Katie swiped at her eyes, her fingers slick with salty tears. She could barely breathe but the words keptcoming. “She started to steal money from his wallet. Never more than a dollar or two, because otherwise he wouldnotice. Normally, he locked his wallet up at night, but sometimes, he would forget. It took so long to get enoughmoney for her to escape. Because that’s what she had to do. Escape. She had to go someplace where he wouldnever find her, because she knew he wouldn’t stop searching for her. And she couldn’t tell anyone anything,because her family was gone and she knew the police wouldn’t do anything. If he so much as suspected anything,he would kill her. So she stole and saved and found coins in the sofa cushions and in the washing machine. Shehid the money in a plastic bag that she put beneath a flowerpot, and every time he went outside she was sure hewould find it. It took so long to get the money she needed because she had to have enough to get far away so thathe’d never find her. So that she could start over again.”
Katie wasn’t aware of when it had happened, but she realized that Jo had taken her hand and she was nolonger watching herself from across the room. She could taste salt on her lips and imagined that her soul wasleaking out. She wanted desperately to sleep.
In the silence Jo continued to hold her gaze. “Your friend has a lot of courage,” she said quietly.
“No,” Katie said. “My friend is scared all the time.”
“That’s what courage is. If she weren’t scared, she wouldn’t need courage in the first place. I admire what shedid.” Jo gave her hand a squeeze. “I think I’d like your friend. I’m glad you told me about her.”
Katie glanced away, feeling utterly drained. “I probably shouldn’t have told you all that.”
Jo shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry too much. One thing you’ll learn about me is that I’m good with secrets.
Especially when it comes to people I don’t know, right?”
Katie nodded. “Right.”
Jo stayed with Katie for another hour, but steered the conversation toward easier ground. Katie talked aboutworking at Ivan’s and some of the customers she was getting to know. Jo asked about the best way to get thepaint out from under her fingernails. With the wine gone, Katie’s dizziness began to fade, leaving in its wake asense of exhaustion. Jo, too, began to yawn, and they finally rose from the table. Jo helped Katie clean up, thoughthere wasn’t much to do aside from washing a couple of dishes, and Katie walked her to the door.
As Jo stepped onto the porch, she paused. “I think we had a visitor,” she said.
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s a bicycle leaning against your tree.”
Katie followed her outside. Beyond the yellow glow of the porch light, the world was dark and the outlines ofthe distant pine trees reminded Katie of the ragged edge of a black hole. Fireflies mimicked the stars, twinklingand blinking, and Katie squinted, realizing that Jo was right.
“Whose bicycle is that?” Katie asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Did you hear anyone come up?”
“No. But I think someone left it for you. See?” She pointed. “Isn’t that a bow on the handlebars?”
Katie squinted, spotting the bow. A woman’s bike, it had wire baskets on each side of the rear wheel, as well asanother wire basket on the front. A chain was wrapped loosely around the seat, with the key still in the lock. “Whowould bring me a bicycle?”
“Why do you keep asking me these questions? I don’t know what’s going on any more than you do.”
Katie and Jo stepped off the porch. Though the puddles had largely vanished, sinking into the sandy loam, thegrass held on to the rain and dampened the tips of her shoes as Katie moved through it. She touched the bicycle,then the bow, rubbing the ribbon between her fingers like a rug merchant. A card was tucked beneath it, and Katiereached for it.
“It’s from Alex,” she said, sounding baffled.
“Alex the store guy Alex, or another Alex?”
“The store guy.”
“What does it say?”
Katie shook her head, trying to make sense of it before holding it out. I thought you might enjoy this .
Jo tapped the note. “I guess that means he’s as interested in you as you are in him.”
“I’m not interested in him!”
“Of course not.” Jo winked. “Why would you be?”
8
Alex was sweeping the floor near the coolers when Katie entered the store. He had guessed that she would showup to talk to him about the bicycle first thing in the morning. After leaning the broom handle against the glass, heretucked his shirt and ran a quick hand through his hair. Kristen had been waiting for her all morning and she’dalready popped up before the door had even closed.
“Hey, Miss Katie!” Kristen said. “Did you get the bicycle?”
“I did. Thank you,” Katie answered. “That’s why I’m here.”
“We worked really hard on it.”
“You did a great job,” she said. “Is your dad around?”
“Uh-huh. He’s right over there.” She pointed. “He’s coming.”
Alex watched as Katie turned toward him.
“Hey, Katie,” he said.
When he was close, she crossed her arms. “Can I talk to you outside for a minute?”
He could hear the coolness in her voice and knew she was doing her best not to show her anger in front ofKristen.
“Of course,” he said, reaching for the door. Pushing it open, he followed her outside and found himselfadmiring her figure as she headed toward the bicycle.
Stopping near the bike, she turned to face him. In the front basket was the umbrella she’d borrowed the daybefore. She patted the seat, her face serious. “Can I ask what this is about?”
“Do you like it?”
“Why did you buy it for me?”
“I didn’t buy it for you,” he said.
She blinked. “But your note…”
He shrugged. “It’s been in the shed collecting dust for the last couple of years. Believe me, the last thing I’d dois buy you a bicycle.”
Her eyes flashed. “That’s not the point! You keep giving me things and you’ve got to stop. I don’t want anythingfrom you. I don’t need an umbrella or vegetables or wine. And I don’t need a bike!”
“Then give it away.” He shrugged. “Because I don’t want it, either.”
She fell silent and he watched as confusion gave way to frustration, then finally futility. In the end, she shookher head and turned to leave. Before she could take a step, he cleared his throat. “Before you go, though, wouldyou at least do me the favor of listening to my explanation?”
She glared at him over her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It might not matter to you, but it matters to me.”
