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Which one of them pitched and which one caught? And how did they decide? Was it just understood, or did there have to be a negotiation process?
I laughed, suddenly remembering something Betsy had said a while back. “Betsy thought maybe Roger was…”
“Roger who works for me on the farm? No. I’m his boss. Besides, he’s having an affair with Patty Ritches.”
“Is not!” I gasped like a little old lady. “Man, I wish Betsy was around to tell that to.”
Major’s smile softened. “She knew. I told her. We spent plenty of time swapping intel on all the busybodies in town. She used to send me on fact-finding missions.”
“How do you mean?” I asked, thinking that sounded just like something she’d do.
“If I had to go into town for feed or for something at the hardware store, she’d coach me about what to ask and who to talk to so I could bring back the best gossip.” He chuckled. “She hated Patty. I had to hold her back from telling Patty’s husband about the affair.”
“He’s sleeping with Patty’s best friend, so it’s karma all around.”
Major nodded and grinned. “I told her that too.”
I studied him with my finger to my chin. “You sure know a lot for a quiet guy.”
“I’m not always quiet.”
“No.” I remembered he’d said there were multiple men he slept with in town. “Who else?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why do you want to know so badly?”
“I’m your best friend.” It sounded even lamer out loud than it did in my head. “I don’t know.”
Major’s faded denim eyes assessed me. “Assistant Pastor White.”
My jaw dropped to the floor. I had to admit the man was good-looking, but he was a Southern Baptist preacher for god’s sake. “I don’t believe you,” I said defiantly.
“Yes you do.”
“But… but…” I spluttered. “How? Why?”
“Remember that time I tried to use the winch on my truck to get his sedan out of the ditch after that ice storm and it didn’t budge?”
I nodded.
Major’s eyes twinkled. “He was mighty thankful after I gave him a lift home. And after Easter services, and after the Hobie Hootenanny, and—”
“Stop,” I said, holding my hand up and trying not to laugh. “Gross. It’s all I’ll be able to think about when I see him in town now.”
“I might convert. The man has nice lips. I could watch him in the pulpit maybe, but I’d have to confess after, that’s for sure.”
I sighed. “He’s a goddamned hypocrite,” I muttered. “Must make you crazy.”
He shrugged. “I’m used to it. But I take more than I give in that situation. Now, with Jonny—”
This time I clapped my hand over his mouth. “Christ, Major. Please. The man sat at my mother’s dining table today and cut up Jackie’s turkey.”
“Jonny’s a good man, Doc,” he repeated. Even though I agreed with him, I liked it even less when he said it the second time.
“Then why don’t you want to have a relationship with him? Sure would be easy, what with him living on the farm and all.” I didn’t mean it. The very idea of him in a relationship with someone made me stupidly jealous. I was possessive of his time and confidence, I guessed.
Major’s eyes bore into mine, but he didn’t say a thing. The tension thickened between us, and I gulped.
“It’s… uh, well, it’s not like it’s any of my business,” I stammered awkwardly. “And besides, I’m not a good example of the joys and benefits of putting your heart on the line.”
“Bullshit.” The word didn’t carry any heat when he said it.
I shrugged. “I loved her. Still do, obviously. And I don’t regret loving her. But Christ, it hurts like a motherfucker, Major.”
“Yeah, I imagine it does.”
Comfortable silence settled between us. I wondered idly if I should offer to take Billy home or let him sleep the night on Major’s sofa.
“I don’t want the children growing up in a family with a shroud over it,” I said after a while. “I want to remember Betsy alive and happy. Maybe if I focus on that, the kids will forget this past year of her sickness and remember her bright and shining, you know?”
“Miss Hootenanny four years running,” Major quipped with a wink. He’d heard the stories a million times already. I barked out a laugh before he continued. “The woman was born to reign over a parade.”
“Oh god, she was so smug that first year. Patty’d thought she had it in the bag. Someone’s dad loaned me his 1962 Ford Galaxie Sunliner convertible to drive her. I’ll never forget the feeling of sweat trickling down my back when I almost crashed it into the float in front of me.”
Silence again, and then I turned to him and clasped his forearm. “Wes, I’m going to give myself until the New Year to wallow in it, and then I need you to help me put it away, okay? I need you to help me raise these kids to be happy and healthy and good, and I can’t do that if I’m walking around with black cloth over my heart.”
