Hank’s hand let mine go but instead of moving away, as the others had, his fingers wrapped around my upper arm and he pul ed me gently, but firmly, away from Uncle Tex, toward him. Then more toward him, his hand sliding down my arm. Then more, his fingers circling my wrist. Then more, his hand finding and wrapping around mine. And final y, I was at his side, our shoulders nearly touching.
Uncle Tex looked around, his eyes narrowing on Hank but before he could speak, Hank did. “I know you’re excited Roxie’s here,” he said in a low, soft voice that was meant only for Tex (and, due to my proximity, me). “But maybe you can get a little control so she doesn’t get whiplash.” My heart fluttered and I leaned into him a bit. I didn’t mean to, I didn’t even want to, my body just did it like it had a mind of its own (it did, of course, have a mind of its own, it just wasn’t working at that moment).
My shoulder hit Hank’s bicep. The second it did, his hand squeezed mine and my throat closed with fear that he might drop my hand and move away.
He didn’t.
This was good for two reasons. One, if he did, I’d have toppled over like a tree, and two, I liked that he was holding my hand.
Uncle Tex looked at me, then he looked at Hank, then he looked back at me. Then, he took a step back and looked at the both of us. We were standing close, I could feel the heat from Hank’s arm burning through my sweater, his hand tight on mine and I was beginning to feel faint again. My eyes weakly flitted to Uncle Tex’s and when he saw it, he grinned.
“Fuckin’ A, Roxie. Right on!” Uncle Tex boomed and I stared, not knowing what in the hell he was talking about.
“What?” I asked.
Uncle Tex didn’t answer me, he looked to Mace and Vance and declared, “You boys gotta learn to move faster or al the good ones’l be gone.”
To this, I heard Hank laugh softly next to me. I looked at him and his eyes were back to lazy, but now they were also amused and, I could swear, behind them, there was an intensity that made my heart start to race.
I tore my eyes away and looked back at Uncle Tex.
“What?” I repeated.
Again, Uncle Tex ignored me as Nancy moved careful y toward us and then grabbed on to his arm. She leaned into him and he took her weight natural y, as if this had happened many times before. She smiled at me. “Why don’t you and Tex come over to my place for dinner?
Maybe we can talk Jet into cooking for us.” Without hesitation, Tex turned toward Jet and boomed,
“Make those fuckin’ brownies with the caramel, Loopy Loo.
It’s a special fuckin’ occasion!”
I jumped at this latest boom and Hank let go of my hand and moved away. I felt his loss like a physical blow and I closed my eyes tight to push it away.
The last time this had happened to me, I’d lost seven years of my life to Bil y.
It wasn’t going to happen to me again, no way.
No… fucking… way.
I hadn’t even gotten rid of Bil y, I certainly didn’t need the trouble that Hank Nightingale had written al over him.
This trouble was worse. This trouble said loud and clear that Hank would eventual y find out about Bil y and realize what a fucking moron I was and Hank would never hold my hand again. Don’t ask me how I knew this, I just knew this like I knew that Manolo Blahnik made the best shoes in history.
I opened my eyes again and Nancy was watching me.
“You okay?” she asked softly.
I nodded but said, just as softly, “I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“Stroke,” she answered, without hesitation. “Nearly nine months ago.”
I moved toward her and then stopped when Eddie came in my peripheral vision.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, not attempting to get any closer and feeling weirdly scared of Eddie.
“I’m getting better every day,” Nancy told me.
I smiled at her. “That’s fantastic.”
She smiled back, it was a glamorous smile, like her daughter’s.
“Holy cow, Nancy. Jet and you have the same smile,” I said.
“Don’t tel Jet.”
“Why not?”
“She won’t believe you.”
Eddie came in close to Nancy and took her weight off Tex when I heard Indy shout, “Let’s have a big old party!” Tex moved away and boomed. “Now you’re talkin’, woman!”
I looked at Eddie and he was watching me, his black eyes no longer blank but active. I glanced away, feeling that he knew my secrets and I wanted to keep them to myself.
It was then, I noticed with alarm, that the Witches of Eastwi ck had thrown themselves wholeheartedly into planning the impromptu party.
I wasn’t sure this was a good idea.
“I’m not getting a good feeling about this,” I said to Nancy (and Eddie, since he was there).
“I’m not either,” Eddie said in a tone that made a shiver go across my skin.
Nancy patted my arm quickly then grabbed on to Eddie again.
“It’l be fine,” she said, grinning at Tex.
“I’l make the caramel layer squares,” Jet said, walking up to Eddie, linking her arm through his and putting her head on his shoulder, obviously deciding their tiff was over.
“Damn straight, Loopy Loo,” Tex said.