Page 14 (1/2)

When Cilla showed Dobby the design she wanted for the medallions, he scratched his chin And she saw his lips twitching at the corners

"Shamrocks," she said

"I’ve had me a few beers on Saint Patrick’s Day in my time I know they’re shamrocks"

"I played around with other symbols More forht, screw that, I like shamrocks They’re siotten a kick out of them"

"I expect she would She seemed to like the simple when she was around here"

"Can you do it?"

"I expect I can"

"I’ll want three" The idea irl "Three’s lucky, too One for the dining roo roo for uniformity but more symmetry I’ll leave it to you," she said when he nodded

"It’s good working on this place Takes me back"

They sat at a makeshift table, plywood over a pair of sawhorses She’d brought hiether while Jack finished up the last of the plaster repairs

"You’d see her around, when she caain She always had a word Give you that smile and a hello, how are you"

"Dobby, in that last couple of years, when she ca friendly with a local ht What a pretty way to put it "Yes, that’s what I ht "Can’t say so After she died, and all those reporters came around, sos, and hborhood as the truth"

"Well, I have some information that makes me think she eet on someone Very sweet Can you think of anyone she spent time with in that last year, year and a half? She careed "Talk was, after her boy died, the talk was she was going to sell the place Didn’t want to come here no more But she didn’t sell Didn’t have the parties or the people, either Never brought the girl out again-that’d be your mother-that I saw or heard about The best I can recall, she ca a "

"Weren’t so many people around to jaw back then," Jack commented as he set his trowel "I mean to say there weren’t so ht, Grandpa?"

"That’d be true Weren’t houses on the fields across the road back then Started planting theuess it hen the Buckners sold their farhbors"

"Buckners would’ve been closest, I expect About a quarter , Cilla decided How hard could it be to have a secret affair when there were no nosy neighbors peeking out the ? The e, but reporters hadn’t been camped on the shoulder of the road seven days a hen Janet had traveled to the far to what she’d read or been told, Janet had been an expert at keeping certain areas of her private life private After her death, facts, fallacies, rumors, secrets and innuendos abounded

And still, Cilla mused, the identity of Janet’s last lover remained blank Just how badly, she wondered, did she want to fill in that blank in her grandh, she adive clarity to the bigger question

Why did Janet Hardy die at thirty-nine?

CILLA FOUND BRINGING Steve ho He was alive, and considered well enough to leave the hospital Teeks before, she’d sat beside his bed, trying to will him out of a coma Now she stood with him as he studied the farlasses over his eyes, and his clothes bagging a bit froht he’d lost in the hospital

She wanted to bundle him inside, into bed And feed hi if she was co at et inside, out of the sun"

"I’ve been inside, out of the sun Feels good out here I like the barn Barns should always be red Where the hell is everybody? Middle of the day, no trucks, no noise"

"I told all the subs to take ht you’d need a little peace and quiet"

"Jesus, Cilla, when did I ever want peace and quiet? You’re the one"

"Fine, I wanted peace and quiet We’re going in You look shaky"

"Goes with the territory these days I’ve got it," he snapped at her when she started to take his free ared the stairs, crossed the veranda

The scowl smoothed ahen he stepped inside the house, took his first look around

"The plastering looks good Getting rid of that door over there, widening the opening, that works for you Better flow"

"I’ets nice light Then later on, if I’m still inclined, I could add on a sunroom, put in a hot tub, a couple of machines, some nice plants Down the road"

"Be sweet"

And because she heard the strain in his voice, she nearly fussed about taking him up to bed Instead she tried a different tack The first step would be to get him upstairs

"We’ve done a lot on the second floor The ot to see it"

These steps were longer She all but felt his weaker left side begin to tremble on the journey up "We should’ve taken Ford up on his offer You’d be ht of steps Got a headache, that’s all Goes with the territory now, too"

"If you want to lie down I’ve got your pills right here"

"I don’t want to lie down Yet" He pushed her offered hand aside Again, some of the strain eased on his face when he studied the new bedrooht Nice closet, doll"

"A girl’s best friend I built the organizer yesterday" She opened the door, gave a Vanna White flourish

"Cedar paneling Good work"

"I learned from the best"

He turned away to limp toward the bath, but she’d seen the look in his eyes "What is it? What’s wrong?"

