Chapter Nine
The paint job at Ponz’s was done by nine-thirty the next morning. When Mickey got home with his newest twenty dollar bill, Sandy was in full housecleaning mode. He spent an hour getting his dive gear sorted out for Monday. There wasn’t much for it. She wasn’t talking to him. Eventually, he went to try to break down some walls.
“I’ve got to go down to the dive shop and have a tank refilled,” he said when everything else was done. “How about come with me? We’ll go to lunch.”
“We had lunch at the beach yesterday,” she said. “And you bought flowers, too, which we couldn’t afford. Besides, I’m busy.”
“Too busy for the beach? We don’t get to go laze around together very much, and with Cindy gone...”
“No,” she said, stiff backed, and then unbent just a fraction. “There’s just to
