Chapter 1
Danny Burkett lay flat on his back underneath the kitchen sink, squinting up into a spray of water. He put his wrench down, mumbled, “You’ve got to be kidding me,” and turned his head. Blinking the water out of his eyes, his wife, Linda, came into focus. She held their baby boy, Joseph, who wailed as she bounced him on her hip. Her foot tapped ripples in the puddle spreading across the kitchen floor. Danny grabbed his wrench and went back to work, tightening the nut connecting the cold-water supply to the faucet. The spray of water eased but didn’t stop. Cursing, he dropped the wrench, reached above his shoulder for the shutoff valve and turned it. The spray of water slowed to a drip.
Wrench in hand, he pushed out from under the sink. He opened the faucet to let the last of the water trickle out, and then he turned to Linda and shrugged. “I can’t fix it until I get a couple things from the hardware store.”
Linda turned her back on him and walked out of the kitchen into the front hall.
“If you need water, just use the bathroom sink,” he said, tapping the wrench against his palm. “It’ll be fixed by morning—swear to God.”
Linda pressed the back of her hand against Joseph’s forehead. Her brow furrowed. “I don’t care about the sink. I gave Joseph ibuprofen an hour ago and he still has a fever.” She walked down the hall to the coat closet. Metal hangers dinged and rattled as she opened the closet. Joseph screamed, inconsolable, while she rummaged through the closet. She looked back at Danny. “I’m taking him to the emergency room. I’ll call and let you know what they say.”
Even with worry etched across her face, Danny thought she looked great. The same beauty with long blonde hair and big curves that he’d felt lucky to land a date with five years ago. She’d wanted a fairy tale life. A big family in a white-fenced house on a hill. Backyard barbecues with friends. Maybe even a tiny vacation cottage on Lake Moorehead someday. A sick kid and scraping for a dollar every day weren’t part of her dream.
He watched her put on her coat and then place Joseph into his car seat—the same seat her mother brought over with an embarrassed smile after he lost his job at the factory, not saying a word, but sending a message he’d heard many times.
“My daughter could’ve had her pick of men. Russ Jasper with his three-van plumbing business. Or even Jerry Connelly—not a looker, but don’t get me started. He’ll own half the county before he’s done, what with his father’s rental properties and his head for money.”
Danny stared at the car seat. He slammed the wrench on the kitchen counter. Linda looked up. Joseph craned his head back, snot running down his face as he looked at his daddy.
Danny’s face felt hot as he looked down, seeing blood well from his middle knuckle. He walked into the hall toward Linda. His voice trembled, coming out louder than he expected. “I’m sorry. I’m just… God, I don’t know. It’s one thing after another. Losing my job. Joseph crying. The sink.” His knuckle started to throb. He shook his hand. “I’m just sorry, that’s all. Just take Joseph and let me know what the doctor says.”
He paused for a moment. Linda shifted her attention to his hand. He wiped away the blood and shrugged. “He probably just has a twenty-four-hour thing, you know?”
Linda looked away. She buckled Joseph into his car seat, picked up the seat and walked toward the front door. Danny watched her, his vision narrowing, the collar of his “Fast Stop Convenience Store” work shirt tightening around his neck. “Linda, c’mon. Talk to me. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Linda turned toward him, her eyes glassy and unfocused. He stepped back, unsure of what to do as her eyes brimmed with tears.
“You should go, Danny. You’re going to be late for work,” she said, bending down to grab a teddy bear off the floor. Joseph reached for the bear, red faced and bawling. She tucked the bear under her arm, opened the front door and carried Joseph outside.
Danny walked to the open front door. The small oak he’d planted near the curb glowed in the gray light of the setting sun. Wind rustled the tree’s branches, knocking a handful of bright red leaves into the air. He watched Linda walk to the car. She turned, raising her chin in his direction. “Is your hand okay?”
He made a fist. “I think so.”
She let out a shaky breath. “Good. You need to be careful, Danny. If you broke it, things would be even worse.”
“I know. I’m sorry, babe.”
She turned away, set the car seat with Joseph in it on the ground and unlocked the car door. Danny flexed his throbbing hand, wincing at the needle of pain that shot through his knuckle. He stepped inside, grabbed his coat out of the closet and walked back out on the porch, watching Linda hoist Joseph into the back seat of their white Toyota. Pockmarks of rust covered the hood and side panels. The front right quarter panel was patched over with putty and had an empty hole where the running light should’ve been. He needed to rig a light before a cop wrote them a ticket, but it would have to wait. Linda needed help taking Joseph to see a doctor. He gripped the cold, iron railing, waiting for her to close the back door before saying, “Let me call someone to cover my shift. I’ll come with you.”
The way she shook her head, not even looking at him as she walked around the car, stopped him before he had a chance to move.
“No. Just go to work,” she said. “We need the money.” She opened the driver’s side door, stopped and looked up. “Something has to change, Danny. We have to do better than this.”
All he could do was stare back at her.
She lowered her gaze to the ground.
Danny’s hand slipped from the doorknob as Linda got into the car and shut the door, muffling Joseph’s crying. A cold wind gusted against his back. His shoulders tightened as he watched her drive away.