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Iris stiffened a little and then stood, returning to her work table "All right You’ll tell et back to work," she said, wavingme from the aardness of the situation

The shade of the library had chilled me, so I decided to head back out into the wararden, but felt the need to get a bit farther away For the first tie of the newspaper, I felt coh to return to River Street Most of the people there would be tourists anyway, I reasoned They wouldn’t know ht ship otiated its way under the bridge I accepted a graciously offered sample from one of the candy stores, then headed back up the bank, lettingwithout any real destination, just following a tug I felt I cut through Warren Square and followed down East Julian, the tug growing a tad stronger with each step

"It’s a classic five-four-and-a-door," Oliver’s voice called out to me He sat on the steps of a beautiful yet modest exa shorts and shoes Oliver seee of time His youthful appearance caused most people to suspect that he’d hired Dorian Gray’s portrait artist He had the flat-muscled stoer man He was my uncle, but he could easily pass for ic to create a gla people perceive him without the scuff marks of time Noitch sense toldhim at a much slower rate than the rest of us "Ihis hand over his new buzz cut He’d just gotten back a few days earlier fro up his home in San Francisco, and had his hair cropped close in order to ease his adjustment to Savannah’s harsher clime "I’ He read the disapproval on le s the Boy Scout oath "Do you like it?"

"Of course I do I’ve always loved this place, but ould you want to buy it?"

"Because I’ sisters are not constantly sticking their noses I can’t even set so it up and disappear on , if you knohat I mean" He stood and turned to take the house in "This place is perfect I can run my business on street level and live upstairs" He turned to me and raised an eyebrow "All business on the bottom, and party on the top"

"Oliver," I said, blushing

He burst out laughing, thrilled to have eears without warning "How goes the ic?"

"I don’t know I kind of feel like I a in the middle of a hurricane"

"And the Sande pain He criticizes and co I can use"

Oliver just nodded Then he shifted gears again "Anything else you’d like to talk about?"

"No," I responded too quickly

Oliver had always beenat all?" he pro like punching a hole through some itinerant’s chest?"

The blood drained from my face "How did you know?"