Pie Town - Lynne Hinton [45]
“No doubt, if he drank as much as everyone else did at the party, he’s dead to the world, I’m sure.”
There were footsteps moving away from his window. Father George waited a few seconds, and then he sat up in bed and turned to face outside. He stayed perfectly still as he heard the voices moving farther away, heading in the direction of the church. He took in another breath, suddenly feeling much clearer, and leaned up to pull aside the curtains. As he did, he saw a young couple walking toward the back of the church. They were holding hands, the boy leading the girl. He watched them and was sure that the boy was someone he did not recognize, but the girl he was quite confident he knew.
He dropped back down into the bed, threw the covers over his head, the rosary falling behind the pillow, and closed his eyes, deciding that he wasn’t in the mood to deal with young lovers, even if they were trespassing.
Chapter Sixteen
Trina was dreaming. There was a field, rows of corn, withered and brown like crops late in the season. The stalks were spindly, mostly devoured by grasshoppers, brittle from the summer sun. She walked through the rows, blindfolded, but she was not afraid. She walked, her arms stretched out on both sides, touching the stalks, feeling her way down the row. It seemed like some lesson she was learning, some means of testing her progress. There was someone near her, a woman, familiar, sweet-voiced, and kind, telling her to keep going, telling her that she was almost there. But Trina stopped when she felt the corn no longer beside her but now in front of her, blocking the way she had been going. She felt around, spinning, reaching out, and feeling the stalks in all directions. They were tall and close, and suddenly she was disoriented and could remember neither the direction she had come from nor where she was heading.
“I’m lost,” she called out, waiting for the woman to answer. There was no response. “Aren’t you there?” Trina asked, hearing nothing. “Wait, don’t go, I don’t know where I am,” she yelled. “Can I take the blindfold off? Is it okay to look?” And Trina was reaching up to remove the covering over her eyes when she awoke to the sound of a knocking on her door.
“Trina, are you awake?”
She shook her head, clearing her mind of the dream that lingered along the edges of her consciousness, the dream she had had since she was a young teenager. She opened her eyes.
“Trina, it’s Roger. Are you up?”
“Yeah,” she shouted. “Just a minute.” And she got up from the bed and hurried over to the door. She opened it, wearing only a T-shirt and panties. “Hey,” she said, blinking at the sun, bright and full behind the man standing at her door. She shielded her eyes with one hand.
“Oh.” Roger quickly averted his eyes. “I’m sorry to get you up. It’s just that I never saw you come in last night, and now it’s the afternoon and I hadn’t seen any sign of life over here.” He cleared his throat. “Alex asked me to stop by.” He glanced down at the bottom of the stairs. Alex was sitting in his wheelchair. He waved at Trina.
“Hey, you,” she said to the boy, stepping outside the door. “You checking up on me?”
Alex blushed. He could see the girl was not dressed. He just shook his head.
Trina smiled. “What time is it?” she asked Roger.
“Four o’clock,” he answered.
“Sunday?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Wow” was all she said. She squinted again against the sun. “That was quite a birthday party, Alex,” she shouted down to the boy.
He nodded. “Yeah, it was fun,” he replied.
“I’m taking him back to Malene’s. We’ve been to Mass and driven over to Socorro for lunch.” Roger studied the young woman. “You need anything?” he asked. “Breakfast, coffee?”
Trina shook her head. “No, I’ve got some cereal. I’ll be fine. Happy birthday again,” she yelled down to Alex.
“Thanks, Trina,” he called back. “And thanks for the card. It’s my favorite.”
Trina smiled. “Yeah, the homemade ones are best, I think.”
“Okay then, again, I’m sorry I disturbed you. Alex just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong. He . . .” Roger paused. “He