We watched him.
“So he’d done at least a thousand dollars’ worth of work, gave the Wickenses their bill, they never paid, so this plumber, he goes and sees this lawyer, asks him to take care of it for him. And the lawyer, he sends them a letter.”
“The Wickenses,” I said.
“Yeah. So he sends them this letter. And the next night, his house burns down.”
Dad and I said nothing.
“Nearly lost his family. Got them out just in time. Nearly lost his daughter, she’s paralyzed, fell off a horse when she was fifteen, can’t move on her own, and he carried her out just in time.”
“It could have just been a coincidence,” I said.
“The plumber, he gets a phone call the next day. Caller asks him, does he want his place to be next?”
Dad, shuffling on his crutches, and I moved for the door.
“I’m real sorry,” said Bert Trench. “I just don’t need that kind of thing. But, Arlen, any time you’ve got a basic real estate deal, you call me and I’ll look after you.”
“Sure, Bert,” said Dad. “You’ll be the first.”
13
“SO, WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US?” I said, sitting at the counter next to Dad in the coffee shop owned by Dad’s main squeeze, Lana Gantry. We were still reeling from our meeting with Bert Trench as we hauled our butts up onto the stools.
“Hey, boys,” said Lana, her elbows on the counter, leaning in intimately toward us. As she leaned, I could see Dad trying not to be obvious about peeking down her blouse.
“Hi, honey,” Dad said.
“Lana,” I said, smiling.
“How’s your ankle, sweetie?” Lana asked Dad. He turned red, being called “sweetie” in front of his son.
“It’s okay,” he said quietly.
“If I didn’t have this place to run, I’d come out there and stay with you till you get better.” She smiled. “I could give you everything you need.”
Dad kept blushing, swallowed, and said, “You know Bert Trench?”
“Yeah, sure, he has lunch in here all the time.”
“Does he strike you as an attractive man?”
Lana smiled again. “All those hot wives he’s had, that what this is about?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, from what I hear, what he lacks in the looks department he makes up for in technique.”
My eyebrows went up.
“And when he gets tired of one, he unloads her and gets another, and rocks her world, too. They don’t even mind it that much when he wants a divorce, they’re so exhausted. Don’t you worry, though,” Lana Gantry said, patting Dad’s hand. “I won’t let him lure me away from you.”
“Um, Lana, I wonder if you could get me and my boy some coffees.”
I looked beyond Lana at what was behind the glass. “I wouldn’t mind a piece of coconut cream pie, too, if that’s what I see there,” I said. Lana was back with coffees in a moment, a couple of creams tucked into my saucer, Dad’s black, and then she went for my pie.
“This looks fantastic,” I said as she placed it in front of me. I put a forkful into my mouth. It was heaven.
“You boys need anything you give me a shout,” Lana said, and headed over to the cash register to confer with one of the two waitresses working the room.
“Maybe there’s other lawyers with some nuggets in their shorts who’d be willing to take this on,” Dad said.
“Try some from some other towns, but not Red Lake,” I said. “Someone who’s not likely to run into Timmy when he’s getting gas or buying a loaf of bread. You could make some calls when we get back to the cabin,” I said, pouring some sugar from the glass dispenser into my cup.
Dad nodded, looking down into his porcelain mug.
“And I have a friend I might call,” I said. “He’s had a bit more experience with these kinds of things than I have.”
Dad looked over at me. “A lawyer?”
“No,” I said. “An ex-cop. He works for himself now. Name’s Lawrence Jones. He sort of owes me one. I’ll call him when we get back.”
The door jingled and in walked the law. Orville Thorne took off his hat, set it on the counter, and took the stool next to Dad, even though the one next to me was empty as well.
“I saw your truck outside, Arlen,” Orville said, not even bothering with a nod in my direction. I felt an overwhelming urge to give him a nipple-twister. “Wanted to tell you I’ve got a couple folks together to hunt down that bear. Probably be tomorrow I should think, we’ll get started first thing in the morning.”
I shook my head, took a sip of coffee.
“What’s the matter with him?” Orville asked Dad.
Lana appeared, leaned over the counter and gave her nephew a kiss on the forehead. “Hey, sweetie. Usual?”
“Sure, Aunt Lana.”
She poured him a cup of coffee, black, then placed a chocolate dip doughnut on a plate for him. Orville took a big bite, washed it down with the hot coffee. His mouth still full, he said to me, “So what’s your problem?”