to the next. Then she covered her mouth with one hand and began silently to cry.
I took two quick steps, gathered her into my arms. Her shoulders felt sharp and thin, made of glass. She pressed hard against me. I held her more tightly. At first she wept noiselessly; then came great wracking sobs that shook her again and again. I rocked her, smoothed her hair, whispered useless, meaningless words as the storm pounded and battered her.
Finally, like other storms, it ended. I held her as long as she wanted, after the sobbing stopped, until she softened, pulled away. She turned without looking at me, stepped out of the circle of canvases, walked to the bathroom under the stairs. The door closed and the water ran for a long, long time.
I felt a pressure against my leg. I looked down to see Leo sitting, looking up. He whined, lifted a paw anxiously. I crouched, scratched his ears. 'It's okay, boy,' I told him. 'It's okay.'
When Eve came out her eyes were pink-rimmed, her lined face pale. She hesitated outside the circle I still stood within, then stepped to my side. 'Will you help me?' she asked.
We repacked the crate, each canvas facedown, and we tightened the cover. We carried the crate together out the back door, around into the storeroom, which had a new, heavy padlock and hasp. My eyebrows lifted at our destination; Eve saw that and shrugged. She gave me a small, tired smile. 'It's where they go,' she said.
We went back inside. Eve poured coffee, asked me to put some music on. 'If you'd like,' she added. I found Haydn, string quartets. Eve sliced a pound cake, brought me a piece. It was warm, rich, with a brown sugar glaze. She sipped her coffee, and the music calmed the air.
After a while I said, 'They're beautiful, you know.'
She shook her head.
'You'll probably never see it,' I said. 'But they are.'
There was more music, more peace. She asked, 'Bill, where were they?'
I looked into my coffee, watched the deep blackness release steam, which wandered out of the mug, lost itself in the open air. 'They were at Tony's, in the basement,' I said. At the look in her eyes, I added, 'Tony didn't know.'
She held my eyes with hers, searched my face. I couldn't tell what she found, but finally she nodded, released me.
I left soon after. Leo ran excited circles around us on the driveway as Eve and I walked the short distance to where she'd put my car. It was very cold now, as day edged reluctantly into night. Thick clouds rode the wind. Eve asked, 'Will you go back to the city soon?'
'Lydia will be able to leave the hospital in a day or two,' I said. 'I'll wait and take her home.'
She was silent again. The wind gusted icily; there seemed nothing more to say. I opened the car door. 'When you come back,' she said suddenly, 'will you come see me?'
'It might be a long time, Eve.'
She took my hand. In the depths of her eyes I thought I saw the jewels sparkle, but I couldn't be sure. She said, 'I'll be here.'
I held her close again, this time briefly. Then we separated. I slipped into my car, started it up, began to move slowly down the drive, away from the house. My headlights caught the trunks of the chestnut trees; I heard Eve, behind me, calling Leo.
I drove back south through a fast-fading twilight. I passed Antonelli's, lit now, cars on the gravel, the tin sign dancing in the gusting wind. Fallen leaves skidded ahead of me across the blacktop as the wind changed direction. My lights picked out what was in front of me; everything else was hidden.
By the time I reached the road down to my cabin, it had started to snow.
