A Hole in the Universe - Mary McGarry Morris [17]
Dumping ground. Is that all she was, a dumping ground? What a disgusting thing to say, but of course, Kiki didn’t know the real story. No one did. Albert was just too decent and loyal to ever hurt his family. Every Sunday without fail, he spent an hour at the nursing home with his father, who didn’t even recognize him anymore. Once when he bent down to kiss the top of his father’s head, the old man slapped his face. Delores had never told Albert that last winter when he and his wife went to Aruba, she had brought flowers and homemade fudge to his father and watched the Mass on television with him. When it came time for her to go, the old man cried. He held on to her hand and wouldn’t let her leave.
Two women had just come into the store. They brought a box of colored paper to the register. They said they were starting a cleaning service and needed paper for their first mailing. Only one spoke English. She said her sister and her sister’s two grandchildren had just moved in with her. The sister’s husband had died last month, and the grandchildren’s mother and father were drug addicts. Delores asked the women if they wanted some names for their mailing list. They were all women who worked and could probably use help with the cleaning. Four of the names were her own sisters. Hearing this in translation, the badly bleached widow took Delores’s hand and squeezed it, the fierce grip belying her tiny frame. Before they left, Delores had written twenty names and addresses on a piece of store stationery. That’s all it takes, she thought, watching them go down the street, laughing, arm in arm. Now she felt good again. It never seemed to fail: whenever she got down in the dumps, along would come someone much worse off than she was.
She checked her watch: ten minutes to closing. Gordon was probably on his way to his brother’s by now. She wished Dennis hadn’t mentioned the cookout. Every time the phone had rung this past week, she had hoped it might be Gordon inviting her. God, he had looked so good the other night in regular clothes. But the minute she moved closer, she knew she’d made a terrible mistake. He had actually cringed as if away from some foul odor or contagion.
She picked up the phone. If he was gone, she’d leave a message. Saying what, though? She had to be careful. He was always so uptight around her. Dennis said he was like that with everyone, but the other night he’d looked almost panicky. The poor guy, he was obviously afraid to be alone with a woman. He probably thought one wrong move would scare her off. She’d just have to be patient. But persistent, she vowed on the first number. She’d say she was going to the mall tomorrow and would he please call her if he needed anything or felt like going. If he did answer, she’d offer him a ride. She could say she had to drop something off at Albert’s house, which wasn’t far from Dennis’s.
“No!” She hung up the phone. She grabbed a rag and glass cleaner and scrubbed the front counter case. What Gordon Loomis needed most was a friend and not some lonely woman with too much time on her hands.
“Delores! Where’s my jacket? Damn it! It’s not here!” an irritated voice called.
“Oh, Albert!” She jumped up, smiling, then ran into the storeroom. “I didn’t hear you come in. Oh, I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve been waiting all day for you to call.”
“I can’t find my jacket.” He was searching through the boxes in his office. “Where the hell is it?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen it. Here,” she said as he scaled a notepad across the room. “Let me look. If it’s here, I’ll find it.”
“Goddamn mess,” he muttered as she went through the boxes.
“You just need to sort through it, that’s all,” she said, looking behind the desk.
“I don’t have time!”
“Then I’ll do it. I told you I would.”
He stared at her,