The Grand Finale Read Online Free PDF

somewhere. Just put it back together.”
    “Put it back together? Berry, this isn’t a fruitcake we’re talking about. This was an exquisitely tuned, handcrafted piece of machinery. This was a part of history.” Jake stopped pacing and plunged his hands into his pockets. “Anyway, this was my Gunk car. It was special,” he added quietly.
    Berry was beginning to understand why he loved the flashy car so much. He’d given himself a present. It wasn’t just a car, it represented a new life. No more fluorescent lights. No moreboring glue. She thought maybe squandering all his money on a house and a car had been an act of confidence for Jake Sawyer. It was a way of saying, It’s okay to spend all the Gunk money, because I’m going to be a success at my new career. I’m going to make a lot more money. And now he’d lost his Gunk car, and maybe he was a little afraid he’d never be able to replace it.
    Jake turned to the officer. “Do you know who did this?”
    “We’ll ask around. Sometimes we get lucky and come up with a name.”
    Jake stared morosely at his car. “This is damn depressing.”
    Berry linked her arm through his and narrowed her eyes in mock annoyance. “This will never do, Sawyer,” she said. “You’re an inventor. You’re supposed to be happy.”
    “Yeah, but this sad hunk of scrap metal was my toy.”
    “Don’t you have any other toys?”
    He shook his head. “I’m really a very dull person. Work, work, work.”
    “That was back in your glue days. Now you’re an inventor. Now it’s play, play, play.”
    He studied her for a moment. She was trying to cheer him up. And she was doing a halfway okay job of it.
    “Are you sure you didn’t see me naked?” he asked her.
     
    Berry opened one eye and grimaced. Six o’clock in the morning and Mrs. Fitz was making tea.
    “Mrs. Fitz, don’t you ever sleep?” Berry asked.
    “Old people don’t need so much sleep. Anyway, it isn’t any fun sleeping with those two. They snore.” Mrs. Fitz added a dollop of honey to her tea. “Now, if I had a man in my bed, well, that’d be something different.”
    Berry straightened her flannel nightie and swung her legs over the side of the couch. The large front room of her apartment served as living room, dining room, and efficiency kitchen. The other smaller room, her bedroom, had been turned into a dormitory for the ladies. She liked the ladies and enjoyed their company, but she dearly missed the comfort of her nice, big bed. She rubbed a sore spot on her back and slid her feet into a pair of slippers that looked like raccoons.
    “Maybe you should remarry,” Berry said. “Have you ever thought about finding a husband?”
    “I’ve been looking around, but I haven’t seen anything I like yet. Now if I was younger I’d go for that Jake Sawyer.”
    Berry filled the coffeemaker with water, added a couple scoops of coffee, and punched the go button. She had an economics quiz later that morning that she’d totally forgotten about. Twenty-four hours of Jake Sawyer and already she was neglecting her studies. She opened the refrigerator and rattled a bunch of jars around.
    “What are you looking for?” Mrs. Fitz asked.
    “My coffee mug.”
    “Lordy, child, you aren’t going to find it in there.”
    “Oh, yeah.”
    Damn, she thought, this is what a sleepless night does to you. How could anyone get to sleep with visions of Jake Sawyer dancing in her head? Jake Sawyer in his one-of-a-kind car. Jake Sawyer in her kitchen. Jake Sawyer in his underwear. And she could swear he seemed disappointed that she hadn’t seen him naked.The man was downright disturbing. She found her coffee mug and filled it with prune juice.
    Mrs. Fitz raised her eyebrows. “I hope you’re planning on staying close to home today. That’s a lot of prune juice.”
    Berry peered into her mug and wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. What is this?”
    Mrs. Fitz rolled her eyes, dumped the juice down the drain, and rinsed out Berry’s