and your little girl will get it.”

“Thank you,” Joa

Not long after that, she headed home, glad to have escaped the crush of people in the mortuary, but knowing that back home at the ranch, there would be more of the same. And she was right. When she drove into the yard, she counted at least ten cars scattered here and there. Inside the house several of the ladies from the church choir were busily trying to find places in the burgeoning refrigerator for yet another donated covered dish.

Joa

On the couch at the far end of the room she spotted Milo Davis sitting with Je

“Hi, Mom,” Je