Evenfall Read Online Free PDF Page B

to Nina, who takes it enthusiastically and carries it underneath the kitchen table. “Well, if you ever want a change from rabbit food, a new restaurant opened in Franklin, in one of the old mills. I’d be glad to take you if you want to check it out.”
    His eyes are on the dog and his tone is so casual that Andie isn’t sure if he’s just asked her out or not. By the time she decides that he has, Cort’s already moved on.
    “Where’s Miss Gert?” he asks, looking around the kitchen as if he expects her to jump out at any second. As a child,Andie remembers, Cort lived in terror of Gert, who always made him scrub his hands and behind his ears after their forays to the creek.
    “She decided to stay at the cottage.” Andie shakes her head. “I tried to talk her into coming here. It would be so much easier, but you know how she is.”
    Cort snorts, runs a hand along the back of his neck. “Still, it’s got to be tough for her. Lots of memories in this place.”
    The two of them fall silent, listening as the old house breathes around them, the weight of the empty rooms upstairs forcing a kind of sigh from the ceiling and floorboards. Even the kitchen where they sit seems curiously bare, the deep porcelain sink gleaming in the sunshine like bone.
    Cort stands, stretches, and carries his cup to the sideboard. “Well, I’d better be going. Thanks for the coffee.”
    “It’s the least I could do. What do I owe you? For the lawn, I mean.”
    “Aw, forget about it.”
    “I can’t do that.”
    “All right then, when we go out to dinner, you can pay.” His smile catches Andie off-guard, and she feels her heartbeat pick up speed.
    “Deal,” she says, although a date with Cort is the last thing she’s planning on. She’s done with men for a bit after Neal; there’s no need to complicate her life with a boy.
    Cort whistles, and Nina goes to him, her brown body wagging with pleasure. But at the door the dog pauses. She looks around the kitchen and whimpers softly, and in the stillness the sound seems to echo back.
    Cort looks down at the dog, then at Andie.
    “It’s a pretty big house, to be staying in all by yourself,” he says.
    “Mmm hmm.” Andie takes her cup over to the sink and busies herself with rinsing it out. When she takes a step to reach Cort’s cup, the floorboard groans, and she has to suppress a jump. She can feel Cort watching her.
    “Tell you what,” he says. “I’ll take the dog with me during the day, keep her out of your aunt’s hair, then drop her back off at night. Joint custody. What do you think?”
    “I don’t know.” The dog’s bulk is comforting. But Andie’s never even been responsible for a goldfish, let alone a dog, so she hesitates. “What if her owners are looking for her?”
    “I’ve called the pound, and no one’s reported her missing. Even if they had, I’m not sure I’d turn her in.” Andie knows what he means. There are burrs in Nina’s coat, and her nails are long and twisted. When Andie runs her hands lightly over the dog’s furry sides, she feels ribs.
    “So what do you think?” he says again.
    “It sounds like I just got myself half a dog.”
    “Okay then. We’ll see you tonight.”
    Andie listens as the door shuts behind them. She hears Cort’s footsteps crunch across the gravel, the slam of the truck door, and the slight rumble the engine gives before it turns over. When they’ve gone, the house is silent, but she finds she doesn’t mind. She pours herself more coffee, gets a pen and piece of paper from Aunt Clara’s old junk drawer, and starts making a list of the groceries she’ll need to pick up in town. Milk, dog food. She hesitates, then adds beef jerky to the list.

Gert
    GERT can tell right away it’s not going to be a good day. For one thing, her back is aching before she even gets out of bed. Too much lifting yesterday, she thinks.
    She lies in bed and listens to the early morning ruckus the birds are making. The quilt that