Hand-Me-Down Love (7 page)

This didn’t
sound like any Sean Marla had ever known.

“
Of course.
What’s the address?”

“
I don’t
know,” he said. “I don’t know the address.”

“
Never mind,”
Marla said. “I’ll get it from the Internet. Sit tight. I’ll be
there as soon as I can.”

“
K,” Sean
said.

Marla Googled
Jackson’s in Mobile and got the address. It was on Old Shell Road.
She flew down the stairs and got in her car. A few minutes later, she
crossed the bay bridge and headed toward downtown Mobile. She turned
onto Old Shell Road and started looking for Jackson’s. She spotted
the neon lights on the right and pulled into a parking place a block
down. She walked down the sidewalk and entered the bar. It was smoky
inside and music was playing loudly. Marla thought her ears would
split with the noise. How could she have put up with that when she
was in college?

Marla looked
around the room and finally saw Sean sitting at the bar. He was alone
and looked slumped over. She weaved her way through the bar customers
and finally stood next to Sean.

“
Hey, Sean,”
she said. He looked at her drunkenly. “Let’s get out of here,
okay?” Marla said. She took his arm and together they navigated
through the crowded bar. Marla led Sean to her car and opened the
door. She guided him into the passenger seat and pulled the seat belt
around him. He didn’t protest. He just sat there. Marla got into
the driver’s side of her car and headed back to her apartment. She
didn’t know where else to take Sean. She didn’t feel right about
dumping him off at his condo, and she couldn’t take him to his
house in Bay Point. Her apartment was the only place she could take
him where she could keep her eye on him for the night.

She drove
through the dark night and Sean didn’t say anything. When Marla
glanced over at him periodically, his eyes were closed. When they got
to the shop, Marla parked in her usual place along the side of the
building.

“
Sean,” she
said, half expecting him not to answer her.

“
Yeah,” he
said, not opening his eyes.

“
We’re
here.” He opened his eyes and looked around. He knew where he was.
“Okay,” he said unbuckling his seat belt. He opened his door and
Marla went to his side of the car. She took his arm and led him to
the side door, which she unlocked. They walked through the shop and
to the staircase. Marla let Sean go up ahead of her so she could try
to catch him if he stumbled.

When they
opened the door to her apartment at the top of the stairs, Marla
flipped the light switch, flooding the kitchen with light that seemed
too bright. Sean shielded his eyes when the light came on.

“
Sorry,”
Marla said. She took his hand and led him to the spare bedroom. He
stood by the bed as she folded back the sheets and covers. She guided
him to the bed and pulled the covers over him. He was fully clothed,
but Marla wasn’t about to help him undress. Sean lay his head back
on the pillow and went out like a light. Marla left the room and went
to her own room, where she undressed and put on a gown. She crawled
into her bed. It had been a strange night. Lucy jumped up and settled
herself at Marla’s side.

The alarm clock
buzzed insistently the next morning and it took a moment for Marla to
know what it was and turn it off. She lay back on the bed, knowing
she had to get up, forestalling it for just a moment. Then she
remembered that Sean was there. Sean! She got up and went to the
spare room. Sean was still asleep. She went into the kitchen and
started a pot of coffee. Sean would probably need a strong cup after
the night he’d had.

She was sitting
at the table a few minutes later with a cup of coffee when Sean
walked in. His clothes were wrinkled. He did not look like someone
who was going to work in a bank that day.

“
There’s
coffee,” Marla said motioning to the coffee maker. “Let me get
you a cup.”

“
I can get
it,” Sean said walking to the counter where the coffee pot sat. He
opened a cabinet door and pulled out a cup. It was one Meredith had
brought her from her trip to the botanical gardens in Orlando. Sean
didn’t notice. He poured coffee into the cup and sat down at the
table.

“
I guess I
sorta lost it last night,” he said. “I’m sorry you had to see
that.”

“
No reason to
be sorry,” Marla said.

They sat
drinking their coffee for a few minutes. Marla didn’t know what to
say, and neither did Sean, apparently.

“
I realize
that I can’t keep doing that job,” Sean said. “It doesn’t
seem important to me. Not important at all. At the end of the day,
I’m exhausted from the gladhanding I have to do. I can’t keep it
up anymore.”

“
I
understand,” Marla said.

Sean looked
around the kitchen. “I’ve always liked how you did this place,”
he said. “I like all this old stuff.”

“
Thanks,”
Marla said. Then she said, “Sean, what do you think you want to do?
Where do you think you want to go?”

“
I don’t
really know,” he said. “No matter where I go, I can’t escape
what’s happened. I’ve learned that in the last few months. I
can’t escape it.”

And then Marla
said something that sounded crazy, but it seemed the right thing to
say anyway. “That condo seems lonely and I don’t think it’s
good for you. Would you like to stay here for a while?”

Sean looked at
her with surprise. “I couldn’t ask you to do that,” he said.

“
Why not?”
she said. “It seems like the best place for you to be right now.
Unless you want to go to Atlanta and stay with your parents. Or go to
Florida and stay with your sister. Do you want to do that?”

He didn’t
answer right away and Marla sipped her coffee.

He turned to
look at her. “No, I don’t really want to go to either of those
places,” he said. “It would just worry them.”

“
Then stay
here,” Marla said, setting her coffee cup on the table. “Stay
here.”

“
Maybe for
just a few days,” he said. “Until I can figure things out.”

“
That’s
fine,” Marla said. She got up from the table.

