Pie Town - Lynne Hinton [28]
“I’m Alex,” he said, sticking out his hand.
Trina smiled. “Hello, Alex,” she said, wiping her mouth and then taking his hand. “I’m Trina, and this,” she nodded over to the priest, “is Father George Morris.”
Alex glanced at him. “Welcome to Pie Town,” he said.
“Thank you, Alex,” the priest responded.
“The green chile is okay?” Alex asked Trina.
“Perfect,” she replied.
Alex nodded. “I know where you can stay,” he said.
Trina appeared surprised.
“I can’t find you a job, but I know where you can stay,” he repeated.
“Yeah?” Trina asked.
“Yeah,” he replied. He spun his wheelchair around to Roger. “Tell her, Granddad,” he said.
Roger cleared his throat, wiped his mouth, placed his napkin on the table, and got up from his seat. He walked over to the table and stood beside Alex. “I’m Roger Benavidez,” he introduced himself.
Father George stuck out his hand. “Father George Morris,” he responded. “Nice to meet you, Sheriff,” he said, noticing the uniform.
“Father George,” Roger said. He turned to Trina. “And you are?” he asked with a smile.
“Trina,” she replied.
“And so you have charmed my grandson from a distance,” he noted.
Trina grinned at Alex, who blushed a bit.
“Is it true that you have a place where I might crash?” she asked.
Roger nodded. “I have a small apartment above the garage in the back of my house. It’s not much, but my daughter lived there a while with Alex when he was a baby. I’ll need to clean it up a bit before you move in, but yes, it’s available.”
“Cool,” Trina responded. “But hey, I’ll do the cleaning, and then maybe you can knock off a few bucks from the rent since I don’t have much cash to start.”
There was a pause.
“Actually, I don’t have any cash,” Trina admitted. “I’m trying to find a job, but I really don’t have any money right now.”
The two men seemed embarrassed for her.
“I got some cash I can loan you,” Alex responded.
Trina reached over and placed her hand on Alex’s arm. “I think I can swing my rent if the sheriff here will give me a couple of weeks to raise the funds. But that is a very kind offer.”
There was another awkward pause among the four.
“So where’s your mom now?” she asked, recalling what Alex had said about the apartment.
Alex looked over to Roger as if he was expecting him to answer.
“Taos,” Roger replied. “She’s living in Taos.”
“Nice,” Trina responded. “I love Taos. You been to see her?” she asked Alex.
He shook his head.
“Well, maybe we can go up there and visit her sometime.” Trina smiled. “Maybe when I get a job and can buy a car, I’ll drive you up there.”
Roger cleared his throat. The direction of the conversation seemed to trouble him.
Appearing to notice Roger’s discomfort, Father George spoke up. “Can you tell me, Sheriff Benavidez, how far the Holy Family Church and the parish house are from here?” he asked. “If my directions are right, I shouldn’t be too far away, right?”
Roger turned back to the priest, glad for the question. “Right. It’s not far at all, just a few miles up Highway 60 and east on Clive’s Road. Would you like me to escort you over there?” he asked. “Is Father Joseph waiting on you?”
“I believe that he is,” Father George answered. Then he glanced over at Trina and then back to Roger. “But I think that if you can help my passenger here find suitable housing,” he nodded over to Trina, “I can locate my new residence.”
“Father George was kind enough to give me a ride when I was hitchhiking,” Trina explained. And then she whispered to Alex, loud enough for the men to hear. “I think I must remind him of an old girlfriend. I think I make him nervous.” She winked, and Father George’s face reddened.
“You can walk to Granddad’s from here,” Alex said, grinning. “If you want, when it stops raining, I’ll go with you.” He thought for a second about his offer. “Only I can’t go up to the apartment with you because of the stairs,” he added, looking a bit disappointed.
Trina considered his words. “Well, I bet that if the sheriff comes along with us, we