“You said your sister would have room?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Rae Lynn detected movement. Cornelia, probably thanking the Lord she’d come to her senses.
Del said, “It’s a big ole farmhouse, got lots a room.”
“Thankee kindly for the offer. We’ll take you up on it.”
He smiled openly at her. “Sudie May will be more than obliging, I’m sure of it.”
His shadow cast long and lean against the ground in the twilight.
She gestured toward the front of the truck and said, “Them headlamps work all right, but I ain’t much for night driving.”
He said, “I don’t mind driving. We can keep going until we find a suitable spot to rest.”
Rae Lynn said, “Okay.”
She slid to the middle. It was cramped in the cab, but the work they’d done at Swallow Hill, along with the camp diet, meant all three of them were as stringy as backyard chickens. He turned the truck around, and they headed northeast once again, each minding their own thoughts. Rae Lynn tried to ignore the fact her hip and shoulder touched his, but each time the truck went over a bump, she felt him against her. Occasionally, Cornelia would point out something she thought interesting. People still fighting to save their cotton crops infested with boll weevil. A store selling watermelons out front, where Del, without a word, pulled in and bought one. He hefted it into the back, and as they continued on, they saw a man pushing a child in a homemade wooden cart. The child, a girl, rang a bell, and the cart had a sign attached to the front that said, JESUS IS COMING! ARE YOU READY? Next in sight were two boys, standing at the edge of a narrow bridge, fishing a creek with cane poles and a can a worms, while a man sat nearby directing them and drinking hooch out of a bottle.
Cornelia said, “Ain’t no end to the entertaining things one might see right before dark.”
Rae Lynn and Del murmured in agreement. Del drove about another half hour before stopping. No one said much, they were all too tired, and eager to get out and stretch their legs. Del got the watermelon and used his pocketknife to cut it up. They dug into the red flesh and declared it was the sweetest, juiciest they’d ever had. They ate the whole thing between the three of them, enjoying it enough to let pink juice run off their chins. Rae Lynn felt carefree for the first time in months.
When they were done, he said, “Whyn’t y’all sleep in the back, and I’ll stretch out here in front?”
Rae Lynn was exhausted and had no argument against what he suggested.
“That’s fine by me.”
He said, “Mind if I play a little song or two on Melody here? ”
He held up the harmonica.
Both women said no at the same time.
Rae Lynn said, “I used to listen when we was neighbors, so to speak, at Swallow Hill. You call your mouth harp Melody? ”
“Yeah, kind a dumb, I reckon. I hope I didn’t bother you none.”
Rae Lynn said, “Not at all. I always enjoyed it.”
They climbed into the truck bed and propped their heads on the bundles with their meager possessions. Rae Lynn moved around once to get into a more comfortable position and saw Del had pulled off his boots, had his feet stuck out the passenger window and his head against the driver’s side door as he played. She laid back down and looked toward the heavens. It was a perfect summer night, warm with a slight breeze, and above them, a black canvas, where stars winked and pirouetted. In between the notes coming from the harmonica, she heard the howling of coyotes and a screech owl, until she heard and saw no more.
At dawn, the truck rocked a little, and Rae Lynn lifted herself onto her elbows. Del was at the front, where he bent down to check the radiator. She watched him surreptitiously, wondered why he wasn’t married and what his life had been like. He straightened up and walked into the woods. Rae Lynn eased out of the back of the truck, not wanting to disturb Cornelia, who slept on, emitting soft little snores. After a couple minutes, he was back. She stood on the passenger side of the truck waiting until he saw her.
He looked a bit startled, then said, “Mornin’。 What I wouldn’t give for a cup a coffee.”
She smiled and said, “Mornin’。 Me too.”
Their voices woke Cornelia.
She sat up. “Oh, gosh, is it morning already?”
Rae Lynn thought how different Cornelia was, now she wasn’t with Otis. She was so relaxed, smiled a lot more, seemed fun-loving.
She flopped back down and said, “I could sleep forever.”
Rae Lynn went into the woods to relieve herself. When she returned, Cornelia wobbled that way, still half asleep.