The Second Mouse - Archer Mayor [39]
Nancy thought back to Mel, who’d come home shit-faced and amorous the night before, smelling of stale beer and body odor. She’d held him off at first, thinking of Ellis, but it was clear how things were going to end up. A practical woman, a survivor, she had started matching him shot for shot, hoping either to drink him into unconsciousness or to numb herself enough not to notice what followed.
It hadn’t been that bad, anyhow. He was no Ellis—gentle, attentive, respectful. But then, a little of the rough stuff had never killed anyone.
Until maybe the next morning.
Groaning, she worked her way over to the edge of the bed and dropped her feet to the floor, breathing deeply in order not to throw up.
She surveyed the room through narrowed eyes, trying to separate last night’s detritus from the everyday chaos, wondering what to wear that might be halfway clean.
The phone began ringing from somewhere under the bed.
“Christ,” she murmured and dropped to her knees, ignoring the lurch in her stomach. Thankfully, the portable phone was under the first pillow she moved.
“What?” she asked.
“Wow,” said Ellis, clearly taken aback by her greeting. “Tough night?”
“You know it.”
His laugh sounded forced, and she imagined him putting on a brave face to mask his disappointment. “I do. He left me to go to you. I saw the shape he was in. You gonna live?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“He still there?” His voice had dropped a confidential notch.
She stood up, the remnants of her underwear slipping down her leg to the floor. She felt dizzy and no less ill, but catching sight of herself naked in the closet mirror also came as a pleasant surprise. She paused and turned slightly, looking. The face wasn’t much—that she knew. It was becoming hard, and the jaw was wrong somehow, and the nose a little out of whack. But the body looked pretty good. Compact but athletic. Wouldn’t be too long before her butt began to go, but so far, so good. And her breasts were damn near perfect—a point of some vanity with her.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Let me check.”
Buoyed by her self-appraisal, she left the bedroom naked and entered the narrow hallway to the living room. The place was quiet, and Mel’s truck was gone from its usual parking space.
“We’re alone.”
“Don’t I wish,” he said leadingly.
Not that attractive a notion right now, Nancy thought, brushing her throbbing forehead with her fingertips. But she understood his need to voice the desire, especially with Mel’s success in that department still lingering between them.
“You up for a trip?” he asked, surprising her.
She was more up for six aspirin, but the softness of his voice stirred a nascent interest. “Where to?” she asked.
“I’d like you to meet my mom.”
That made her laugh. “God, Ellis. I don’t guess I ever heard that one before. Where’s she live?”
“Well, it’s not a house or anything. She’s in the hospital. Dying of cancer.”
“Oh,” Nancy said, caught off guard, the smile still on her lips. Her nakedness now felt merely embarrassing, and she returned to the bedroom for a robe.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. I’ve gotten too used to it. But she’s good people and I wanted you to meet her at least once. Sort of stupid, I know—”
“No, no,” she interrupted. “It’s not stupid. I just wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t even know you had a mother.” She