The summer following Jacob’s return, Job dropped in on Will early one morning, unannounced, and found Ed sitting at the kitchen table in nothing but his Stanfield’s. Morning bristle on a wrestler’s chin, dark ruffle of chest hair, arms as thick as thighs. He made no attempt to cover himself. Will had answered the door in a terry bathrobe. “This is, ah, Ed. He’ll be staying with me. Working with me.” Ed didn’t act like a hired hand, didn’t live in the trailer on the other side of the yard but moved right into the house with Will, ate every meal with him. Made supper alongside Will when Job was over. It was clear Ed wasn’t a guest; he was family in a way Job wasn’t. Although Ed didn’t impose himself when Job went out with Penny and Will, he was there, in the kitchen, during the Tuesday-night Bible study when Job found himself complaining, again, about the lack of eligible young women in the area. “You just need to get out more,” said Ed. Job supposed this was true.
