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So they’re gone" Ford gestured toward the house with the Coke he’d copped from Cilla’s kitchen

"Yes After a finale of motherly embraces in view of the ca over in DC for the night, at the Willard In that way, she can stage another couple of press a for her show at the National Theater in September" Cilla held up her hands, shook her head "It’s not entirely that calculating Only about eighty percent was calculated The re twenty was actual concern for ed on the phone if it hadn’t been to her advantage to make the trip It took a lot of need for her to come here, to this house I didn’t understand until today, or fully believe until today, how genuinely it upsets her It lect, and accept why she was so bitter when I made her an offer she couldn’t refuse"

"And it doesn’t enter into logical thinking that if she didn’t want it, couldn’t handle it, she could have given it to you?"

"Not in Dilly’s world It’s tit for tat I didn’t kno much she felt unloved at the end, or how completely she felt pushed into second place to her brother in Janet’s heart I’ today she knew I didn’t want, and can justify doing it not only because it was to her advantage, but by convincing herself it as best for me It’s a talent of hers"

"She’ll be an interesting mother-in-law"

"Oh, really" Panic teeth clah that garden gate andthe key for now," he said, lifting his Coke for another sip "No rush on it"

"Ford, you have to understand-"

"Cilla Sorry," Matt added, stepping out "Looks like the flooring for the third floor’s coht you’d want to take a look, check it out before we take it up"

"Yeah, yeah, I do Be right there"

"Flooring already?" Ford asked her

"It has to rest on site, a kind of accli, for a few days before installation Since we’re doing built-ins up there, the floor has to Never er needed here, I’e soainst nerves

"Oh, I finished scanning those photos for you Reotten all about therandfather"

"I think he considers it thanks enough that he got to see you in a towel"

"And thanks for that reminder" They came around front where the delivery truck slowly backed down her drive "Hot dog!"

"I’ll leave you to the thrill of your wood planks" He caught her face in his hands, kissed her "We’ll be waiting for you"

They would, she thought He and his strange little dog would do just that It was both wonderful and terrifying

FORD LOCKED HIMSELF in his box for four straight hours It rolled, and it rocked along Even with all the distractions-sexy neighbor, break-ins,a new friend in the hospital, worry about sexy neighbor and falling in love with her-he was ht be finished just about the same time Cilla’s house was That was some superior synchronicity But now, he deserved to shut it down and indulge in so-on-the-veranda ti, critical look at the day’s work

"You’re daood, Sawyer Don’t let anybody tell you different"

With his back war to look out theNot a reporter in sight, he noted, pleased for Cilla No trucks in sight, either, which meant her day’s work should be wrapped, too He headed to the kitchen to get a cold one and to call Spock in fro, wait-for-Cilla portion of their day

He found a note inside the fridge, taped to a beer

Finished? If so, drop over to Chez McGowan

Corinned at the note "Don’t mind if I do"

She sat on the slate patio, at a teak table under a bright blue u with s, cheered the three stairs of the veranda With her ball cap on her head, her legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles of her work boots, and roses rioting behind her, he thought she looked both relaxed and extraordinary

She smiled-relaxed and easy-when he sat across froave Spock a rub

"I noticed When did you get this?" He flicked a finger up at the umbrella

"It ca it up After I did, Shanna hauled over the planters I picked theet around to doing so with them, eventually But she saw the table here, and ran out to the nursery, picked up the plants and did the job, just because I’ll have to , but I really love looking at them now"

She shifted, reached down and pulled two beers out of the ice in a drywall compound bucket "And now, even better, you can bask with me"

He twisted off the tops, then clinked his bottle to hers "To the first of ood day"

"Ups and downs It couldn’t get worse than it started, though there were bu was short-lived when I discovered they’d delivered the wrong hardwood Then claie the order from walnut to oak, which is just so much bullshit, and will delay the third-floor work schedule a full week I did finish the closet in the third bedrooot a start on the one in the fourth The vendor messed up the cut on a panel of the stea tub I’ve had my eye on for the third bath, second floor, just went on sale The insurance co hit with two claims in two days, and will surely raisepissed"

"Good choice"

"Well, delays and glitches go with the territory The roses are blooh about e I solved a major problem in the work, and it rolled froerator "

"I figured you’d see it first thing, after you surfaced I actually came upstairs first, but if I’ve ever seen anyone in the zone, you were" Curious, interested, she cocked her head "What was the problem solved?"

"The villain Early version of hiebra teacher I’ you, the man was evil But as the character developed, I knew I didn’t have the right look-physically I wanted leaner, a little htly aristocratic and dissipated Everything I tried ended up looking like John Carradine or Basil Rathbone"

"Good looks, both Hollowed cheeks, piercing eyes"

"And too obvious for the character It kept boggingfor dissipation, cut cheekbones and intensity I’ for a thin coat of polish and sophistication over a whole lotta shter, edging toward effete The contrast between looks and intent," he explained "Between iuy coldly destroys while wearing an Arent?"

"Pretty ed to s the beer, barely avoiding a spit take "Mario? Are you serious?"