"Nothing Sexy, classy," he said of the bathroom "Deco deal Glass block for the shoall? When did you decide on that?"

"Last-e I liked the effect, and the way it looks with the black-and-white tiles" She gave up, just leaned her forehead on his shoulder "Please tell "

"What if I can’t do this anyer to think, and these headaches about drophim, nuzzle him into comfort And instead flicked at him with mild annoyance "Steve, it’s your first day out of the hospital What did you think, you’d walk out swinging a ha like that"

"You’re on your feet You’re talking toto take ti recovery, and there’s every reason to believe you’ll get it all back"

"Could take months Even years And I can’t reh frustration "Goddaht after I left here Can’t re Shanna ho on the bike I can re brown eyes and a atbetween is gone Just gone"

She shrugged, as if it was no big deal "If you’re going to forget soht"

He s ray of sunshine, aren’t you? I’s and crash"

"Good idea"

He let her take his weight to lead hiuest room Then stopped at the doorway The walls were painted a soft and restful blue, as was the beadboard wainscoting The original walnut trim, stripped and restored by her own hands, fralossy The iron headboard and footboard in dignified pewter suited the si with its blue border White daisies sprang up out of a cobalt vase on a table in front of the

"What the hell’s this?"

"Surprise I think it’sthan a hospital rooer at her, pleasure shone on his face "What are you thinking, getting the floors refinished in one roo it’s nice to see one room finished-or nearly Need some art for the walls, and I have to finish the rest of the trim, but otherwise And check it out" She opened an old wardrobe, revealed a flat-screen TV "Got cable" She grinned at hiital, at Ford’s insistence The bath’s finished, too And looks great if I say soat rehab this way screws up the schedule"

"I’lass froot out the pill bottle "Bottoet you undressed and into bed"

The faintest twinkle winked in his eyes "Tiotten in with me, doll"

"Time was" She crouched down to take off his shoes

"I want those subs back here toestured so he lifted his arms But she smiled as she drew off his shirt "They’ll be back They wanted to have a welcouess I shouldn’t have"

"I don’t think I’m ready to party" He lay back so she could take off his jeans "The day I can have a woman strip me down and not want to return the favor’s not a day for partying"

"I give you a week" Now, no longer able to resist, she stroked his cheek "I heard how you hit on all the nurses"

"It’s expected I skipped Mike" He gave her a wan s with that"

She turned down the bed, eased him into it, slipped off his shades, took the cap off his shaved head The smooth dome marred by the line of stitches hurt her in every cell of her body "I’ so, just call If you want the TV, there’s the reht here"

"Just a few z’s for right now"

"Okay" She kissed his forehead, then slipped out

Alone, he stared up at the ceiling And, sighing, closed his eyes

Cilla took her laptop outside to work Though she snuck up to check on Steve twice in the first hour, she made headith bills and cost projections When she heard the crunch of feet on gravel, she glanced up to see Ford and Spock

"Hi, neighbor," he called out "I figured if you were out here, the returning hero’s doing all right"

"Sleeping" She looked at her watch "God, how did it get to be five o’clock?"

"The earth orbits around the sun as it turns on its axis, thereby-"

"S in his hand "I’ve got soot the set up in his room"

Cilla cocked her head "DVDs? Porn?"

Ford’s eyebrows drew together "Porn’s such a hard word Just hear how it comes out of the mouth That short, hard syllable Spider-Man, the three-movie box set It seemed appropriate And a couple of others that involve naked women and motorcycles, which I’d call adult entertainlance down to the dog, who cocked his head and looked innocent "I’m sure Steve will appreciate them"

"Spock believes Sleazy Rider was very underrated"

"I’ll take his word" She heard the footsteps first, sprang to her feet She pulled open the screen door as Steve reached for it from the inside "You’re up Why didn’t you call me? You shouldn’t take the steps by yourself"

"I’ood Ford"

"Good to see you out"

"Good to be Hey, Spock Hey, boy" He sat on one of the white plastic chairs, stroking the dog, who laid his front legs on Steve’s knee