Failure is Fatal Read Online Free PDF Page A

of the yard, her favorite spot for a long-awaited pee.
    “Sorry I was so late, girl.” I petted her silky head as she came back to greet me. The wind caught the open door and threatened to break it from its hinges.
    “Looks like a storm is brewing.” Perhaps the first snow of the oncoming winter, although October was early for snow. Early or not, the wind was cold; a good strong fire in the wood stove would be a comfort for the evening.
    “Come on, Sam. You can help.” An absolutely absurd comment. How could a dog help gather wood for the fire? I just wanted the company as evening set in. I had the shakes from the events of the afternoon and didn’t like the idea of being alone outside as it grew dark. Funny. I always felt safe at the lake, the one place that comforted me when the world closed in. Now I saw threat in the shadows that filled the yard.
    I tossed my coat on the couch and ran up the stairs to the bedroom to change into something more appropriate for gathering wood than the clothes I wore to the university. I had my head and body almost completely into the back of the closet when Sam nudged me with her cold nose.
    “I’m coming, Sam. I need to find that old army jacket Guy left here and my leather gloves. Here they are.” I held them up and then bumped my head on the clothes rack backing out of the closet. “Damn. I always do that! Maybe this closet could stand some straightening.” I said the same last summer and hadn’t gotten to it. I pulled on jeans and a sweater, donned the army jacket and proceeded down the stairs to retrieve the wood carrier. Sam was not beside me.
    “Come on, Sam. Get out of the closet and come here.” I opened the door to let us into the yard. Sam held back and growled. A figure stood just beyond the walkway. In the dim light, I couldn’t make out if it was a friend or a stranger, man or woman. Sam began to bark in earnest. I held tight to her collar, but she lunged forward.
    “Who is it?”
    “Hey, Laura.” The figure walked out of the darkness into the light from the kitchen window.
    “Guy.” I breathed in relief. “What are you doing here?”
    “It’s Friday. Remember me, your own true love who usually tries to show up on Fridays especially when he’s called on Thursday to let you know he’s coming? I know I haven’t been here since last weekend, but you do remember me, don’t you?” He finished removing his motorcycle helmet from his head, while he reached out to vigorously pet Sam’s.
    “I’d greet you, too, Laura, if you’d remove that look of terror from your face. I don’t look that bad to you, do I?”
    Getting no answer from me, he began to look concerned.
    “Did I scare you? I thought for certain you would hear the motorcycle pulling into the drive.”
    “Oh,” I said and held out my arms to him. “No, Sam and I were upstairs in the closet.”
    “Oh, Murphy, you shouldn’t have.” He held me at arms’ length. “You found something really sexy to wear for my arrival.”
    “I think it may snow. What gave you the crazy idea you could ride your bike in this weather?” As much as I loved his motorcycle, I worried about him driving it all this way, and especially on slippery roads.
    “It was a little cool coming down from Canada, but I wanted to get in a last ride before I put her away for the winter. If it’s too cold to ride back on Sunday, you can give me a ride to the bus station, and I’ll take the bus back. You wouldn’t mind if I stored her here in your garage for the winter, would you? You have this really nice double garage that holds only your old Toyota and a bunch of junk that I thought I might help you clear out. And besides, since you refuse to marry me, I thought that having my bike in your garage would kind of cement our relationship. Maybe like we’re at least going steady.”
    “First of all, that ‘junk’ in my garage is important stuff, and I don’t want it cleaned out. And second, why couldn’t you just ask me