“
I’ve got
to get down to the shop. Jada will be here in a few minutes.”

Sean stood and
took Marla’s hands in his. He looked into her eyes. “Thank you,”
he said.

Marla dressed
and went down the stairs. Jada opened the front door right when Marla
sat down at her desk. They spent the rest of the day going over the
receipts from the sale the day before and tending to the few
customers that came in. At six, Jada left and Marla locked the door.
She went to the courtyard and called Lucy, who got up stretching,
then followed her up the stairs.

When she walked
in, the apartment seemed empty. “Sean?” she called tentatively.
“Sean?”

He walked into
the kitchen. “Hey,” he said. “I’ve been lazy today.”

“
That’s
okay,” she said. “You deserve it.”

“
I called
your father. I asked him for a leave of absence. He agreed, of
course.”

“
Of course,”
Marla said. She put food in Lucy’s bowl.

“
That was a
relief, getting the leave. I don’t really know if I can ever go
back to that, but at least it’s an option.”

“
Just take
your time,” Marla said.

“
I’d like
to take you to dinner tonight. I was thinking at Steamboat Joe’s.”

Marla hadn’t
been to Steamboat Joe’s for months, though it was right down the
street from her shop. The restaurant specialized in boiled shrimp and
raw oysters and a specialty drink, Steamboat Steamer.

“
That sounds
nice,” she said.

Sean and Marla
sat in the living room for a while watching the news. Marla made Sean
a whisky sour and poured herself a glass of white wine. Around seven,
they left the apartment and walked two blocks down the street to
Steamboat Joe’s. It was crowded as always, and they sat on benches
outside until their number was called.

Once seated at
a booth, they ordered boiled shrimp, which was put on the newspaper
that covered the table. Hushpuppies and slaw were placed to the side
of their plates, but it was the shrimp they were after. Sean and
Marla peeled shrimp after shrimp, dropping the shells on the
newspaper. The dipped the shrimp in cocktail sauce over and over
again until they were gone. They finished the pitcher of beer that
Sean had ordered when they first sat down.

As they walked
back to Marla’s apartment, stuffed with shrimp, Sean took Marla’s
arm. They walked in companionable silence. It had been a good night.
They both had needed it.

Back in the
apartment, Marla said she needed to get to bed. She was exhausted
from the shop, from everything.

“
Thank you
for dinner,” she said as she hugged Sean goodnight. “It was
great. I needed that shrimp more than I knew.”

“
Good night,”
Sean said as he headed to the spare bedroom.

The next
morning, Sean was already up when Marla went into the kitchen. He had
made the coffee and had a skillet of scrambled eggs on the stove.

“
Sit down,”
Sean said. “I’m making breakfast.”

He brought her
a cup of coffee and she poured cream into it. A few minutes later,
Sean put a plate in front of her with scrambled eggs and toast with
butter and jam.

“
This is
great,” Marla said as she chewed on a bite of toast. “I just
might have to keep you around.”

Sean laughed.
“I was thinking about my car. I left it at Jackson’s and need to
get it. If it hasn’t already been stripped for parts,” he said.
Marla offered to take him to get his car, and after breakfast, they
set out for Mobile. The BMW was still parked near the front door of
the bar.

“
I’m
surprised they haven’t towed it,” Sean said as he got out of
Marla’s car.

He unlocked the
door as he walked to his car. “I was thinking,” he said. “That
maybe I could go to the condo and get my stuff. I know I’m not
going to be able to stay there ever again. I just need to clear out
and take care of things with the realtor.”

Marla followed
Sean to the condo. Everything he had fit easily into his trunk and
back seat of his car. He said he wanted to leave the dishes and
kitchen stuff, but he took the towels and linens and the TV.

“
I’ll follow you
back to Bay Point,” Sean said. “I guess I need to call Catherine
and let her know I’m leaving.”

Chapter
Ten

Marla and Sean fell
into a regular routine. She went to the shop every day and when she
walked back upstairs, Sean was usually sitting on the couch watching
the news with Lucy in his lap. After a cocktail, he took her out to
eat. They ate at Steamboat Joe’s or Victoria’s, another seafood
restaurant in town. Sometimes they drove to Mobile and ate along the
bay or in town. Once, they drove to Gulf Shores and ate at a
restaurant on the pier. Some days, Sean came down to the shop and
worked with Derrick on the furniture or went with him to estate
sales. Jada and Derrick never questioned Sean’s presence, they just
accepted it. Marla was grateful for that.

Her parents
were another matter. She did not tell them that Sean was staying with
her. She didn’t think they would understand. They asked her every
now and then if she had talked to him and how he was doing. She told
them that they were in touch.

As Thanksgiving
got closer, Cynthia called Sean and invited him to Thanksgiving
dinner. He accepted. That day, he and Marla drove separately to her
parents. Marla helped her mother with the dinner while Sean and Bob
watched football games. Marla wasn’t worried that her father would
ask Sean where he was living or anything like that. But Cynthia did
ask Marla. It made her very uncomfortable to lie to her mother. “He’s
got that condo in Mobile,” she said.

        

“
I think I’ll
go to Atlanta for Christmas,” Sean said to Marla one night as they
were watching television. “My parents want to see me, and I want to
see them.”

This was coming
out of the blue to Marla. But of course she realized that Sean would
want to see his family. She was surprised that she felt upset that
Sean would be gone. He had become part of her everyday life. She
wanted him to be there at Christmas.