Allie's Moon by Alexis Harrington Page A

the
gold strands in his hair. But she had to end it.
    “ You clean up your face and then eat
your breakfast, Mr. Hicks.” She couldn’t bring herself to call him
by his first name. “You’ve got a lot to keep you busy, and I have
to look after my sister. She’s a bit feeble.”
    “ Yes, ma’am.” He dropped his gaze and
an edge of tired bitterness crept into his voice. Hearing it,
Althea knew she’d put it there.
    “ Well, I— I’ll see you at lunch.”
Althea turned and walked back toward the house, hoping she wouldn’t
have to see that haunted pain hiding behind his eyes again anytime
soon.
    ~~*~*~*~~
    The morning went faster than Jeff had
expected. The big breakfast Althea had given him saw him through
hours of hammering and crab-walking across the steep pitch of the
roof. The sun warmed up early on, and sweat trickled over the nicks
and razor burn on his face, stinging like witch hazel.
    But now, after giving his work a final
inspection, he looked over the expanse of shingles and felt
satisfaction. That was something Jefferson Hicks hadn’t felt in a
long time. And he realized that so far this morning, he’d thought
about taking a drink only twice. He’d done hard work and he’d done
it well. Of course, the next rain would bring the true test.
    He was about to step onto the ladder when he
heard two female voices outside. Although their words were too
faint to catch, one voice he recognized as Althea’s. The other,
higher and much younger, he assumed belonged to her sister.
    “ Mr. Hicks, I’m putting your lunch over
here,” Althea called as she carried a tray to the tree stump. She
glanced up briefly, but didn’t make eye contact with him. And she
was still calling him Mr. Hicks.
    She was a fine-looking woman, he thought
again, even if she was as stiff as a collar stay. He racked his
memory, trying to recall what had been said in town about these two
sisters. All he could remember was something about them being
crazy, but obviously that hadn’t been right. He’d met their father
once or twice—he’d been a dour, sour man, one to whom joy had
seemed to be an enemy.
    Jeff came down the ladder and eyed the tray.
It looked like she’d given him a few sandwiches, some potato salad,
and a piece of cake with chocolate frosting. The stool was still
there by the tree stump, so he sat down. The little sandwiches had
their crusts cut off and they were cut in quarters. It made him
think of food a person would give to a child. He cast a sidelong
glance at porch, where Althea’s sister sat on a blanket. She was
slight and fragile-looking, and Jeff guessed her to be about
fourteen or fifteen years old. She sat on a blanket with her hands
folded in her lap and her skirts arranged around her as if she
posed for a portrait. In fact, with her long, light blond hair
hanging down her back, she reminded him of an illustration he’d
once seen in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
    And she was staring at him.
    He gave her a smile and a nod, but she only
looked away, and appeared not to have noticed. Althea had told him
that her sister was feeble—hell, maybe she’d meant
feeble-minded.
    Althea came outside again with a plate.
“Here, Olivia, take a sandwich and start eating.” Then seeing Jeff,
she called, “Oh, Mr. Hicks—this is my sister, Olivia.”
    “ Ma’am.”
    Olivia didn’t answer, and then he saw Althea
whisper something to her.
    “ How do you do, Mr. Hicks,” Olivia
replied woodenly.
    “ It’s such a nice day, we thought we’d
have a little picnic here on the porch,” Althea added.
    Olivia didn’t speak again, but she began
talking to her sister in hushed tones.
    Jeff felt like a conspicuous outsider, like a
fly on a white tablecloth, with the two of them whispering about
him, so he concentrated on his lunch. He examined the sandwiches—he
didn’t think he’d ever seen ones like these, with the crusts
trimmed off. He supposed that a woman as finicky as Althea Ford
would hack off any