near dead anyway and I just can’t manage from the grave.”
“No doubt you’ll try,” he mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” he said.
“My hearing is perfect,” she informed him.
“So,” he asked, deliberately speaking very quietly. “Have you ever considered one of those homes for seniors? When you’re, you know, senior?”
“I’m seventy-four,” she said. “How much more senior do you expect I’ll get?”
“I think some of your girlfriends live in fancy-dancy senior communities. Don’t they? Where they can have the lawn taken care of for them, the cooking pretty much done every day, a little housekeeping? Some fun and games?”
“Lorna is the karaoke queen at hers… . Ever hear of such a thing?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” he said. “You ever lust after one of those places?”
“You need a little more privacy, Tom? Because I have places to go if you want a weekend alone or something.”
He shook his head. “Darla mentioned they put her grandmother in one of those assisted-living places and she didn’t want to go at first, but now she’s happy about it. Loving it.”
Maxie’s face contorted into a very mean grimace. “Is that so?”
“So it seems.”
“You might want to tell Miss Picky Pants I have a shotgun and I’m a right fine shot.” She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back.
Tom roared with laughter. “Maybe I’ll just let you handle this whole thing your way.”
“What whole thing?” she asked. “Is she already putting me out to pasture?”
“Uh-huh. And selling the orchard and investing the money and getting me started in a new career,” he admitted. He thought about telling his grandmother what Darla had paid for her red boots, but then Maxie might stroke out and he was afraid Darla would move in to help him cope.
“For the love of God,” she said.
Tom put down his spoon. His eyes became serious. “Listen, we have a situation. Her husband was one of my men, killed while he served in my command. She’s lonely. She’s nearby. She wants to come here… Why, I’m not entirely sure. It’s not like she eats apples or wants to bake pies. But she wants to come. Maybe the service is too good… .”
“I could get out the lumpy pillows and scratchy toilet paper… .”
“I tried to discourage the next couple of weekends but she’s planning to come even though I warned her she won’t get any attention. It’ll be apple-picking time. You told her you were going to fill the house up with old women and she still wants to come. I think, at least until she finishes this course in Davis, we’re stuck with her.”
“You’re not mad in love with her?” Maxie asked.
He shook his head. “I want to be,” he admitted. “She’s very pretty.” Sexy. “She seems smart and I gather she has a solid, functional family background, but…” But I haven’t had sex in so long I can’t even remember how…and I still can’t get excited about her coming for another visit… If she sprawled naked on my bed, I probably wouldn’t be able to…
“Tom, can I say something about that? About that solid, functional family background? I don’t know where you got that judgmental streak or your almighty standards—maybe from your great-grandfather. Your great-grandmother was so open to possibilities, so nonjudgmental. When I stumbled into this orchard looking for work, I had come from a really rugged family—dirt-poor, had nothing, uneducated, didn’t know what the term emotional support meant—and your grandfather took an instant liking to me anyway. I’m sure because of that your great-grandfather refused to hire me on. But your great-grandmother did hire me—brought me into the house, into the kitchen to help with jam, ciders, pies and housework. Tom, I had a lot of what you young people call baggage, but your grandpa didn’t care. He said he loved me and wanted me no matter what my past had been like, no matter what load I was bringing along. That’s never been a secret in our family—that I had burdens. Your grandpa had to take on a lot to take me. Most people have a load to carry, Tom. So do you—look at your family history! You have some amazing family history and some of it kind of strange—like the disappearing mother. You know.”
“I know. You never heard from her again, did you?”
Maxie shook her head. “I would’ve told you. I’ve always told you