Act of God Read Online Free PDF

boy.”
    “Something else then.”
    Another glance, followed by a worried look that seemed only half feigned. “I don’t have any embarrassing stories.”
    “Everyone has some, Nance. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody.”
    “You’ll laugh.”
    “I promise I won’t.”
    A deep breath, and the determined look came back. “When I was in high school, I …”
    No need to push her.
    A third glance. “I played the clarinet in the marching band.”
    I didn’t laugh. I also didn’t say, “What, somebody else already have dibs on the accordion?” but I was thinking it. “Were you any good?”
    An edge in her voice. “Not very.”
    “Did you enjoy it?”
    “Not much.”
    “Because you weren’t good at it?”
    “No, because …” Nancy seemed to realize how sharply she’d spoken and toned down. “No, because I really wanted to play the saxophone, but the music director thought the sax was a ‘boy’s instrument,’ so I couldn’t.”
    I thought back over the evening so far. “That also why you didn’t find the altar boy story funny?”
    “Because I wasn’t eligible to be one?”
    “Yes.”
    “Probably.” Another glance, but this one full of warmth and heart. “God, could it be that I’ve fallen for a man who actually gets it without having to be beaten over the head with it?”
    “Probably. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have fallen for me, right?”
    “I retract the last implied compliment.”
    We arrived in front of her house a few minutes later. There were empty spaces up the street, but given the weight of the bureau it seemed more sensible to double-park, which she did. Nancy went inside while I played with the bungee cords and the blanket. She came back with a long face.
    “What’s the matter, Nance?”
    “Drew Lynch is on the four-to-twelve.”
    “Meaning he’s not here to help us with this.”
    “He just swung on today. I should have called him, but I knew he’d been working days all week, and—”
    I put up a hand. “Not to worry, we can handle it.”
    “John, it is awfully—”
    “Hey, Nance, it doesn’t weigh more than both of us put together, and besides, why do I do Nautilus if I can’t manage some stevedoring once in a while.”
    “I don’t think this is exactly stevedoring.”
    “Whatever. We’ll work with you on the upside and me on the down. There’s a carpet runner on the stairs, so we just have to slide it, and we can rest a little on each step and a lot on the landings. Okay?”
    “Maybe we should just wait for Drew to get home.”
    “And do what in the meantime, stand guard out here over a Civic with a dresser sticking out of its trunk?”
    A smile toyed with the corner of her lips. “Hatchback.”
    I smiled back. “Hatchback.”
    “If you really think we can.”
    “I do, but why don’t you take my jacket inside and change into shorts yourself so we can maneuver this thing more comfortably.”
    “Good idea.”
    She gave me a hug, took another look at the bureau, and trotted to the front door, returning changed with a pair of gloves for each of us.
    “This pair should fit you. Drew uses them in the garden.”
    We slid the dresser out of the car carefully, no scratches I felt or heard. Carrying it on relatively level ground wasn’t too hard, but I didn’t look forward to heaving it heavenward a step at a time.
    We set the thing down so Nancy could prop open the front door, and again inside so she could close it. As she was doing the door, I surveyed the staircase. A lot steeper than I remembered from simply climbing it.
    Rocking the bureau, I moved it enough so that Nancy could get on its upstairs side. We lowered the back of the dresser onto the carpet runner. It took a lot of pushing from my downstairs end to move the thing up just one step.
    “John, this isn’t going to work.”
    “Sure it is. We just have a problem with the friction coefficient of your carpet runner.”
    She gave me the sort of withering look lawyers reserve for scientific