'It's out of your hair, but I think you might have a permanent blue stain down the back of your neck. You're not going to believe this,' Morelli said, 'but I'm too tired for sex. I'm beat. I'm not even forty and you've turned me into a burnout. I'm standing here, looking at you naked in the shower, and nothing's happening.'
The soap slid from my fingers, I bent to retrieve it and Morelli changed his mind on the burnout.
'Move over,' Morelli said, peeling his clothes off. 'I can see you need help here.'
I woke up feeling great. I opened my eyes and I knew it was over. No more red roses and white carnations. The sun was shining. Birds were chirping. Albert Kloughn didn't explode with the bomb. Morelli was beside me, still sleeping. Life was good. Okay, so I was slightly homeless and I had a blue stain down the back of my neck. Ranger was still at large, waiting to get even for the Apusenja event, but that was in the future. It could be worse. Eventually I'd get my apartment back. And in the meantime I was with Morelli. Who knows, maybe I'll just stay here. Then again…
The doorbell rang. I propped myself up on an elbow and looked at the bedside clock. Eight-thirty.
Joe put his hands to his face and groaned. 'Was that the doorbell?'
I got out of bed and went to the window. Joe's mother and Grandmother Bella were on the front porch. They looked up at me and smiled.
Shit.
'It's your mom and Bella,' I said. 'You'd better go see what they want.'
'I can't go,' Joe said. 'My mother would fall off the porch if she saw me like this.'
I looked under the sheet. He was right. His mother would fall off the porch. 'Fine!' I said, rolling my eyes. 'I'll go. But you'd better throw some cold water on yourself and come down and rescue me.'
I wrapped a robe around myself and ran a hand through my hair on the way down the stairs. I opened the door and tried my best to smile, but my mouth only partly cooperated.
'Coffee cake,' Joe's mother said, handing me the bakery bag. 'Fresh-made today. And Bella has something to tell you.' Joe's mother elbowed Bella.
'It's about the vision,' Bella said. 'I was wrong about the dead blond wife and the babies. It wasn't Joseph in the vision. It was Bobby Bartalucci.'
'That's a relief,' I said. 'But poor Mrs. Bartalucci.'
'I could have been wrong about the dead part, too,' Bella said. 'Maybe she was just sleeping.'
I heard Morelli on the stairs behind me. Felt his hand rest on my shoulder. 'Morning,' he said to his mother and grandmother.
'And one more thing,' Bella said to me. 'It's about your car. It's going to be blown up. Kaboom. There's going to be nothing left of it, but don't worry, you won't be in it. I had a vision.'
Bella and Joe's mom drove away and Joe and I stood in the open doorway, staring at my car.
'Something to look forward to,' Joe said. And then he kissed me and took the bakery bag into the kitchen.
