Page 36 of Bright Lights, Big Christmas
“But I thought… the way you two were cuddling in the corner…”
“Nah. Get your mind out of the gutter, Kerry. I walked her back to her place, then I headed over to Augie’s Pub to play darts. Some guys I know turned up, and they begged me to play my dobro… and pretty soon it was after three, and I didn’t want to wake you up, so I just spent the night there.”
“In a bar?” She leaned over and sniffed her brother. He did indeed smell like beer. And barf.
“Well, on a couch down in the basement.” He shivered. “Kinda cold, ain’t it?”
“I guess so. What happened to your jacket? And your other shoe?”
“Damned if I know.”
Kerry tried to tamp down her mounting annoyance. She pointed at the stack of Christmas trees withSOLDtags attached. “You’ve got a bunch of deliveries to make. And I promised everyone they’d get their trees today.”
Murphy wiped his nose on the sleeve of his borrowed shirt. “I got it covered.” He looked up and nodded. “Here comes my helper now.”
A kid coasted toward them in the bike lane on a bright yellow twelve-speed bike. He had a wagon rigged to the back of the bike, and an eager smile.
“Hey, Murph!” the kid said as he braked. “Reporting for duty!”
“Vic, this is my sister Kerry. She’s helping me out this year.”
“Hello, ma’am,” the kid said, doing a stiff bow at the waist.
“Vic just got home from boarding school yesterday,” Murphy explained. “He’s gonna be delivering trees and doing whatever else we need for the next couple weeks.”
“Like an internship,” Vic said eagerly. He was maybe fourteen, at that loose-limbed gangly phase boys went through. He hadwhite-blond hair cut short to the scalp, and just the slightest shadow of what might someday be a beard.
Kerry turned to her brother. “We need to talk.”
“Okay.”
“Alone.”
Murphy scratched his beard and groaned. “Hey, Vic, why don’t you start loading one of those trees there on your wagon. Okay, sport?”
While they were alone, Kerry unloaded on her brother.
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to show up here half dead and hungover. You said it’s our busiest day—and I’ve been working here all by myself. Also, I was worried about you. You couldn’t have called?”
Her brother blinked and dug in his pocket, bringing out his cell phone. “Sorry. It’s dead.”
“Figures,” she said. “Mom called me and woke me up at seven this morning. I had to lie to cover up for you.”
“What’d Mom want?”
“She wants to talk to you. I think she’s being deliberately evasive.”
“About what?”
“What else? Dad’s health.”
“Did you ask her how he’s feeling?”
“She says he’s okay, but I think she just doesn’t want me to worry about him.”
“Then don’t,” Murphy said. “They’re adults, Kerry. They can take care of themselves. Now, if there’s nothing else, I gotta get some sleep.”
“What about the kid?” she demanded. “We can’t afford to pay a helper, especially since our sales are off.” She pointed at the Brodys’ bustling stand. “They’re killing us.”
