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Brad? Why was she thinking about Brad? David David was her husband, not Brad Pope David and his popemobile Had there been a Pope David? Probably Lila herself was a Methodist She wasn’t the person to ask
Well, she thought, Roscoe having wandered out of sight, enough was enough She’d had it with being trapped in a filthy house David could do as David liked; she saw no reason to sit out this perfectly beautiful June day, not with so much to do Her trusty old Volvo awaited her in the driveway Where was her purse? Her wallet? Her keys? But here they were, sitting on the little table by the front door Just where she had left theo
Upstairs, she went to the bathroom-my God, the toilet was in such a state, she didn’t even want to think about that-and exaood You’d think she’d been in a shipwreck-her hair a rat’s nest, her eyes sunken and bleary-looking Her skin was all washed out, like it hadn’t seen the sun in weeks She wasn’t one of those wo the house, but even so She would have liked a shower, but of course that was i her face ater fro a washcloth to scrub her skin pink She ran a brush through her hair, applied blush to her cheeks, stroked mascara onto her lashes, and put on a bit of lipstick She earing only a T-shirt and panties in the heat; she retreated to the bedroouttered candles and heaps of dirty laundry and the musty s-tailed shirts fro really fit anyle into if she didn’t do the top button, and a pair of sandals
Once more to the mirror Not bad, Lila concluded A definite i anyplace special, after all Although it ht be nice to stop for lunch, once her errands were done She certainly had earned it after all this time indoors Sos were nicer than a glass of tea and a salad, sitting outdoors on a spring afternoon Cafe des Amis-that was just the ticket They had a rant flowers, and the most wonderful chef-he had visited their table once-who had trained at Cordon Bleu Pierre? François? Thethe deepest flavors from even the simplest dishes; his coq au vin was to die for But the desserts hat Des Amis was known for, especially the chocolateso heavenly in her life She and Brad always shared one after dinner, spooning it into each other’s ers so besotted that the world barely existed beyond the two of them Such blissful days-courtship days, all the proes of a book How they’d laughed when she’d da he’d tucked within its airy cocoa folds, and again on the night when Lila had sent Brad out into the pouring rain-anything would do, she told him, a Kit Kat or Almond Joy or a plain old Hershey’s-and awakened an hour later to see hi in the doorway of the bedroo the iant Tupperware container of François’s-Pierre’s?-fah to feed an arone around to the back, where a light was still burning, and pounded on the door until somebody came to receive his rain-drenched fifty-dollar bill Which was the sweetest thing of all My God, Lila, Brad said as she spooned a oing to be born half chocolate
But there she went again David David Centre was her husband now Lila really had to get a handle on that Not that she and David had ever shared a chocolateremotely of the kind The man didn’t have one romantic bone in his body How had she let a e? As if she were lorified to-do list? Beconant, check Do the honorable thing, check He hardly seemed to knoho she was
Down the stairs she went Outside the sun was pouring down, filling the hall like a golden gas By the tih her What sweet release! After so much tiine what David would say when he found out For God’s sake, Lila, I told you it’s not safe You have to think of the baby But it was the baby she was thinking of; the baby was the reason That’s what David didn’t understand David, as too busy off saving the world to help with the nursery, who drove a car powered by asparagus, or pixie dust, or wholesohts, or whatever it was, and who had left her here alone Alone! And orse, really the worst thing of all, was that he didn’t even like Peter Rabbit Hoas it possible she was going to have a baby with a man who didn’t like Peter Rabbit? What did that say about him? What kind of father would he be? No, it was none of David’s business what she did, Lila concluded, lifting her purse and keys fro the door It was none of his business if she went outside, or if she painted the nursery chartreuse, or vero screw himself That’s what David could do
Lila Kyle would buy the paint herself
Chapter 8
It was not a good day in the office of the deputy director Today, May 31-Memorial Day, not that it mattered-was an end-of-the-world kind of day
Colorado was gone, basically Colorado was kaput Denver, Greeley, Fort Collins, Boulder, Grand Junction, Durango, the thousand little towns in between The latest aerial intel looked like a war zone: cars crashed on the highways, buildings burning, bodies everywhere During daylight hours, nothing see swarone out from Vulture Central Command
Would somebody please tell him whose idea it had been to kill the entire state of Colorado?
And the virus was ered hand By the time Homeland had sealed off theaholes couldn’t get the fro, the CDC had confiris, South Dakota; and Lara And those were just the ones they knew about Nothing yet in Utah or Kansas, though that was a matter of tiinia, three hours till sundown, five in the west
They always one well, though Guilder hadn’t expected it to To begin with, there was the whole "problem" of Special Weapons The military brass had never been particularly comfortable with, or especially clear on, what DSW did, or why it existed outside any et froriculture (Answer: Because nobody gave a shit about agriculture) The hest on the hydrant, and as far as the brass could see, Special Weapons answered to no one, its pieces cobbled together froencies and private contractors It resea, not quite where you thought it would be As for what DSW actually did, well, Guilder had heard the nicknames "Distraction fronuts" "Deep-Shit Weirdness" And his personal favorite: "Discount Shoe Warehouse" (Even he had started calling it the Warehouse)