Chapter Twenty
The Homecoming
Goatees are for goats, and any man who thinks otherwise is just kidding himself.
When Rodger was discharged from hospital he moved into the Argyll. He was wheeled into the public bar like a wounded Vietnam War veteran and greeted with mixed messages of welcome and disapproval from Betty, Shifty’s mother. Betty had no idea about the liaison until the van incident, and she was still in shock. She thought that Shifty was still trying to woo his ex back.
“All that tofu and yoga,” she said. “I thought it was for her, not him”; Shifty had, for a while explored vegetarianism. “Who would have known it? My Duncan would be spinning in his urn if he knew.”
Shifty promised his mother that Rodger would help. The Argyll struggled like all hotels in a small town, and “h
