'Almost,' I said. 'I also have to do some recruiting.'
'Locally?'
'Some.'
'Out of town?'
'Some.'
'May I join you?'
'It would be my pleasure,' I said.
'I know,' Susan said.
She rolled over and put her arms around me vice versa, and we lay still for a few moments.
'What about your patients?' I said.
'It's August,' she said. 'Shrinks are closed in August.'
'Of course,' I said.
'But Pearl could be a problem,' she said.
'Lee Farrell will take care of her,' I said.
'Will he stay with her at home?'
'Yes.'
'Will he try on my clothes while we're gone?'
'He might.'
'Are we getting up now?' I said.
'Yes,' Susan said.
'Here I go.' We lay still.
'I'm hungry,' Susan said.
'Me too.'
'Lucky we're at your house, not mine,' she said.
'Unless we were dying for a bowl of Cheerios,' I said.
'I think there's Romaine lettuce, too,' Susan said.
Neither of us moved. Susan rubbed her cheek against my chest. Pearl made a grumbling kind of sigh. She might have been snoring. There were no lights on in the room, and the lavender light had faded to black in the evening sky so that it was hard to see Susan. I propped myself up a little with the arm I had around her and turned on the bedside light and looked her.
'Are you staring at my nude bod?' Susan said.
'I certainly am,' I said.
'Jewesses, no matter how seductive and comely, do not like to be seen naked in a bright light.'
'I'll squint,' I said.
We were quiet for a minute.
'How's it looking?' she said.
'I could tell you better if I weren't squinting.'
'Well, just to answer my question, open wide.'
I studied her for a moment.
'It appears to be everything a body should be,' I said. 'Including naked.'
Susan looked a little embarrassed, as if even the word naked discomfited her.
'I'm cold,' she said, and yanked the sheet up over herself. 'What's for eats?'
'I could make pasta with clam sauce if I use canned clams,' I said.
'That sounds nice.'
'I could add peas, if I use frozen ones.'
'I'll get up if you will,' she said.
I took in a deep breath and slid my arm out from under her shoulders and swung my legs off the bed and stood up. Susan looked at me with only her eyes and forehead showing above the sheet. Then she giggled and pulled the sheet away and flashed me.
'Something to think about,', she said, 'while you're cooking.'
Chapter 17
I BEGAN WITH Hawk.
