Birth of a Monster by Daniel Lawlis Page B

if things were really bad, she
would have gone off to her parents’ house, the way she used to from
time to time during his drinking days.
     
    “Babe?” Righty said, probing Janie’s
mood.
     
    He was rewarded with silence, which
meant on a scale of one to ten of moods she was probably at a three
or four.
     
    Righty entered.
     
    “Babe, I’m so sorry,” Righty
began.
     
    “Back to drinking?” Janie said, trying
to sound calm, but a tear rolled down her cheek.
     
    “No . . . nooo,” Righty said, moving
towards her and kneeling. In his drinking days, he would have said
“no” while moving in the opposite direction.
     
    Janie didn’t deign to look at him, but
if he wasn’t mistaken her nostrils flared momentarily, perhaps
signifying she was taking a whiff. That would mean at least she
cared. On the other hand, perhaps that was just a sign of
fury.
     
    “I’ve been meaning to
surprise you, honey, but everything ended up taking much longer
than expected.”
    “Hmmphhh,” she said, still not looking
at him.
     
    “Janie,” he said calmly, resting a hand
on each knee lightly and looking at her yearningly.
     
    She now gave him a stormy stare, but
this was still actually a sign of hope.
     
    “I’m buying us a new place,
Janie.”
     
    The storm was replaced by a skeptical
look, which was yet one more step up the ladder towards
reconciliation, but it also meant that whatever came out of his
mouth in the next few seconds better be convincing, or he was going
to fall all the way down the steps.
     
    “It was supposed to just be a trip out
to the ranch to sign some papers, but then the guy started playing
games to size me up. Let me start from the beginning. I heard from
a customer at the store a couple months ago that a rancher, just an
hour or two ride from here, was wanting to sell and that the price
he was asking has been going down month after month because he
hasn’t found any takers.
     
    “It sounded too good to be true, so I
went out there to have a look at the place about a month ago, and I
knew right then and there that this would be the perfect place for
us. It’s got a beautiful house with a white picket fence. But
stupid old me—I had ‘I want this house!’ written all over my stupid
face.
     
    “The seller’s a sly old dog, and he
told me I should come out again so that we could sign. Well, I went
out there ready to sign and buy, and he tells me that in the
meantime he’s gotten several other offers. Now, I know this guy’s
lying right through his tobacco-chewing teeth, so I told him,
‘Well, I’m happy for you, but I can’t talk about this anymore
unless we go back to our original price.’
     
    “Now, he sized me up like I ain’t never
seen a man size up another, and I tried my best at a poker face,
and I think I just might have pulled it off because he said, ‘Well,
those other fellas have only talked so far, so maybe you should
come back soon and see.’
     
    “I decided to be a bit of a sneak, and
I hid in the woods near his house. I watched two days and nights,
and not one soul came by. So, I worked up my courage, and today I
approached him and told him what I did, and I said, ‘I’m sorry for
being a sneak, but I’ve got a store to tend to and a new daughter,
so if you’re looking to sell, I’m looking to buy at our original
price. But you decide in forty-eight hours, or forget
it.’
     
    “He told me, ‘Come by in two days. If
those other fellas haven’t shown their faces, I think we can talk
about the original price.’
     
    “Baby, I think it’s going to happen.
Heck! I know it is! I didn’t tell you—because I wanted this all to
be a surprise—but things are going really well at the hardware
store, and I’m on the verge of opening up another one in Sivingdel.
We always talked about getting out of this miserable shack! I’m
talking about a real house!”
     
    Janie had silent tears rolling down her
face, but she looked happy.
     
    “You know I