Page 29 (1/2)

She shakes her head "I’ll be fine I just need to take it easy"

"Okay, well, I’e for breakfast before I run to get the parts I need Anything you want? Besides blueberries, of course"

She grins "You reot le escapes her lips "I don’t think I’ht now" She yawns "Maybe coffee Two-and-a-half milks and one sweetener, please"

"Two-and-a-half ht" I repeat it twice before I give up and write it down on a scrap of paper, knowing I’ll screw it up I doubt we even have sweetener in the cupboard

On impulse, I cross the attic floor to the bed and lean down to lay a kiss on her forehead Her fingers graze my throat as I pull away

"Hey, Jesse?"

"Yeah?"

She smiles up at me Even with a bashed-up face, she’s beautiful "Thank you for bringing me here"

"I’ll be back soon" I lay a second quick kiss, this time on her cheek, and then I leave

My parents’ house is eerily quiet when I step through the sliding door My dad’s already gone--not surprising He’s normally at his desk at the oes in on weekends I know Amber’s asleep in her room, because her red Mini is parked in the driveway She won’t be up until close to dinnertih the cupboards and fridge, looking for sorandma died, we operated under very ed foods and order-in for a few years,to adjust without the extra help Thanks to those days, I’ve grown partial to frozen pizza pockets for breakfast, a habit I haven’t been able to break

Mymore of an effort around the house about the saetting es loo I didn’t do it, of course I tried to stop it But for those twenty-four hours, while waiting for Toet stabbed--to pull through, while ers at me, my mo down her cheeks Asking over and over again where she rong with her son

That’s what Ae is fresh fruit and vegetables, sourt, and weird-colored bread Fresh steaks ready for the grill Alex would knohat to do with all this stuff Not that I’d ever let her cook this weekend

Even though she said she wasn’t hungry, I load a plate up with sourt Miraculously, I find sweetener in the cupboard, which I add afterI want is to discover that Aht sleeper and have her appear in the kitchen

When I climb the stairs to my attic apartain I set everything down on the nightstand next to her and then, grabbingthe door behindupstairs

She slept all day I know because after I raced out to Bend and back with a trunk full of parts, I kept checking in on her With e With this car sitting in front of me, I’d expect those hours to turn into days But I watched that da up the stairs several times to make sure she was okay

She says she’s fine and I can’t see anything besides what’s on her face, but I’ can a person sleep?

"Alex?" I takethe steps, et to the top, she’s standing in front of the s her injured face

"It’s even ined"

I come up behind her, probably too close but I can’t help myself, and look out theto see what she sees--snow-capped mountain peaks, the sky s sun "You should see it here in the summer"

"And look!" She points to the old wo on a bale of hay by the barn "I wish I could go see theently brush the strands of hair off her face "Feeling better, Sleeping Beauty?"

She dips her head to hide the coy, crooked s to take a bath, if you don’t h, Alex" Definitely not like her house Or an eight-hundred-dollar-a-night hotel room

"It’s perfect Really I just need soht" The storage in there is odd, the only cupboards running along the high side and eight feet up I follow her in and thenout the fresh towels "What’s that?" I ask, watching her sprinkle white granules into the bath

"Epso "It helps"

Sounds like she’s been here before, even though she says she hasn’t Gritting my teeth, because she doesn’t need to hear ht now as it is--I hand her the towels and then slip out around her

She shuts the running water off "Did you get any work done on your car?" I glance back to see the door open a sliver and her slowly easing her shirt up over her head Nu into flesh--ood tune-up," Ithe fitted bedsheet over theshe ith him at all, but to see proof like that? I keepto the sound of her nad body slip into the water

Since seeing her cowering in the kitchen yesterday, I haven’t had a single thought about her besides getting her so in bed next to her last night, not even while in the shower

Now, thoughI can’t claiet the hell out of here "Hey, I’ins ringing