solemnly. âShe may be a little rusty. After all, being buried for eight years might do that to you.â
âStop making fun of me. If you hadnât worn me out last night, I wouldnât have been having weird dreams.â
âAs I recall, you had no complaints last night.â
She grinned back at him. âNot one.â She took another drink of coffee and then put her cup down. âGet out of here. Youâre going to be late.â
He checked his wristwatch. âYeah, Iâll pour the rest of my coffee into a to-go cup.â He got to his feet and headed for the cabinet. âI need the caffeine.â He gave her a sly glance as he took down the thermal cup. âYou kind of wore me out, too. Very aggressive.â
She had been aggressive. Sheâd felt a desperate desire for life affirmation last night and there was no stronger affirmation than love and sex. âI wanted you.â
âAnd I thank God for that.â He tightened the lid on the cup. âEvery day. Every minute. Come on. Walk me to the porch.â
The sun was coming up over the lake as she followed him out on the porch. Beautiful â¦
He gave her a quick kiss and started to run down the steps. âYouâll be working on that reconstruction today?â
She nodded. âThe sooner I get it done, the happier Nalchek will be, and the sooner heâll get out of my hair.â
âI looked him up while you were talking on the phone to him. John Nalchek isnât all that young, early thirties. He was in Afghanistan. Special Forces and he won a chestful of medals. When he came back, he worked for his grandfather in the vineyards for a while. Marcus Nalchek owned the vineyard and half the farmland in central California and was grooming his grandson to take over. But when his grandfather died, Nalchek ran for sheriff and won. His father had held the office before him and he must have grown up with a law-enforcement mind-set.â
âAnd a massive determination. You should have heard him trying to be polite to me when I wouldnât commit to start work last night on Jenny.â She called as he got into the driverâs seat, âHe said he felt she was calling to him.â
âAnd when he went to bed, did she tell him goodnight?â
âIâm going to hit you.â
âIâll look forward to it.â His eyes were twinkling as he started the car. âWe didnât go that route last night.â
Eve shook her head ruefully as she watched him drive down the road. He was impossible but he always made her smile when he made the effort. He was probably trying to distract her from thinking about how empty the cottage might be with Jane gone.
Distraction was good. Time to get to work.
She turned and went back into the cottage. Fix toast and orange juice then get to work on Jenny.
Or maybe just check to see if the cosmetic repair on the wound on Jennyâs temple was dry.
She moved over to the reconstruction and looked down at the skull.
Right as rain â¦
But there was nothing right about that wound that had taken a little girlâs life.
â But you were right, it didnât hurt. â
Eve stiffened. âWhat the hell?â The words had come out of nowhere.
â You said there was nothing right about it. If it didnât hurt, that was right, wasnât it? â
She drew a deep breath and gazed around warily. âNot in the big picture.â
â I donât know about big pictures. Iâm a little confused. â
âYouâre not the only one.â
Great. Last night Eve was talking to a skull. And now she was talking to herself?
Or was she? She looked down at the delicate bone structure of the skull. Poor child. But suddenly that skull didnât look as fragile to Eve as it had before. The bones were still delicate but they appeared stronger. It was as if she were changing before Eveâs eyes.
Delusions and