Ennis's main role in helping finish supper turned out to be peeling potatoes, which he did have some aptitude for; probably because he'd whittled since he was old enough to wield a pocket knife. The roast smelled amazing but Sue kept looking at it and frowning as if it were speaking in bad Chinese and she was trying to work out what it was saying. Thinking about it, Ennis realized a lot of women did that.
"Everything'll be done in just a minute, you wanna wake Jack up?"
"You don't wanna wait for your husband?"
"Oh, with him playin' cards an' drinkin' an' talkin' I'll be lucky to see him again 'fore tomorrow night."
Ennis shrugged but, having been guilty of much the same, said nothing and went upstairs to wake Jack.
The little room at the top of the stairs fit Jack. Ennis hadn't paid much attention to it earlier when Jack was fixing the radio but everything about it, from the scuffed floor to the magazine pages taped to the wall, just seemed to belong to Jack. The man himself was laying face down on the rumpled quilt that covered his bed, snoring softly into his pillow, one arm dangling over the side of the mattress.
Ennis shook Jack's shoulder until he woke, and received a pillow in the face for his efforts. At almost forty years old, Jack still acted like a child.
With a long suffering sigh, Ennis set the pillow on the bed. "Your mama said to come get you; supper's ready."
Jack sat up. His shirt was rumpled and partially unbuttoned and his hair was sticking up in all directions. Ennis half smiled and smoothed down Jack's hair. "Darlin', you are a mess."
"Whatever," Jack grumbled and stood, fixed his clothes, then went back down to the kitchen with Ennis trailing a step behind.
Sue spent the majority of supper good-naturedly chastising her son for one thing or another or smiling knowingly to herself.
"Mama, what're you lookin' like that for?"
"Oh, I'm just thinkin' I'm glad you got Ennis here to look after your behind." She took a sip of her tea. "Anyway, Jack, you can't stay here forever an' I know you an' your daddy can only stand each other for so long. So, what are you going to do with yourself?"
"Well, uh," Jack paused with a chunk of potato halfway to his mouth and glanced at Ennis. "We were thinkin' maybe me an' Ennis buy a place, run it together, since we're both divorced." He shrugged. "More stable than bein' hired hands an' easier to do together than on our own."
Ennis nodded. Sue made an approving noise. "Sounds like a pretty good plan. Guess you boys had best start reading the classifieds."