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The sun sank.
Grace never lost her rhythm.
When she finally came up onto the porch, I thought that she would walk past without speaking, but she stopped at the door. Her bruises were black in the gloom. “I’m glad to see you,” she said.
I didn’t get up. “Thought I’d make di
She opened the door. “What I said before. I didn’t mean it.”
She was talking about Dolf.
“I’m going to take a shower,” she said.
I found ground beef in the refrigerator and had di
“This?” She pointed at her face. “This is meaningless.” She looked at the water I’d poured for her, then pulled a beer out of the fridge. She cracked it, took a sip, and sat. She pushed up her sleeves to eat, and I saw the wreckage of her left forearm. The bowstring had chewed it up, put long welts across a ten-inch stretch. Grace caught me staring.
“Jesus, Grace. You’re supposed to wear arm guards.”
She took a bite, unflinching, and pointed at my plate. “You going to eat that?”
We ate di
She’d lost the robe, wore a cobweb gown that could have been nothing. When she moved into the dark, she was a whisper.
I sat up. “Grace-”
“Don’t worry, Adam. I just want to be near you.”
She crossed on swift feet and climbed under the comforter, being careful to keep the sheet between us. “See,” she said. “I’m not here to spoil you for other women.” She moved close and I felt her heat through thin cloth. She was soft and she was hard and she pressed upon me in near perfect stillness. It was then, in the dark and the heat, that revelation found me. It was the smell of her, the way her breasts flattened against me, the hard curve of her thighs. It came with an audible snap, the sound of pieces slipping into place. Da
He was in love. He wanted to change his life.
What had been void mere seconds ago now brimmed with bright, dripping color. Grace was not the girl who lived in my head. Not the child I remembered. She was a grown woman, lush and complex.
The hottest thing in three counties, Jamie had said.
There were still gaps, but the shape was there. Da
“Da
She sat up, pulled the comforter to her chin. I knew that I was right.
“That’s why he was breaking up with his other girlfriends,” I said. “That’s why he was clearing his debts.”
An edginess moved into her face, a stiffness that spoke of defiance. “He wanted to prove himself. He thought he could convince me to change my mind.”
“You dated him?”
“We went out a few times. Motorcycle races on the parkway. Late nights in Charlotte, dancing at the clubs. He was fearless, charming in a way. But I wouldn’t go where he wanted to go.” She lifted her chin. Her eyes glittered, hard and proud.
“You wouldn’t sleep with him?”
“That was part of it. The start. Then he got crazy. Wanted to spend our lives together, talked about having kids.” She rolled her eyes. “True love, if you can believe that.”
“And you weren’t interested.”
She put her eyes on mine, and her meaning was unmistakable. “I’m waiting for someone.”
“That’s why he called me.”
“He wanted me to know that you weren’t coming back. He thought that if you told me that yourself, I might actually believe it. He said I was wasting my life waiting for something that would never happen.”
“Jesus.”
“Even if you’d done what he wanted, come home and told me face-to-face, it wouldn’t have made a difference.”
“That night you took Da
She shrugged. “Sometimes I just need to see the dotted line go solid white. Da
“Why do you think Dolf may have killed him?”
She tensed. “I don’t want to talk about that.”
“We need to.”
She looked away.
“He hit you,” I said. “Didn’t he? Da
It took her a minute. “I laughed at him. I shouldn’t have, but I did.”
“And he hit you?”
“Once, but it was pretty hard.”
“Damn it.”
“He didn’t break anything, just bruised me. He was immediately sorry. I hit him back and hit him harder. I told Dolf as much.”
“So, Dolf knew.”
“He knew, but we worked it out, Da
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Da
“What happened?”
“Dolf thought it was the worst idea he’d ever heard and he said as much to Da
I thought about what she’d said. I could see it. Grace was Dolf’s pride and joy. He’d have been furious at the thought of anyone laying a hand on her. And Da
Grace waited until I looked at her. “I don’t really think that Dolf killed him. I just don’t want anybody thinking he might have had a reason.”
She lay down, put her head on the pillow. “Did you love him at all?” I asked, meaning Da
“Maybe a little.” She closed her eyes, sunk lower in the covers. “Not enough to matter.”
I watched her for a moment. She was done talking. I was, too. “Good night, Grace.”
“Good night, Adam.”
I turned off the light and lay back down. We were both stiff and aware, not just of each other’s proximity, but of all the things still unsaid. It took hours to fall asleep beneath the open window.
When I woke, it was to the smell of fire.