Nobody's Fool

actually,” Toby said finally.
    â€œWho?”
    â€œWho?” she repeated. “Ruth, who. Who were we just talking about?”
    â€œOh, her,” Sully said, forcing a grin.
    â€œShe had a tiny little girl with her.”
    This was probably a question, but Sully decided not to go into it. Janey had still not been released from the hospital. Sully himself had only a sketchy knowledge of what had transpired during the last two weeks. Vince had come into The Horse late one night after closing Jerry’s Pizza and filled him in. According to Vince, Ruth had taken her two weeks’ vacation from her day job at the IGA, as well as from her waitressing at the restaurant (for which Vince held Sully responsible) so she could look after Tina while Janey remained at the hospital. This loss of income from his wife’s two jobs had forced Zack to contemplate finding a steady job himself. Janey’s husband, Roy, having failed to make bond, was still in jail awaiting trial. Everyone seemed to agree that that was the best place for him, especially since he’d threatened, as soon as he got out, to get even with Sully for hiding his wife and kid.
    â€œSo,” Toby Roebuck said.
    â€œSo,” Sully agreed. To what, he had no idea.
    â€œSo, just like that, you and Ruth are finished.”
    â€œIt’s true I’m available, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
    â€œSully, Sully, Sully.”
    â€œThat’s what your husband always says,” Sully told her. Then, seeing a welcome opportunity to change the subject, “You didn’t answer my question, though. Are you just filling in, or can I sneak up here and find you any time?”
    â€œFor a while, it looks like,” she said. “He’s out at the yard, in case you were wondering. He’s a new man, he says. A man of many resolutions. You should ask him all about them. They’re over an hour old, though, so he may not remember.”
    Sully nodded, getting to his feet. “I can’t wait to hear all about it. If I miss him, tell him I was here.” To Will: “What do you say, sport? You ready to go?”
    Will, who had not uttered a word since his mumbled hello, got to his feet and preceded his grandfather into the hall.
    â€œYou’re sure he’s related to you?” Toby said.
    â€œI know,” Sully said. Then, since the boy was out of earshot, he said, “I don’t want to say anything, but Ruby always wore see-through blouses. Of course, it’s up to you …”
    Sully wasn’t sure what he expected the result of this teasing to be. Maybe that she’d pitch something at him in mock outrage. And so he was closing the door, even as he spoke, and the door was almost closed by the time he finished. Almost. Which meant that he almost didn’t see when Toby Roebuck flashed him from where she sat behind the desk, her sweatshirt pulled up and then back down for a millisecond. Unsure he’d seen what he’d seen, he remained rooted to the spot in the hall outside the door. Exactly how long he stood there, he wasn’t sure. A beat? Two beats? Three?
    It was Will’s voice coming from the head of the stairs that reestablished a time/space context. “What’s the matter, Grandpa?” the boy said, his face a mask of urgent worry.
    From inside, a peal of hilarity. “Yeah, Grandpa,” Toby Roebuck called. “What’s the matter?”
    The night Sully and Peter had stolen the snowblower from Carl Roebuck’s equipment yard there had been, unknown to them, a casualty, indeed a near fatality. Rasputin, Carl’s Doberman, had suffered a stroke. Sully and Peter had seen the dog crumple, but they’d assumed it had simply gone to sleep on its feet and dropped. This was not the case. The dog’s training, to attack savagely any unauthorized nocturnal visitors to the yard, had come into deep psychological conflict with drug-induced goodwill and drowsiness. Unable to resolve the urge to kill with the urge to sleep, Rasputin’s circuitry had simply shut down.
    Since that night the dog had regained only a small measure of itsphysical capabilities. He had a lopsided appearance now, one side of his body, corresponding to the opposite side of his brain, pretty much nonfunctional, his former ferocity vanished. As if the dog had learned the value of a good night’s sleep, he now slept most of the time and even when awake