Chapter 15
"He promised."
I sat beside him.
For nearly an hour we waited.
The light faded.
Mosquitoes rose near the spring.
Clover called once from the barn.
No rider appeared.
At last Oscar carried his wooden horse inside.
He put it on the shelf.
Not beside his bed.
On the shelf.
Then he climbed into the loft without saying goodnight.
I stood alone in the kitchen.
At ten o'clock, someone knocked.
I opened the door.
Curtis stood there.
There was whiskey on his breath.
Not enough to make him stagger.
Enough.
I stepped outside and shut the door behind me.
"You promised him."
"I know."
"He waited."
"I got caught up."
"Where?"
Curtis looked away.
"Cards."
Something cold entered me.
"You came back with no money and went directly to a card table?"
"It was just a game."
"That is what you said about my father's horse."
His face tightened.
"I was going to win enough to help."
I stared at him.
There it was.
The old Curtis.
Not evil.
Not stupid.
Something worse.
A man who believed intention could erase consequence.
"Go."
"Rosalie."
"Go."
"I came, didn't I?"
"For me, perhaps."
"For both of you."
"Oscar is asleep."
"I can see him tomorrow."
"No."
His head snapped up.
"You said I could earn it."
"Yes. And tonight you lost ground."
"One mistake?"
"No. The same mistake."
His anger rose.
"You're perfect now?"
"No."
"You think working for Brandt makes you better than me?"
"No."
"You think because he has money he gets to walk into my family?"
My voice went quiet.
"You walked out of your family."
He stepped closer.
I did not move.
For one dangerous second, I saw the man he had been on nights when disappointment turned sharp.
Curtis had never struck me.
He had punched walls.
Thrown a cup once.
Kicked a chair.
I had spent years counting those facts as virtues.
He looked at my face.
Whatever he saw made him stop.
His shoulders dropped.
"Damn it, Rosie."
"Don't call me that."
"I'm trying."
"No. You're wishing."
He stared.
"There's a difference."
I opened the door.
Before entering, I looked back.
"If you want to be Oscar's father, come sober. Come when you say you will. And stop believing one lucky hand will turn you into the man you should have been before sitting down at the table."
I went inside.
I locked the door.