Invisible A Novel by Carla Buckley

Author:Carla Buckley
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Orion Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Martin smiled, seeing me. His cheeks were puffy, the skin stretched taut across his face. His look of surprised joy took me aback, and I felt ashamed. I had had every intention of leaving town the day before without saying goodbye, of just packing up my suitcase and driving away.

Turning to the nurse walking alongside him into the dialysis clinic’s waiting room, he said, “I’m good now. My daughter’s here.”

I didn’t let my step falter. I didn’t react at all.

The nurse glanced at me, confusion evident on her face. We didn’t know each other. “That’s nice,” she said. “Why don’t you sit out here for a little while and make sure you’re ready to go?”

Two Native American children played on the floor, and as Martin lowered himself to an upholstered chair, a crayon rolled his way. Bending, he handed it to them. “If I’d known you were coming, I’d have brought my Scrabble board, but Milly Peterson’s using it. She’s got some championship going.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “I just wanted to talk, anyway.”

“Oh, sure, then.”

The nurse lifted an afghan from the back of the couch, a dizzying swirl of dandelion yellow and purple, and folded it around Martin’s knees. She gave me a meaningful look, and I nodded. I’d stay with him for a while.

“How are you two doing?” she asked the children.

“Fine,” the older one said.

“Is our mommy done yet?” the younger girl asked.

“One more hour, honey.” The nurse patted Martin’s shoulder, and walked back through the sliding doors into the dialysis room.

“What’s up?” Martin asked me.

“I’ve been thinking that Julie was right—something’s making people sick.”

“Even though the Department of Health said it’s all clear?”

“Even though.”

His gaze moved around the room and came to rest on the children playing nearby. “Go on,” he said, at last.

“I thought you might be able to help me figure out what’s changed in Black Bear over the past few years.” Change, LT had said. What had changed overnight, literally and figuratively?

The clock on the wall above his head chirred, and the hour hand struck one.

He sat back. “Let’s see. Were you here when they opened that new highway north of town?”

“Highway 10?”

“Yes, that’s the one. Took half the traffic right out of town, and the stores really suffered.”

“I was here.” Ten had opened way back when I was a teenager, and we’d christened it with drag races until the highway patrol stopped us. It had curved around Black Bear now for almost twenty years and could have nothing to do with what I was searching for.

“A few years back, we got a girl on the high school football team,” he mused. “That was big news around here.”

“That’s not the kind of changes I’m talking about.”

“I know, I know. I’m just trying to jog things loose.”

He was right. I needed to let him do this in his own way. “Okay. A girl joined the football team.”

“We added two more handicapped spots in front of the library. The Main Street Café started serving breakfast on weekends.

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