Full Dark, No Stars

“The most amazing luck! Real y! If I ever needed a sign that I’m on the right track again—that we are—boy, this is it!” He held out his hands. They were closed into fists with the knuckles up. His eyes were sparkling. Almost dancing. “Which hand? Pick.”

“Bob, I don’t want to play g—”

“Pick!”

She pointed to his right hand, just to get it over with. He laughed. “You read my mind… but you always could, couldn’t you?”

He turned his fist over and opened it. On his palm lay a single coin, tails-side up, so she could see it was a wheat penny. Not uncirculated by any means, but stil in great shape. Assuming there were

no scratches on the Lincoln side, she thought it was either F or VF. She reached for it, then paused. He nodded for her to go ahead. She turned it over, quite sure of what she would see. Nothing else

could adequately explain his excitement. It was what she expected: a 1955 double-date. A double- die, in numismatic terms.

“Holy God, Bobby! Where… ? Did you buy it?” An uncirculated ’55 double-die had recently sold at an auction in Miami for over eight thousand dol ars, setting a new record. This one wasn’t in that kind

of shape, but no coin dealer with half a brain would have let it go for under four.

“God no! Some of the other fel ows invited me to lunch at that Thai place, Eastern Promises, and I almost went, but I was working the goddarn Vision Associates account—you know, the private bank I

told you about?—and so I gave Monica ten bucks and told her to get me a sandwich and a Fruitopia at Subway. She brought it back with the change in the bag. I shook it out… and there it was!” He

plucked the penny from her hand and held it over his head, laughing up at it.

She laughed with him, then thought (as these days she often did): HE DID NOT “SUFFER!”

“Isn’t it great, honey?”

“Yes,” she said. “I’m happy for you.” And, odd or not ( perverse or not), she real y was. He had brokered sales of several over the years and could have bought one for himself any old time, but that wasn’t the same as just coming across one. He had even forbidden her to give him one for Christmas or his birthday. The great accidental find was a col ector’s most joyous moment, he had said so

during their first real conversation, and now he had what he had been checking handfuls of change for al his life. His heart’s desire had come spil ing out of a white sandwich-shop paper bag along with a turkey-bacon wrap.

He enveloped her in a hug. She hugged him back, then pushed him gently away. “What are you going to do with it, Bobby? Put it in a Lucite cube?”

This was a tease, and he knew it. He cocked a finger-gun and shot her in the head. Which was al right, because when you were shot with a finger-gun, you did not “suffer.”

She continued to smile at him, but now saw him again (after that brief, loving lapse) for what he was: the Darker Husband. Gol um, with his precious.

“You know better. I’m going to photo it, hang the photo on the wal , then tuck the penny away in our safe deposit box. What would you say it is, F or VF?”

She examined it again, then looked at him with a rueful smile. “I’d love to say VF, but—”

“Yeah, I know, I know—and I shouldn’t care. You’re not supposed to count the teeth when someone gives you a horse, but it’s hard to resist. Better than VG, though, right? Honest opinion, Darce.”

My honest opinion is that you’ll do it again.

“Better than VG, definitely.”

His smile faded. For a moment she was sure he had guessed what she was thinking, but she should have known better; on this side of the mirror, she could keep secrets, too.

“It’s not about the quality, anyway. It’s about the finding. Not getting it from a dealer or picking it out of a catalogue, but actual y finding one when you least expect it.”

“I know.” She smiled. “If my dad was here right now, he’d be cracking a bottle of champagne.”

“I’l take care of that little detail at dinner tonight,” he said. “Not in Yarmouth, either. We’re going to Portland. Pearl of the Shore. What do you say?”

“Oh, honey, I don’t know—”

He took her lightly by the shoulders as he always did when he wanted her to understand that he was real y serious about a thing. “Come on—it’s going to be mild enough tonight for your prettiest

summer dress. I heard it on the weather when I was driving back. And I’l buy you al the champagne you can drink. How can you say no to a deal like that?”

“Wel …” She considered. Then smiled. “I guess I can’t.”

- 15 -

They had not just one bottle of very pricey Moët et Chandon but two, and Bob drank most of it. Consequently it was Darcy who drove home in his quietly humming little Prius while Bob sat in the