Horse With No Name by Alexandra Amor Page A

alcohol.
    "How much of that money is Finn's?" Caroline
asked, glancing at Julia's purse.
    "A fair bit," Julia couldn't lie. "Your
husband has a truly awful poker face."
    Caroline sighed. "You are right about that.
But you know the good news?"
    "What?"
    "The poor sod will never be able to cheat on
me. I'd know it in a red hot second." She smiled broadly. "He gives
himself away even when he takes an extra piece of pie."
     

Fifteen
    Julia was distracted the next day at school. Not to
mention tired. She'd had trouble falling asleep once she was home.
Thoughts about James Hunter and the information the men at the
poker game had given her rolled around in her head, giving her what
her mother called 'The Whirlies'. Finally, when she heard the clock
in the living room strike a quarter past three, she began to drift
off.
    But morning had come too soon, and the
children, picking up on her vulnerable state, had been restless and
unable to focus themselves all day. She had taken them for a walk
down to the lake to talk about marine life and erosion, a kind of
impromptu science lesson, hoping the fresh air and exercise would
settle them down a bit. But when they returned to the classroom to
each write a story about what they'd seen or learned, they were
more fidgety than ever. The weather had offered a little respite
from the downward trend in temperatures, spiking to nearly
fifty-nine degrees while they were out. This seemed to just
emphasize to the children that they wanted to be outside, not in.
She empathized with them; this would likely be the last really mild
day until the spring. So finally at 2:30 she let them go. Their
astonished little faces rewarded her. She would catch hell from
some of the parents who would ask why she was being lenient, but
that was fine. If there was one thing she'd learned since starting
her job, it was that in the eyes of parents the teacher is nearly
always at fault.
    As she closed the door behind her and walked
down the front steps, two boys were still playing in the yard,
shooting at one another with sticks that stood in for
revolvers.
     
    Julia found Christopher Mitchell manning the
store by himself.
    "Good afternoon, Julia," he said when she
pushed through the door, though his greeting lacked the usual
enthusiasm he held for nearly everything.
    "You look like you've lost your best friend,
Christopher."
    "I nearly have," he said, looking morose.
    "What happened?" Julia was growing
concerned.
    "You'll have to ask my best friend. She's in
the garden." He nodded his head in the direction of the back of the
store.
    Julia left without another word and walked
behind the counter and outside through the storeroom.
    She spotted Betty in the middle of the large
patch of earth that was the store's garden. Growing season was
over, but root vegetables and squash were still viable. Betty
seemed to be pulling up carrots and beets. There was a large basket
with a looped handle on the ground beside her. She angrily tossed a
carrot into it as Julia approached.
    "Your husband is in the doghouse, I take it,"
Julia said as she approached.
    Betty stood up straight, a slightly startled
look in her eye. "Oh, Julia. I didn't hear you sneaking up on
me."
    "I wasn't sneaking. You were
preoccupied."
    She turned back and bent toward the dirt
again. "Perhaps."
    Julia had no experience being married, but
she knew a marital spat when she saw one. Her parents were both
strong-willed and stubborn people. Julia inherited her best
qualities - tenacity, intelligence and a self-assuredness from
them. And it was also the place where she gleaned her worst
characteristics, including the stubbornness that was beginning to
be the largest irritant for Constable Merrick. Julia never mediated
with her parents, even as she got older. She didn't feel it was her
place to do so, plus she knew she would almost invariably side with
her father, who was her best friend. Julia and her mother were too
close in temperament to be anything but adversaries,