Theo didn't tell her she was paranoid, and he didn't laugh. Unfortunately, his expression on the way to her house wasn't giving her any hints as to what was going through his mind.
'Is that it?' he asked, nodding at the house on the curve of the road.
'Yes,' she said, temporarily distracted. 'I have the only house on the entire block.'
He grinned. 'FYL Your house is on a dirt road, not a block.'
'By Bowen's standards, this is a block.'
The setting was incredibly beautiful. There were at least a dozen big trees surrounding her lot. The wood- framed house had a wide columned porch and three dormers jutting from the roof. There was water about a hundred yards beyond. As he pulled
into the drive, he could see more trees growing crookedly out of the bayou.
'Do you get many snakes around here?'
'Some.'
'In the house?'
'No.'
He sighed with relief. 'I hate snakes.'
'I don't know too many people who like them.'
He nodded and then followed her up the sidewalk to the front steps. Michelle had a thing for flowers, he noticed. There were flowers in the window planters on either side of the door and more around the porch in big clay pots with ivy spilling over.
She unlocked the front door and led the way inside. Theo put his bag down in the entry next to an old chest and glanced around. By all appearances the house had been painstakingly restored. The hardwood floors and moldings were beautifully finished to a soft luster, and the walls were painted a pale buttery yellow. Theo detected the aroma of fresh varnish. He propped his fishing pole against a wall and closed the door behind him. When he locked the deadbolt, he saw how flimsy it was. He opened the door again, squatted down, and examined the lock closely, looking for signs of tampering. There weren't any visible scratches, but she needed to replace it very soon.
He stepped into the foyer. To the left was a small dining room furnished with dark mahogany table and chairs and a beautifully crafted sideboard on the wall facing the windows. The color was in the rug. It was a deep, bright red with splashes of yellow and black.
To the right of the entrance was the living room. An overstuffed beige sofa faced two easy chairs in front of the stone hearth. A trunk sat on another colorful rug in front of the sofa, and on top of the makeshift coffee table were stacks of books. At the back of the living room were French doors, and he could see the desk beyond.
'The house is really a big square,' she said. 'You can walk from the dining room into the kitchen and breakfast room, cross the back hall into my office, and then walk through those French doors into the living room. There aren't any dead ends in this house and I like that.'
'Where are the bedrooms?'
'The stairs are in the back hallway next to the laundry, and I've got two bedrooms upstairs. They're big, but the floors and the walls still need to be refinished. I'm taking it a room at a time. We'll have to share the bathroom if you don't mind,' she added.
'Or you can use the bath on this floor, but there's a washer and dryer in there. When I'm finished remodeling, there will be two separate rooms.'
Michelle's house was furnished simply, yet everything was tasteful and uncluttered, a reflection, he decided, of the woman who lived there.
'Is that a Maitland-Smith?' he asked as he walked into the dining room to get a closer look at the table.
'You know furniture manufacturers?'
'Yeah, I do,' he said. 'I appreciate fine workmanship. So is it?'
'No, it isn't a Maitland-Smith. It's a John Paul.'
He didn't recognize the name for a second or two; then he realized she was telling him her brother had made the furniture.
'No way your brother did this.'
'Yes, he did.'
'Michelle, this is a work of art.'
He gently stroked the tabletop as though it were a baby's forehead. Michelle watched him, pleased that he appreciated her brother's work.
The mahogany wood felt as smooth as polished marble. 'Incredible,' Theo whispered. 'Look at these great lines.'
He squatted down to look underneath. The legs were ornately carved, and the scrollwork was amazing. It was perfect. Every line was perfect.
'Who taught him how to do this?'
'He's self-taught.'
'No way.'
She laughed. 'My brother's a perfectionist in some things. He's certainly talented, isn't he?'
Theo wasn't finished examining the set. He stood and picked up one of the chairs. Then he turned it upside down and whistled. 'Not a nail or screw in sight. Man, oh, man, what I would give to be able to do work like this. With the right care, this chair will last for centuries.'
'You do carpentry?' She didn't know why, but the thought of Theo doing anything manual surprised her. It seemed contradictory to what she knew about him.
He glanced at her and saw her surprise. 'What?'
'You don't seem the type to work with your hands.'
'Yeah? What type do I seem?'
She shrugged. 'Wall Street… custom-made suits… servants. You know, big-city boy.'
He raised an eyebrow. 'You're wrong. I do some of my best work with my hands.' Flashing her a grin, he added, 'Want some references?'
The sexual innuendo wasn't lost on her. 'Do I have to lock my bedroom door tonight?'
His expression immediately sombered. 'No, I would never intrude on your privacy. Besides…'
'Yes?'
He winked at her. 'If I play my cards right, you'll come to me.'
'Are you this brazen with all the women you meet, Mr. Buchanan?'
He laughed. 'I don't know what it is, Michelle. You seem to bring out the devil in me.'
She rolled her eyes.
'Honest,' he said, 'I really do like working with my hands. I like building things… or at least I used to. I'll admit, I'm not any
good yet.'
'What have you made?'
'My last project was a two-story birdhouse. I built it four years ago, but it was a failure. The birds won't go near it. I'm starving, Michelle. How about I take you out to dinner.'
'I'd rather stay in tonight,' she said. 'If that's all right with you. You are my houseguest…'
'Like it or not?'
'Actually, it's kind of nice, having a Justice Department attorney under my roof. Maybe you'll keep the wolves at bay.'
'You're still going to lock your bedroom door, though, aren't you?'
It was strange to banter with a good-looking man. And fun, Michelle thought. There really hadn't been much time for any of
that while she was in medical school, and then residency, where all she could think about was getting a nap. Banter was
definitely not part of her curriculum.
'The truth is I don't have a lock on my door,' she told him. 'Come with me. I'll show you where you'll be sleeping, and you can change clothes while I rummage through the refrigerator.'
Theo grabbed his bag and followed her through the dining room into the kitchen. It was a bright, cheerful,
