Local Hero Read Online Free PDF Page B

Mitch inside. “I wanted to come down and see you, but Mom said no ’cause you’d be working or something.”
    “Or something,” Mitch muttered. “Look, it’s okay with me if you come over. Anytime.”
    “Really?”
    “Really.” The kid was irresistible, Mitch thought as he ruffled the boy’s hair. Too bad his mother wasn’t as friendly. “I thought you might like this.” Mitch handed him the rolled sketch.
    “Oh, wow.” Awestruck, reverent, Radley stared at the drawing. “Jeez, Commander Zark and the
Second Millennium
. Can I have it, really? To keep?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I gotta show Mom.” Radley turned and dashed toward the bedroom as Hester came out. “Look what Mitch gave me. Isn’t it great? He said I could keep it and everything.”
    “It’s terrific.” She put a hand on Radley’s shoulder as she studied the sketch. The man was certainly talented, Hester decided. Even if he had chosen such an odd way to show it. Her hand remained on Radley’s shoulder as she looked over at Mitch. “That was very nice of you.”
    He liked the way she looked in the pastel sweats, casual, approachable, if not completely relaxed. Her hair was down too, with the ends just sweeping short of her shoulders. Parted softly on the side and unpinned, it gave her a completely different look.
    “I wanted to thank Rad.” Mitch forced himself to look away from her face, then smiled at the boy. “You helped me through a block last weekend.”
    “I did?” Radley’s eyes widened. “Honest?”
    “Honest. I was stuck, spinning wheels. After I talked to you that night, I went down and everything fell into place. I appreciate it.”
    “Wow, you’re welcome. You could stay for dinner again. We’re just having Chinese chicken, and maybe I could help you some more. It’s okay, isn’t it, Mom? Isn’t it?”
    Trapped again. And again she caught the gleam of amusement in Mitch’s eyes. “Of course.”
    “Great. I want to go hang this up right away. Can I call Josh, too, and tell him about it? He won’t believe it.”
    “Sure.” She barely had time to run a hand over his hair before he was off and running.
    “Thanks, Mitch.” Radley paused at the turn of the hallway. “Thanks a lot.”
    Hester found the deep side pockets in her sweats and slipped her hands inside. There was absolutely no reason for the man to make her nervous. So why did he? “That was really very kind of you.”
    “Maybe, but I haven’t done anything that’s made me feel that good in a long time.” He wasn’t completely at ease himself, Mitch discovered, and he tucked his thumbs into the back pockets of his jeans. “You work fast,” he commented as he glanced around the living room.
    The boxes were gone. Bright, vivid prints hung on the walls and a vase of flowers, fresh as morning, sat near the window, where sheer curtains filtered the light. Pillows were plumped, furniture gleamed. The only signs of confusion were a miniature car wreck and a few plastic men scattered on the carpet. He was glad to see them. It meant she wasn’t the type who expected the boy to play only in his room.
    “Dali?” He walked over to a lithograph hung over the sofa.
    She caught her bottom lip between her teeth as Mitch studied one of her rare extravagances. “I bought that in a little shop on Fifth that’s always going out of business.”
    “Yeah, I know the one. It didn’t take you long to put things together here.”
    “I wanted everything back to normal as soon as possible. The move wasn’t easy for Radley.”
    “And you?” He turned then, catching her off guard with the sudden sharp look.
    “Me? I—ah . . .”
    “You know,” he began as he crossed over to her, attracted by her simple bafflement. “You’re a lot more articulate when you talk about Rad than you are when you talk about Hester.”
    She stepped back quickly, aware that he would have touched her and totally unsure what her reaction might have been. “I should start