you.”
The doctor gets to his feet with a groan. “I’d better get back in there and take a last stab at your father. I’ve still got one more house call to make.”
I smile at him. “You’ve got some lucky patients, Jack.”
A shadow passes over his face. “In general, if I’m going to see somebody at the end of my day, they’re pretty unlucky. But that’s life, son. Enjoy it while you’re still young.”
I walk to the side door with him but don’t go in myself. “I don’t feel too young these days, Jack.”
He stops and turns back to me. “Then you’re blind. If you could see yourself from eighty-three, where I’m standing, you’d know different. Get yourself a pretty girl and make some babies. That’s all that matters. You can use that Pulitzer of yours for a doorstop in the nursery.”
Like a lot of people, Dr. Kirby mistakenly assumes that the Pulitzer Prize is a statue, like an Oscar. “I’ll try to do that,” I tell him. Then I stick out my hand, and he takes it, his grip surprisingly firm for his age.
His wise eyes find mine once more. “I told your father the truth, Marshall. If he keeps drinking, he’ll be dead in a month. Maybe even a week. His liver could quit any time. His heart, too. You need to prepare your mother for that.”
“She’s pretty tough, Jack.”
The doctor releases my hand but not my gaze. “Not as tough as you think. Southern women don’t show their pain to anybody. They aren’t raised that way. But they feel it. So, as unpleasant as Duncan has made the back end of her life, Blythe is still going to shatter when he goes. She’s suffering from severe sleep deprivation right now. Depression, too.” Kirby glances at his watch. “Will Duncan leave her pretty well fixed financially?”
I shake my head. “If he’d sold out six years ago, when values were high, he might have got eight or nine million. Today we’d be lucky to get ten percent over the real estate value. That’s how fast the business has changed.”
“Damn. That’s the world now, isn’t it? I’m glad you’ll be here to help Blythe pick up the pieces.”
I look back in silence, absorbing the message he clearly intends for me to get: Don’t plan on flying out of here the day after your father’s funeral . . .
“Thanks for your frankness, Jack.”
He gives me a quick salute, then marches back into our house. But he’s already thinking about the next house he’ll visit, the next family living under the shadow of death.
Chapter 25
To my amazement, Jet calls my burner phone at 6:20 p.m. and tells me she’s five minutes from my house. I go out to wait for her on the patio as I did yesterday, but not on the steamer chaise. If we have sex, we’re going to do it inside. There’ll be no more tempting fate, not with things as they now stand.
Once again, Jet appears from the trees across the mown field and walks steadily toward me, only today she keeps her clothes on. The sky has turned deeper blue as the sun moves toward the western horizon. Jet has changed out of her courtroom attire; she’s wearing jeans and a sleeveless top. As she nears the patio, I step into the grass and give her a long hug.
“How did you get away?” I ask.
When she pulls back, I see that she’s wearing more makeup than usual, and her eyes are bloodshot. “They’re practicing baseball, believe it or not. The traveling team. Max said it was the best thing for Kevin, and Paul agreed. They’re over at the Baptist church field. They’ll be at it till seven thirty, but I need to leave in thirty minutes. We can’t take even the slightest risk right now.”
“Agreed. Let’s get inside.”
After a brief kiss, I lead her into the house. Jet walks over to a cabinet and removes an opened bottle of pinot noir, then pours herself a glass and takes a long sip.
“What’s it been like over there?” I ask. “How’s Kevin doing?”
“He’s in shock. Everybody is. Even Max, which is hard to believe. Sally’s death has blown a hole in that house.”
“Paul?”
“Even worse than I feared. He’s a rudderless boat in a storm.”
This doesn’t surprise me. “Sally was the only real counterweight to Max in that family. I don’t know if Paul can deal with Max off the chain.”
Jet closes her eyes and sighs. “Deep down, Paul knows there’s