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Infrequently, a woirlish Vince had never seen her, but he had often tried to iine what she looked like

Nohen the soft-spokenthe number, Vince said, ’It’s done I really appreciate your calling me, and I’m always available if you have another job" He was confident that the guy on the other end of the line would recognize his voice, too

"I’ard for your Workmanship Now reit telephone number

Surprised, Vince repeated it

The contact said, "It’s one of the public phones at Fashion Island In the open-air promenade near Robinson’s Department Store Can you be there in fifteen minutes?"

"Sure," Vince said "Ten"

"I’ll call in fifteen with the details"

Vince hung up and walked back to the van, whistling Being sent to another public telephone to receive "the details" could : they had a job for him already, two in one day!

3

Later, after the cake was baked and iced, Nora retreated to her bedroom at the southwest corner of the second floor

When Violet Devon had been alive, this had been Nora’s sanctuary in spite of the lack of a lock on the door Like all the rooe house, it had been crammed with heavy furniture, as if the place served as a warehouse instead of a home It had been dreary in all other details as well Nevertheless, when finished with her chores, or when dismissed after one of her aunt’s interminable lectures, Nora had fled to her bedroom, where she escaped into books or vivid daydrea, creeping soundlessly along the hall, suddenly throwing open the unlockable door, entering with the hope of catching Nora in a forbidden pastime or practice These unannounced inspections had been frequent during Nora’s childhood and adolescence, dwindling in nuh the final weeks of Violet Devon’s life, when Nora had been a grooman of twenty-nine Because Violet had favored dark dresses, had worn her hair in a tight bun, and had gone without a trace of makeup on her pale, sharp-featured face, she had often looked less like a woman than like athe corridors of a bleak medieval retreat to police the behavior of fellow , Nora was severely reprimanded and punished with onerous chores Her aunt did not condone laziness

Books were permitted-if Violet had first approved of the, books were educational Besides, as Violet often said, "Plain, holao to exotic places So books have a special value to us We can experience h books This isn’t bad Living through books is even better than having friends and knowingmen"

With the assistance of a pliable family doctor, Violet had kept Nora out of public school on the pretense of poor health She had been educated at home, so books were her only school as well

In addition to having read thousands of books by the age of thirty, Nora had becoht artist in oils, acrylics, watercolors, pencil Drawing and painting were activities of which Aunt Violet approved Art was a solitary pursuit that took Nora’s mind off the world beyond the house and helped her avoid contact with people ould inevitably reject, hurt, and disappoint her

One corner of Nora’s roo board, an easel, and a cabinet for supplies Space for herother pieces of furniture together, not by re, and the effect was claustrophobic

Many tiht but even in thethat the floor of the bedroo to collapse under all the furniture, that she was going to crash down into the chamber belohere she would be crushed to death beneath her own massive four-poster bed When that fear overwhelmed her, she had fled onto the rear lahere she sat in the open air, hugging herself and shuddering She’d been twenty-five before she realized that her anxiety attacks arose not only from the overfurnished roo presence of her aunt

On a Saturday ht months after Violet Devon’s death, Nora had abruptly been seized by an acute need for change and had frantically reordered her bedrooed out all the sh the other five crowded chas had to be dismantled and taken away in sections, but finally she succeeded in elihtstand, a single ar board and stool, the supply cabinet, and the easel, which was all she needed Then she stripped off the wallpaper

Throughout that dizzying weekend, she’d felt as if the revolution had come, as if her life would never be the same But by the time she had redone her bedroom, the spirit of rebellion had evaporated, and she had left the rest of the house untouched

Now this one place, at least, was bright, even cheerful The walls were painted the palest yellow The drapes were gone, and in their place were Levolor blinds that matched the paint She had rolled up the dreary carpet and had polished the beautiful oak floor

More than ever, this was her sanctuary Without fail, upon passing through the door and seeing what she had wrought, her spirits lifted and she found so encounter with Streck, Nora was soothed, as always, by the bright rooan a pencil sketch, a Preli that she had been conte for Some time Initially, her hands shook, and she had to pause repeatedly to regain sufficient control to continue drawing, but in time her fear abated

Shewas even able to think about Streck as she worked and to try to ied to maneuver

him out of the house Recently, Nora had wondered if Violet Devon’s pessimistic view of the outside world and of all other people was accurate; though it was the priging suspicion that it ht be twisted, even sick But now she had encountered Art Streck, and he seemed to be a too erous

But after a while, when her sketch was half finished, Nora began to think that she hadStreck had said and done Surely he could not have beensexual advances toward her Not toward her

She was, after all, quite undesirable Plain Hoardless of Violet’s faults, the old woman had some virtues, one of which was a refusal to mince words Nora was unattractive, drab, not a woman who could expect to be held, kissed, cherished This was a fact of life that Aunt Violet h his personality was repellent, Streck was a physically attractive man, one who could have his choice of pretty women It was ridiculous to assue like her

Nora still wore the clothes that her aunt had bought for her-dark, shapeless dresses and skirts and blouses sihter and raceless body and to the characterless and uncomely lines of her face

But why had Streck said that she was pretty?

Oh, well, that was easily explained He waspolite, kind

The ht about it, the ed the poor man At thirty, she was already a nervous old ht depressed her for a while But she redoubled her efforts on the sketch, finished it, and began another from a different perspective As the afternoon waned she escaped into her art