That door led to the kitchen. I tightened my grip on the car seat and slowly shouldered the door until it swung open enough to allow us through. The kitchen was in shadow and from what I could see nothing was out of place. It was church quiet. Walt’s tiny bedroom, which had once been used for storage, was just to my right. That door was ajar as well. I used the toe of my boot to inch it open.

5

It wasn’t that I expected to find Walt dead. He was the healthiest eighty-year-old on the planet, tall and ramrod straight, a head of thick white hair and the lean muscle of a young man. Of course, I knew Walt had to die one day, even if he didn’t, but none of us youngers would probably live long enough to see it. What I couldn’t understand was what kept him going, day in and night out, all alone with a life to remember that most people would choose to forget if they could. For that matter, I sometimes wondered what kept any of us going. It was a line of thought I didn’t want to follow too far.

Walt lay fully clothed on top of the single bed, his arms folded behind his head, with just a little light from the one high small window on the outer wall. I couldn’t tell if Walt’s eyes were open or closed.

“Did you think I missed your knock?”

I told him I didn’t. “The back door was open.”

“You think an open door is an invitation to enter a man’s home?”

Walt had made no effort to move. It was cold enough in the small room our words sent small bursts of white breath into the air. I didn’t answer his question, mostly because we both knew the answer and I sure as hell wasn’t going to say I was concerned about him. He might acknowledge my concern with his opinion.

“What the hell, Ben. Are you driving a school bus now?”

“Ginny stuck me with her baby today. An emergency.”

Walt lay motionless with his arms still behind his head while I waited for him to speak and the room began to lighten as the sun found the back of the diner. Ginny and Walt had met briefly and only once not long after Claire died. He knew who she was and I had mentioned her a few times, about the baby and college, and renting her the other side of my duplex at a greatly reduced price in exchange for bookkeeping. The two hadn’t said a word to each other and the conversation that passed between them was more like two fighters circling each other in the ring. If those two ever got into it I wouldn’t know who to bet on.

Walt swung his long legs off the bed and set the soles of his steel-toed boots on the bare floor. “I know whose baby that is.” He nodded in my direction, downward to my right.

The boy Juan had gotten out of the truck and stood just beside me. The dog pushed his big nose forward between the boy and my leg. There wasn’t any use in being upset. The truth was I had forgotten about him.

“It’s a long story,” I said, though it wasn’t. “Jesus, Walt, it’s freezing in here.”

Walt ignored my observation. “Well, I’m sure you’ll find someone who wants to hear it,” he said as he stood.

The revolver had been on the nightstand. In the dusky room I hadn’t seen it until he picked it up.