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daughter by the shoulders and tried to make eye contact, but Mason looked down and away. “Won’t you tell us what’s wrong? Something must have happened. You don’t just hide in people’s garages.”
    “No, Mom, really,” said Mason, pulling away with a shrug. “I’m okay.” She took another Kleenex from her mother and blew her nose while Erin rubbed her shoulders.
    “I can see you’re okay , hon—but that’s not what I asked,” said Erin. Mason swung her head back and forth, still refusing to answer. She handed the used Kleenex back to her mother and said, “Can I go play with Cody and Ben ‘til lunch?”
    “Alright—but we are talking later. You hear me?”
    “Um-hmm,” said Mason as she skipped down the porch steps and scooted towards the back yard with Cody and Ben right behind her.
    “That didn’t sound too convincing,” said Osborne.
    Erin watched her go then turned towards C.J. and Osborne. “Dad, you’ll stay for lunch, won’t you? And, C.J., how about you? Egg salad sandwiches …” Erin beckoned towards the front door.
    C.J. checked her watch. “I’m afraid Curt is expecting me back at the lake—”
    Erin gave her a quizzical look: “You don’t mean Curt Calverson, the CEO of Calverson Finance, do you? Is he your father?”
    “My husband.”
    “Oh!” Erin couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice.
    “We’ve just been married a few months,” said C.J.
    “Oh. Well, I’m sorry to sound so surprised but I happened to be reading about your husband the other day and I assumed—”
    “Right, he’s a lot older,” said C.J. “We met last year. I was his personal trainer.” She gave a rueful grin. “Seemed like a good idea at the time.”
    “Hey, that’s okay, whatever works,” said Erin, suddenly so friendly Osborne knew she was up to something. “So you’re pretty new in town, aren’t you?”
    “Yeah, gee, I’ve only been here two weeks. Except for the clerks at the grocery store, I really haven’t met many people.” The girl sounded wistful.
    The slamming of a car door prompted everyone to glance back to the street where a long, lean figure in knee-length khaki shorts and a beard resembling an exploded spaniel was emerging from a battered blue pickup truck. “Yo,” called out a deep voice from somewhere within the beard, “don’t anyone move!”
    He reached into the bed of the truck for an object that he stuck onto his head, then took a moment to check his reflection in the truck window. Satisfied with the jaunty angle of his headpiece, he reached into the truck bed once more. This time he straightened up with yet another prize dangling from his arm: a very long, narrow fish. Still twitching.
    Walking around the back end of the truck with the fish held high, he started across Erin’s front lawn towards the porch.
    “No, you don’t, Ray,” said Erin in a loud, firm voice. “You stop right there. That muskie is dripping blood all over the place and I do not want it on my porch.”
    The man paused, chagrin on his face, “but this is a monster mount, Erin—fifty-one inches! I gotta show the kids—”
    “Dr. Osborne,” said C.J. in a low whisper from where she stood beside Osborne, “what on earth does that man have on his head?”

CHAPTER 7
    C .J. giggled, cupping her right hand over her mouth as she tried to eat her egg salad sandwich without spitting. Osborne caught a glance from Erin that confirmed they were both aware that C.J.’s need to catch up with her husband appeared to have vanished with the arrival of a six-foot-six thirty-two-year-old wearing a stuffed trout on his head.
    Osborne shook his head as he always did while watching Ray charm the females: who knew that a man who walked with the grace of an accordion folding and unfolding could be so attractive to women? Was it the little kid smile on the face of the grown man? A smile that made you think the sun had just come out—just for you and him? Or was it simply Ray’s delight in being