She turned her head slowly and fixed her eyes on Thorn’s.
‘Never been readier.’
A ghost of skepticism hovered just below the surface of her smile.
‘So it just came walking out of the woods?’
‘Poof, like that.’
She lifted her hands and raked her fingers through her thick black hair as if unsnarling the thousand invisible knots from her long day. He heard what sounded like a quiet groan of pleasure escape from her throat. Then she tipped her head back and shook her hair so it rustled along the back of her white sleeveless blouse. Thorn looked at her neck, at her delicate ears, at the dusting of dark hair that formed her sideburns.
‘A boy and his dog,’ she said. ‘Oh, hell, why not?’
She put an arm around his waist and they walked down to the shoreline.
‘I’ve named him,’ Lawton said. ‘I’ve named the dog.’
‘Hello, Dad,’ she said.
‘I’m calling him Lawton.’
‘But that’s your name.’
The dog was staring up at Lawton as if waiting for the next command.
‘I know it’s my name. What do you think, I’m so far gone I don’t know my own name?’
‘You think that’s a good idea?’ Thorn said. ‘Two Lawtons, that might be one too many.’
‘Why not? It’s a good name,’ Lawton said. ‘It’s served me well.’
‘We might get you two confused. Lawton the dog, Lawton the dad.’
‘Get us confused? Now who’s losing their mind? I’m a man, this is a dog. How’re you going to get us confused?’
‘He’s got a point,’ Thorn said.
She looked at him and closed her eyes briefly.
‘Okay, okay,’ she said. ‘But you’re going to have to take care of him, Dad. That’s a big job. Are you ready for that? Bathing him, taking him to the vet. He’ll need shots.’
‘Watch,’ he said. ‘I’ve taught him to sit already. He’s a smart little fur ball.’
With an open hand Lawton motioned the dog down, and the puppy jumped up and tried to nip his fingers.
‘Down, Lawton. Sit.’
With a single bark of complaint, the puppy planted his rear on a sandy patch and stared up at Lawton, his tail brushing back and forth across the bare earth.
‘See,’ the old man said. ‘He’s a fast learner.’
‘That’s good, Dad. And you’re obviously a good teacher.’
‘He’d better be fast,’ Lawton said. ‘Because I don’t have much time left to teach him much.’
‘Oh, come on. Don’t say that.’
‘Where’d that guy Webster go? He offered me a job working undercover. I need to talk to him about when I’m going to start.’
‘That was months ago, Dad. That was March; this is May. He went away and he’s not coming back.’
‘Went away?’
‘Anyway, you’ve got this dog. You don’t need any more jobs.’
‘But Webster was counting on me. It was a national emergency. I could be putting us all in peril. This woman Anne Joy is at the root of it.’
‘Anne Joy?’
Alexandra stooped down beside the dog and scratched him beneath the throat. The puppy grew limp at her touch.
‘Her name came up,’ Thorn said.
‘First I’ve heard of that.’
‘Webster mentioned her. That’s when I shut him up and kicked him out.’
‘Oh, yeah, I feel it coming,’ Lawton said. ‘The end is definitely near. It won’t be long. This dog is going to have to be my legacy.’
‘Dad,’ Alex said. ‘Please stop.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Lawton said. ‘I’m ready. Now that you’re finally in good hands and there’s someone to carry on my name, it’s time for me to exit.’
Alexandra stood up, her mouth clamped tight.
‘It’s okay,’ Thorn said. ‘It’s just words.’
‘I know. I know. But still.’
‘You ready for a glass of red?’
‘Thorn, what did Webster want with Anne Joy?’
‘He thought I knew something about her. I assured him I didn’t.’
‘You should’ve told me that.’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘But I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.’
‘The kind I have right now, you mean.’
‘Yeah, that kind.’
‘We shouldn’t conceal things.’
‘I’m sorry. You’re right. Really, I’m sorry.’
She looked into his eyes, and he could see her letting it go. Most of it.
‘So I had another visitor,’ he said as they strolled back toward the house.
‘What, they sent the vice president this time?’
‘When’d you get so funny?’
She stopped next to the bench.
‘And what in the world is this?’
‘A bench. A yellow bench.’
‘What is it, Thorn?’
‘I was thinking Lawton might like it. You know, for his midnight rambles. Might keep him off the highway if we can convince him the Greyhound stops here.’
She stared at the bench, then looked up at Thorn, a smile warming her lips.
‘Worth a try,’ he said. ‘I was thinking of putting it over there, next to the gumbo-limbo. Kind of like the bus shelter.’
‘You’re something, Thorn.’
‘Well, I’m not much of a furniture maker, that’s for sure.’
She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the mouth so deep and long, it closed his eyes and kept them closed a second or two after she’d drawn away.
‘So who was your visitor this time?’
He took her hand in his and waved his free hand at the open yard and the darkening bay.
‘Would you trade all this for three million dollars?’
‘All this?’
‘The house, the land, my car. All of it.’
‘Three million for that heap of rust you call a car?’
‘I’m serious. The house, land, all of it. Would you?’
She held his eyes.
‘It’s not mine to sell.’
‘But let’s say it were. You could take the three mil, go someplace else, invest some of the money in mutual funds, live off the interest. Never have to work again, do whatever you wanted.’
‘Mutual funds?’ She reached out and pressed her palm against his forehead. ‘You been outside all day without a hat?’
‘Answer the question,’ he