Surprised by his own strength and the physics set in motion, the tot blinked and clapped for himself, uncertain as to what had just happened. I recognized the shocked perplexity on the boy’s face and felt a sense of kinship, for I had been in that same semiconfused state from the moment I struck my head, or, should I say, my head was struck for me.We all stared at Adele. Just above her heart, tattooed on the bare skin of her left breast, were two crossed baseball bats.“Bad odds about your fella,” the old man said. “A tough break, but at least you didn’t wait your whole life like our friend Dolly.”With the heel of her hand, Adele rubbed the tip of her nose to fight back the impulse to cry. “No, I didn’t wait. But I never forgot him, brash as he was, and the way he made me feel, and I never forgave him for it either. And what makes you think I wanted Charlie Wells, always on the wrong end of the bargain? Why did you go and have to lose your temper and challenge those men with the bats?”Had I been tempted to explain, that query would have been the window to jump through.
