Beyond Deserving by Sandra Scofield

Author:Sandra Scofield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media

33

Katie, dressed for dinner at Jeff’s, is standing with him in the driveway of Michael’s house. They arrived to find Michael buzzing the lawn with edge-clippers. Michael turned the machine off and is now amiably listening to them.

“I don’t understand this arrangement of vehicles.” Jeff says. He insisted on going for Katie’s car. He has made arrangements for a friend to work on it in the morning.

Katie’s car is in the front of the drive, by the garage. Behind it are both Ursula’s car and Michael’s pea-green pickup. “How are we going to get in there to give your car a jump?” he asks Katie.

Katie says nothing. Michael drawls, “I don’t think a jump will do it.”

“I told you, it’s not the battery,” Katie says. Her jaw aches from clenching her teeth. To please Jeff, who invited another couple, she is wearing a dress she bought a few weeks before, a mauve rayon print in a modified forties style, with a wide waist and buttons all the way down the front. She feels awkward in front of Michael, with Jeff, in a new dress.

“What it would need is a push,” Michael says blandly.

“A push!” Jeff explodes. “How the hell are we supposed to push a car that’s between the garage and another car!”

“I don’t think Fish figured on giving it any more pushes. He’s going to repair the starter. The rest of us will be at work, and he can back right out.”

“If you move your cars now we can push it backwards into the street,” Jeff says. Katie is mortified. She can’t imagine what Jeff is waiting on. Maybe he is starting to see how stupid he is being. Until today, Katie would have described Jeff as a calm and polite human being, not provoked by minor irritations, and predictably intelligent. A scientist. She seems to have brought out the worst in him.

“Ursula!” Katie calls out brightly as Ursula comes down the front steps.

Ursula looks rumpled and sleepy. Katie makes hasty introductions, which Ursula and Jeff barely acknowledge. “We’ve come for my car.”

“Fish has gone round to Bi-Mart. He’ll be back any minute. Anybody want a beer?”

Jeff marches over to Katie’s car and peers in. Katie says to Ursula, “Feels just like summer, huh?” She feels stupid.

Michael is winding the cord neatly around the handle of the edge-cutter and tying it with a length of wire. “Beer sounds good,” he says, and takes the edger down the basement stairs.

Fish pulls along the curb. He comes up the drive carrying a large brown paper bag of cans. “I thought since I couldn’t work on the starter today, I’d change the oil and plugs and filter,” he says to Katie. He pretends not to see Jeff.

“We’d like to take the car,” Jeff says stiffly, coming closer. He glances at his watch.

“That’d be a real dumbshit thing to do,” Fish says to Katie.

“I’ve made arrangements.” Jeff is telling this to Katie, too.

“This is ridiculous!” Ursula snaps. Her glare takes them all in. Ursula’s eyes narrow.

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