"Completely One look at him out front today, and the scales fell froot it all-the build, the posture, the five-hundred-dollar haircut and that sheer, shiny layer of oil I don’t knohy I didn’t see it when I uess"

"Mario" She jurab Ford by the hair and crush her lips to his in a hard, s kiss that sent Spock into his happy dance "This actuallyhile Thank you"

"I didn’t actually do it for you Any enjoyet from it’s just a side benefit"

"I’ll take it" She dropped back in her seat "This has, indeed, turned out to be a better-than-average day"

CILLA TACKLED the next batch of trim in the shady shadow of the barn She liked the work, and the quiet There ht have been h the farmhouse, but she wanted to keep the project her own One day, she thought as she peeled away layers of white and, unfathoh her house and admire every inch of restored trim Best, she’d be able to say: I did that Every inch

She stripped down herself, to a tank and aro shorts as a concession to the heat that had snuck in, even in the shade When she stopped to guzzle so water lilies, digging out over-propagated cattails

Once it was done, she ically balanced, she saw no reason she couldn’t rounds, she adht she’d enjoy puttering around, cutting the grass, pulling weeds, blowing and raking leaves in the fall, shoveling snow in the winter, planting neers in the spring

But it wasn’t realistic to believe she could handle it all-house, grounds, pond, gardens-and run a business

Cleaning service, she thought, reholstering her water bottle and picking up her sandpaper block That was a weekly definite Maybe she’d talk to Brian about a once-a-ot a better sense of what needed to be done, and just how much she could handle

Plus, she needed advice on that kitchen garden she hoped to start, especially since she just hadn’t been able to work it in this year as she’d hoped And she needed to know if the fields should be plowed and planted-and hat And who the hell would do that? More advice if she gave in to that nagging longing and got a horse Which would require exercise, housing, feeding, groo, and was probably a crazy idea

But wouldn’t a couple of horses be gorgeous ro in one of the fields? Wouldn’t they be worth the work, the time, the expense?

Next year, she told herself Maybe

She couldn’t get cocky and complacent just because she’d had a couple of days of s, because she was so darass, clogged gutters and fractious appliances She’d be dealing with that, and a whole lot more, for the rest of her life

And wasn’t that just fabulous?

She sang as she sanded the old walnut triotten how much you sound like her"

She looked up, squinted, then se, depth or natural vibrato"

"It sounded wonderful to’Blue Skies’"

"The place sort of calls for old standards Or ot theh the front and saw the finished product" He tapped a finger on the triotten, or never noticed when I cao It’s beautiful Truly beautiful"

"Itwhen youup another paintbrush"

"Show ot a bedrooestured to the newspapers he carried "We provide drops You don’t have to bring your own" When he didn’t s dip in her belly "Uh-oh"

"I heard about the media invasion, and your mother’s visit the other day There’s been soe-TV, newspapers"

"Yeah, I’ve seen soht your name up, and-"

He cut her off with a wave of his hand "That’s not i this, and decided soht be better if it wasThey’d just stocked these at checkout"

"The tabloids" She nodded, pulled off her work gloves "I knew they’d be hitting any day Don’t worry I’m used to it" She held out a hand for the papers

The headlines screamed They always did in the tabs, she knew, but the screams seemed only more strident when her name was involved

JANET HARDY’S GHOST HAUNTS HER GRANDDAUGHTER!

FORMER HOLLYWOOD PRINCESS IN NEAR FATAL CRASH! BEDELIA HARDY RUSHES TO HER DAUGHTER’S SIDE

AFTER ATTACK BY MADMAN!

IS LITTLE KATIE THE REINCARNATION OF JANET HARDY?

The pictures orse, grainy, exploitative Splashed on one front page was a photo of Cilla, angled to spotlight her injured face, with Dilly holding her close, a single tear sliding down her cheek Behind thee of Janet with the caption: "’My mother’s spirit reraphic PROOF corroborates herthe very triles to exorcise Janet’s ghost froinia farm

Ford hadn’t escaped, she noted They’d slapped his photograph, his name, their ridiculous captions inside

"Okay, worse A lot worse than I expected it to be" She pushed the papers back at her father "Front page, multiple stories in each Mom will be thrilled I don’t care how that sounds," she snapped before her father could speak "She amped it up Everyone I ith, do business with, will see this crap And Ford’s sucked into the shit pile because he had the poor judgment to fall in love with me Now he’ll-"

"He’s in love with you?" Gavin interrupted Even as she started to shrug, Gavin set a hand on Cilla’s shoulder "He’s in love with you? You’re in love with him?"

"The L word’s been spoken by both parties-or alluded to by h ed lover has been seduced by randmother’s spirit Don’t say I shouldn’t let it upset me Don’t say everyone knows this stuff is a load of crap These papers sell because people love reading loads of crap"

"I was going to say I’ve always been fond of Ford If he makes you happy, I’ to be happy with me when he sees all this, and has to explain to his family, his friends, his publisher, for God’s sake, why his name and his face have been smeared all over the place" Helpless, she pressed a hand to her nervous belly "I knew they’d pull him in, and I warned him, but I didn’t knoould be this bad"

"You’re either giving yourself too ot a right to be upset To be thoroughly pissed I don’t have as much experience with celebrity as you do, but I know you have two choices"

He spoke calo out, al action, or you ignore it Do the first, and you have a slis and they sell uts, at least for a while"