Her eyes held his, wavering before they finally dropped. When she sighed, he motioned to the bench in front ofthe store. He’d originally placed it there, wedged between the ice maker and a rack of propane tanks, as a joke,knowing that it would sit unused. Who would want to stare at a parking lot and the road out front? To his surprise,on most days it was almost always occupied; the only reason it was empty now was because it was so early.
Katie hesitated before taking a seat, and Alex laced his fingers together in his lap.
“I wasn’t lying about the fact that the bike has been collecting dust for the last couple of years. It used tobelong to my wife,” Alex said. “She loved that bike and she rode it all the time. Once, she even rode it all the way toWilmington, but of course, by the time she got there, she was tired and I had to go pick her up, even though Ididn’t have anyone to mind the store. I literally had to close the place up for a couple of hours.” He paused. “Thatwas the last ride she took on it. That night, she had her first seizure and I had to rush her to the hospital. After that,she got progressively sicker, and she never rode again. I put the bike in the garage, but every time I see it, I can’thelp but think back on that horrible night.” He straightened up. “I know I should have already gotten rid of it, but Ijust couldn’t give it to someone who’d ride it once or twice and then forget about it. I wanted it to go to someonewho would appreciate it as much as she did. To someone who was going to use it. That’s what my wife wouldhave wanted. If you’d known her, you’d understand. You’d be doing me a favor.”
When she spoke, her voice was subdued. “I can’t take your wife’s bike.”
“So you’re still giving it back?”
When she nodded, he leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. “You and I are a lot more alike thanyou realize. In your shoes, I would have done exactly the same thing. You don’t want to feel like you owe anyoneanything. You want to prove to yourself that you can make it on your own, right?”
She opened her mouth to answer but said nothing. In the silence, he went on.
“After my wife died, I was the same way. For a long time. People would drop by the store and a lot of themwould tell me to call them if I ever needed anything. Most of them knew I didn’t have any family here and theymeant well, but I never called anyone because it just wasn’t me. Even if I did want something, I wouldn’t haveknown how to ask, but most of the time, I didn’t even know what it was that I wanted. All I knew was that I was atthe end of my rope, and to continue the metaphor, for a long time, I was barely hanging on. I mean, all at once, Ihad to take care of two young kids as well as the store, and the kids were younger then and needed even moreattention than they do now. And then one day, Joyce showed up.” He looked at her. “Have you met Joyce yet?
Works a few afternoons a week including Sundays, older lady, talks to everyone? Josh and Kristen love her.”
“I’m not sure.”
“It’s not important. But anyway, she showed up one afternoon, maybe around five or so, and she simply toldme that she was going to take care of the kids while I spent the next week at the beach. She’d already arranged aplace for me and she told me that I didn’t have a choice in the matter because, in her opinion, I was headingstraight for a nervous breakdown.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stifle the memory of those days. “I was upset about it at first. Imean, they’re my kids, right? And what kind of father was I to make people think that I couldn’t handle being afather? But unlike anyone else, Joyce didn’t ask me to call if I needed anything. She knew what I was goingthrough and she went ahead and did what she thought was right. The next thing I knew, I was on my way to thebeach. And she was right. The first two days, I was still a wreck. But over the next few days, I went for long walks,read some books, slept late, and by the time I got back, I realized that I was more relaxed than I’d been in a longtime…”
He trailed off, feeling the weight of her scrutiny.
“I don’t know why you’re telling me this.”
He turned toward her. “Both of us know that if I’d asked if you wanted the bicycle, you would have said no. So,like Joyce did with me, I just went ahead and did it because it was the right thing to do. Because I learned that it’sokay to accept some help every now and then.” He nodded toward the bike. “Take it,” he said. “I have no use forit, and you have to admit that it would make getting to and from work a whole lot easier.”
It took a few seconds before he saw her shoulders relax and she turned to him with a wry smile. “Did youpractice that speech?”
“Of course.” He tried to look sheepish. “But you’ll take it?”
She hesitated. “A bike might be nice,” she finally admitted. “Thank you.”
For a long moment, neither of them said anything. As he stared at her profile, he noted again how pretty shewas, though he had the sense that she didn’t think so. Which only made her even more appealing.
“You’re welcome,” he said.
“But no more freebies, okay? You’ve done more than enough for me already.”
“Fair enough.” He nodded toward the bike. “Did it ride okay? With the baskets, I mean?”
“It was fine. Why?”
“Because Kristen and Josh helped me put them on yesterday. One of those rainy-day projects, you know?
Kristen picked them out. Just so you know, she also thought you needed sparkly handlebar grips, too, but I drewthe line at that.”
“I wouldn’t have minded sparkly handlebar grips.”
He laughed. “I’ll let her know.”
She hesitated. “You’re doing a good job, you know. With your kids, I mean.”
“Thank you.”
“I mean it. And I know it hasn’t been easy.”
“That’s the thing about life. A lot of the time, it isn’t easy at all. We just have to try to make the best of it. Do youknow what I mean?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I think I do.”
The door to the store opened, and as Alex leaned forward he saw Josh scanning the parking lot, Kristen closebehind him. With brown hair and brown eyes, Josh resembled his mom. His hair was a riotous mess, and Alexknew he’d just crawled out of bed.
“Over here, guys.”
Josh scratched his head as he shuffled toward them. Kristen beamed, waving at Katie.
“Hey, Dad?” Josh asked.
“Yeah?”
“We wanted to ask if we’re still going to the beach today. You promised to take us.”
“That was the plan.”
“With a barbecue?”
“Of course.”
“Okay,” he said. He rubbed his nose. “Hi, Miss Katie.”
Katie waved at Josh and Kristen.
“Do you like the bike?” Kristen chirped.