Light from a Distant Star by Mary Mcgarry Morris Read Free Book Online Page B

Mr. Cooper said. He seemed amused.
    Oh, Nellie could just imagine his version of this and Jessica’s snarky questions about the strip club dancer being in her kitchen with nothing on under her sleazy bathrobe.
    “I knew I shouldn’t’ve waited so long to get ready. Now, I’m gonna be late for work again. Oh, Jesus, that’s not the right time, is it?” She pointed to the wall clock.
    “Ten minutes fast,” Nellie lied so she wouldn’t swear again and offend Mr. Cooper, who not only attended church every Sunday but had recently had his picture in the newspaper getting some award from the bishop. From downstairs came tapping on pipes and her parents’ voices calling to each other like underground miners searching for a way out. After the canary died.
    “Where do you work?” Mr. Cooper asked.
    “The Paradise.” Dolly cocked her head with a perky smile.
    “Oh. Well. Maybe you should call and tell them you’re running a little late then,” Mr. Cooper said.
    “Yeah, lotta good that’ll do. My boss, he’s a real …” She glancedat Nellie, raising thin eyebrows that were blond instead of yesterday’s thick brown.
    “Dolly’s a singer. She’s got a really nice voice,” Nellie said quickly. She knew from listening at the bathroom wall that she swore a lot. Mostly on the phone, though. So far she’d only had a few visitors. That guy she’d turned away had come back again late one night, stayed a while, then after another argument had stormed out, slamming the door behind him, which her mother considered one of the rudest things one person could do to another—in this house, anyway. Two women who seemed to be Dolly’s age had stopped in last week. They had the same mussed look, like dolls that had been handled too roughly. They didn’t stay very long. Even their walk was similar, teetering down the steps on high wedge-heeled sandals, carrying out armloads of clothes on hangers.
    Dolly winked at her. “Nellie’s one of my biggest fans.”
    “Of whose numbers I’m sure are legion,” Mr. Cooper said.
    “Yeah,” she said uncertainly, as if it might be an insult.
    Nellie’s mother and father emerged from the cellar with cobwebs in their hair. Her mother’s cheek was smudged. She apologized again to Dolly. The pilot light had gone out and they’d had a hard time getting it lit. It was probably going to take a while for the water to heat up, so if Dolly wanted, she could use their shower.
    “Oh, gee, that’d be great,” Dolly said, jumping up to follow Sandy.
    “Excuse me!” Mr. Cooper said, quickly pushing back his chair to stand. He held out his hand. “Here we’ve been talking and I never introduced myself. Andy Cooper.”
    “Dolly Bedelia. A pleasure to meet you,” she said in that breathy, sing-song voice with a tilt of her head, and when she leaned to shake his hand, Nellie couldn’t believe her eyes. The front of her robe slipped open, exposing a dark rim of left nipple. In Mr. Cooper’s sly smile Nellie glimpsed their future, and it was bleak. She didn’t breathe again until Dolly was upstairs. The clunk in the pipes as the shower went on wrenched in her chest. Her father and Mr. Cooper resumed their discussion. Her mother had obviously told him to stay on message. First, the building would need to be inspected, Mr. Cooper said. Oh, of course, her father agreed. And that price he’d mentioned, Mr. Coopersaid, well, that was just a ball park estimate. Naturally, her father agreed. Mr. Cooper said he’d feel more comfortable having a commercial appraisal done. That makes sense, her father said. Especially now with real estate values down so much, Mr. Cooper said, adding how he’d probably end up taking a beating, but he did want to help out however he could. Her father didn’t say anything. She wondered if he was already sorting through history, his grandfather and great uncle building Peck Hardware ninety-five years ago, tools as firmly in hand as their confidence in future