The rooster came back to his side for a moment and then headed back across the grass toward the trailers. Knox turned around to be sure Cheeto didn’t encounter a snake on the way and saw Lottie. By her walk and the way she focused on the ground, she was either watching for slithering critters or had the weight of the world on her shoulders.
“Hello,” he said when she was close. “How did your dinner go?”
She sat down beside him and wiped tears from her eyes. “I need a friend.”
He slipped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m here.”
She scooted over closer to him. “Give me a minute.”
“We’ll sit right here until you are ready.”
The sun finally dipped behind the trees and left a final splash of color across the sky. The shades of pink, orange, and purple faded quickly in the water’s reflection. The dotsthat were ducks took flight, and the night seemed as still and heavy as the mood Lottie was in.
“It’s like life, isn’t it?” she finally said.
“What?” Knox asked.
Lottie moved away from him and pointed across the lake. “The sunset. It’s like life, and we take it for granted.”
“I suppose a poet might say something like that,” he said. “But what happened with your parents to make you so philosophical tonight?”
“I felt guilty about not telling my dad the truth,” she answered, but didn’t look at him.
“I figured that much, because I felt the same about my family.”
“But more than that, as I was sitting there in that café, I realized that my folks are aging, and I need to spend more time with them. It’s come on so gradually that I didn’t even see it until tonight. Seems like only a few months ago, neither of them had a single gray hair, and they had very few wrinkles. Daddy is walking slower, and most likely the reason Mama holds on to him is so they can steady each other.”
“I’ve been there, done that, and have the tearstained shirt to prove it.”
She nodded and swiped tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry to bring my baggage to you. You lost both of your parents, and…”
“Shhh…” Knox butted in. “I know what you are going through. The difference is that my dad died suddenly, and there were no minutes or hours left to ask him onelast question or to play one more game of chess with him. Mother was sick for months, and all three of us brothers spent every second we could with her, and we all regretted the years we wasted when she was in better health. You’ve figured this out when you can enjoy whatever days or years you can with them. That is a blessing.”
“I can’t go to El Paso. I need to be closer to them,” she said in a monotone.
“What do you want to do?”
“Build houses. Do construction work. That’s where my heart is. I’ll have to see if Uncle Jack can recommend another crew for me,” she answered.
“I might have a connection up around Spanish Fort if you think you’d be interested,” he offered. “That’s an easy two-hour drive from here.”
“That would be perfect, but what about us?” she asked. “We’d have to come clean with your family and my dad.”
“We’ve got five more weeks to figure something out. Until then, I’m sure your folks will be up this way several times since your brother will be trying to get settled in Dallas.”
“And they’ll want to see the actual cabin they are moving into, so Mama can figure out where she’s going to put everything from Grandma’s old mixing bowls to Daddy’s recliner.”
“Yep, and remember that old saying: ‘When you close a door, another one opens.’”
“Maybe Uncle Jack can shorten that time by letting them move into the second cabin that gets finished,” shesaid. “That way I’d be right here close by for a couple of weeks before I figure out where I’m going.”
Knox almost told her right then and there what he planned to do with the acreage he had bought, but his gut told him to wait. She could be taking a ride down the old proverbial Guilt River and would change her mind about everything after spending some real time with her folks so close by.
“Even if they don’t get the second one, the fact that you want them here sooner will make them feel good,” Knox said.
“How long did it take you to get through the grief of losing your folks?” she asked.
“I can’t answer that.”
