“So how are the nurses treating you?” Luther asked, shifting in his seat. Hospital chairs never felt big enough to accommodate a man of his size.
The man in the bed smiled. He looked better than Luther would have thought. “Don’t you be harassing any of those fine young ladies, Deputy. They don’t need the distraction.”
“Yes sir, Sheriff. I imagine you’re distraction enough.”
Ulysses Mason nodded, and his smile slowly faded. Luther watched a kaleidoscope of expressions cross the elderly man’s face as he drifted inexorably away, while clinging tooth and nail to the solidity of the known. “I haven’t seen you in a while, have I?”
“No sir,” Luther said, and brushed at the lint on his hat to avoid seeing the confusion in his eyes. “I wanted to drop by, but I’ve been busy.”
The old Sheriff li
