anywhere.”
“Well, it’s better than going too fast, having a wreck, and not getting there at all. Good night, folks.”
Jeremy scooted into the booth after Sloane left. “Nobody was home, so I left my message.”
Christine knew Ames was in Charleston, but where was Patricia? She should have been with Ames, of course, to help him through this horrible experience. Instead, no one seemed to know where she was. She might not have even heard about the body.
“You look sad,” Jeremy said.
“Too much rain and too many gray skies.”
“And too much bad news. About the body in the water. It’s creepy.” He looked away for a moment, then said with one of his abrupt changes of subject, “I want to go home and see Rhiannon.”
“Me, too. But don’t tell her you had a banana split or she’ll pout all evening.”
Jeremy’s deep laugh boomed and his whole face seemed to light up. He looked like a male version of their beautiful mother, and Christine often felt bad when girls approached him based on his striking adult male looks only to find they were talking to an adolescent. But Jeremy rarely seemed to mind, thank goodness. He was remarkably adept at accepting his life.
Christine paid the bill and they set out for home. The rain had tapered off to a drizzle, but she still drove slowly while Jeremy listened to the radio, bobbing his head and singing along with even more gusto than usual to “Fly Away” by Lenny Kravitz, which happened to be his favorite song. Jeremy loved rock music and his voice was fairly good. Unfortunately, music annoyed Ames. Jeremy had to content himself with a boom box and a karaoke machine she’d bought him for Christmas, and even those things Ames had banished into a dingy back room of his basement.
When they entered Christine’s large modern stone and sand-colored wood house the cat shot from behind a chair and flung herself at Jeremy’s feet, rolling upside down and stretching her legs into the air.
Jeremy dropped to the floor and picked her up. “Rhiannon, I missed you!” The cat rubbed her mouth along his jaw to leave her scent. “Everybody thinks Dara just named you for that song she liked so much, but I know Rhiannon was really a witch.”
Christine was surprised Jeremy recalled Dara telling him about the witch of Celtic legend, but then, what he remembered often surprised her. “Rhiannon is happy to see you,” she said as the cat lolled happily in Jeremy’s arms.
“I miss her all the time. I sure wish she could stay with me at Ames’s house, but Patricia won’t let her. She only likes Pom-Pom.”
Christine, who loved almost every dog she saw, definitely found Pom-Pom an exception. The dog was eight pounds of sharp teeth, ear-shattering yips, knotted grayish-white hair, bad breath, and bad temper. Christine had no idea what misbegotten canine mix had created the ankle-biting monstrosity Patricia inexplicably adored and no one else could bear.
“You got any clean clothes for me to wear tomorrow?” Jeremy asked.
“I have some older things, but I just bought two new pairs of slacks and two shirts at the Gap three days ago.”
Jeremy brightened. “You did? Are they downstairs in my room?”
“Yes. And I’ve just about finished decorating it. Run down and see what you think.”
With the cat still in his arms, Jeremy immediately dashed to the kitchen and the upstairs entrance to his basement “apartment.” Christine hoped that within a month he would be living here full-time.
Christine walked into her kitchen and felt a rush of pleasure at the sight of gleaming chrome appliances and the walls painted in cheerful shades of pistachio green and lemon yellow. Ames, with his inflexible traditional taste, didn’t like the modern lines of her home, but he had almost quailed at the sight of this shining, vibrant room. Christine remembered having trouble hiding her amusement at his efforts not to express his overwhelming dismay that she’d spent so much money on a
“Well, it’s better than going too fast, having a wreck, and not getting there at all. Good night, folks.”
Jeremy scooted into the booth after Sloane left. “Nobody was home, so I left my message.”
Christine knew Ames was in Charleston, but where was Patricia? She should have been with Ames, of course, to help him through this horrible experience. Instead, no one seemed to know where she was. She might not have even heard about the body.
“You look sad,” Jeremy said.
“Too much rain and too many gray skies.”
“And too much bad news. About the body in the water. It’s creepy.” He looked away for a moment, then said with one of his abrupt changes of subject, “I want to go home and see Rhiannon.”
“Me, too. But don’t tell her you had a banana split or she’ll pout all evening.”
Jeremy’s deep laugh boomed and his whole face seemed to light up. He looked like a male version of their beautiful mother, and Christine often felt bad when girls approached him based on his striking adult male looks only to find they were talking to an adolescent. But Jeremy rarely seemed to mind, thank goodness. He was remarkably adept at accepting his life.
Christine paid the bill and they set out for home. The rain had tapered off to a drizzle, but she still drove slowly while Jeremy listened to the radio, bobbing his head and singing along with even more gusto than usual to “Fly Away” by Lenny Kravitz, which happened to be his favorite song. Jeremy loved rock music and his voice was fairly good. Unfortunately, music annoyed Ames. Jeremy had to content himself with a boom box and a karaoke machine she’d bought him for Christmas, and even those things Ames had banished into a dingy back room of his basement.
When they entered Christine’s large modern stone and sand-colored wood house the cat shot from behind a chair and flung herself at Jeremy’s feet, rolling upside down and stretching her legs into the air.
Jeremy dropped to the floor and picked her up. “Rhiannon, I missed you!” The cat rubbed her mouth along his jaw to leave her scent. “Everybody thinks Dara just named you for that song she liked so much, but I know Rhiannon was really a witch.”
Christine was surprised Jeremy recalled Dara telling him about the witch of Celtic legend, but then, what he remembered often surprised her. “Rhiannon is happy to see you,” she said as the cat lolled happily in Jeremy’s arms.
“I miss her all the time. I sure wish she could stay with me at Ames’s house, but Patricia won’t let her. She only likes Pom-Pom.”
Christine, who loved almost every dog she saw, definitely found Pom-Pom an exception. The dog was eight pounds of sharp teeth, ear-shattering yips, knotted grayish-white hair, bad breath, and bad temper. Christine had no idea what misbegotten canine mix had created the ankle-biting monstrosity Patricia inexplicably adored and no one else could bear.
“You got any clean clothes for me to wear tomorrow?” Jeremy asked.
“I have some older things, but I just bought two new pairs of slacks and two shirts at the Gap three days ago.”
Jeremy brightened. “You did? Are they downstairs in my room?”
“Yes. And I’ve just about finished decorating it. Run down and see what you think.”
With the cat still in his arms, Jeremy immediately dashed to the kitchen and the upstairs entrance to his basement “apartment.” Christine hoped that within a month he would be living here full-time.
Christine walked into her kitchen and felt a rush of pleasure at the sight of gleaming chrome appliances and the walls painted in cheerful shades of pistachio green and lemon yellow. Ames, with his inflexible traditional taste, didn’t like the modern lines of her home, but he had almost quailed at the sight of this shining, vibrant room. Christine remembered having trouble hiding her amusement at his efforts not to express his overwhelming dismay that she’d spent so much money on a
Similar Books
