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Harrison’s Antiques was at the south end of Laguna Beach, on Pacific Coast Highway It was in a stylish two-story Art Deco building that contrasted interestingly with the 18th- and 19th-century e, Hatch’s assistant and the store eneral handy was akin to the painting of the Golden Gate Bridge: once you reached the far end, it was tiain Glenda was in a great mood because she had sold a Napoleon III ormolu-mounted black-lacquered cabinet with Japanned panels and, to the saonal, tilt-top table with elaborate marquetry inlay They were excellent sales--especially considering that she worked on salary against a coh the day’s mail, attended to some correspondence, and examined a pair of 18th-century rosewood palace pedestals with inlaid jade dragons that had arrived fro, Lindsey helped Glenda and Leith the dusting In her new fraave her a chance to appreciate the details of the antiques--the turn of a finial on a bronze la, the delicately pierced and hand-finished ri the history and culturalof each piece as she happily dusted it, she realized that her new attitude had a distinctly Zen quality
At twilight, sensing the approach of night, Vassago woke and sat up in the approxier for death and a need to kill
The last ie he remembered from his dream was of the woman from the red car She was not in the car anyin front of a Chinese screen, wiping it with a white cloth She turned, as if he had spoken to her, and she smiled
Her so wanted to smash her face in with a hammer, break out her teeth, shatter her jaw bones, ain
He had dreamed of her two or three times over the past several weeks The first ti siain, he searched histhose he had ever seen outside of dreams He wondered who she was and why she visited hi down A great black drape that gave the world a preview of death at the end of every bright and shining day
He dressed and left his hideaway
By seven o’clock that early-spring night, Lindsey and Hatch were at Zov’s, a small but busy restaurant in Tustin The decor wass and ly friendly and efficient, were dressed in black and white to co room The food they served was such a perfect sensual experience that the monochromatic bistro seeenial rather than annoying They did not have to raise their voices to hear each other, and felt as if the background buzz provided a screen of privacy froh the first two courses--calas But when the main course was served--swordfish for both of theer contain herself
She said, "Okay, all right, we’ve had all day to brood about it We haven’t colored each other’s opinions So what do you think of Regina?"
"What do you think of Regina?"
"You first"
"Why me?"
Lindsey said, "Why not?"
He took a deep breath, hesitated "I’ up and doing a little dance, the way a cartoon character ht, because her joy and excites were supposed to be in real life She had hoped for just that reaction from him, but she hadn’t knohat he would say, really hadn’t had a clue, because the "
"Oh, God, I love her," Lindsey said "She’s so sweet"
"She’s a tough cookie"
"That’s an act"
"She was putting on an act for us, yeah, but she’s tough just the saive her a choice"
"But it’s a good tough"
"It’s a great tough," he agreed "I’ it put ht"
"Struggling so hard to ," Hatch said, "and that onlyrejected again, so she took the offensive"
"When I heard her coht it was--"
"Godzilla!" Lindsey said
"At least And how’d you like Binky the talking goldfish?"
"Shit on the hed, and people around thehter or because some of what Lindsey said was overheard, which onlyto be a handful," Hatch said
"She’ll be a drea’s that easy"
"She will be"
"One problem"
"What’s that?"
He hesitated "What if she doesn’t want to come with us?"
Lindsey’s smile froze "She will She’ll coative"
"I’ot to be prepared for disappointment"