Berry listened to him position his own bag as close as possible to the couch. There was a rustle of material and the sound of a zipper. In a short time the room was filled with quiet, regular breathing. He was asleep. What nerve! She peeked over the side of the couch and watched him.
He was wickedly tasty-looking, and she had to admit, he really did bring out her voyeuristic tendencies. He also was beginning to bring out other tendencies-like maternal instincts, wifely musings, and lonely dissatisfactions. There was more to this than sex, Berry realized. True, there was an instant magnetism between them, but it would have died a quick death if she hadn’t liked him. He was kind. He was fun. He was brave.
She tapped his bare shoulder.
“Mmmm?”
“Jake, are you awake?”
“I am now.”
“Why do you want to make love with me?”
There was a soft groan. “You woke me up to ask me that?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know. I guess it’s like asking someone why they want to climb a mountain, and they say because it’s there.”
The instant he said it he knew it was wrong. What he meant to say was that she came into his life and it was love at first sight. And if not first sight, definitely
“Jeez Louise,” Berry said. “I’m just some mountain to conquer.”
“No! That’s not what I meant. You woke me up. I wasn’t thinking right.”
“Me either,” Berry said. “Criminy, I’m such a dope.” I actually was
Jake stared into the darkness. Gonna take some work to dig myself out of this one, he thought.
Berry awoke with a jolt and sat up in her sleeping bag.
Jake opened one eye and looked at Berry. “We have elephants upstairs? The circus come into town last night while I was asleep?”
“I think the ladies are up.”
Jake looked at his watch. “It’s five-twenty.”
The lights flashed on upstairs, and footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Jake groaned, crawled out of his sleeping bag, and stepped into the clothes he’d dropped on the floor the night before. He flipped the light switch, and Mrs. Fitz stood blinking at them.
She wore her new flannel nightgown and pink furry slippers, and her hair stood straight out from her head.
“Lord,” Jake whispered to Berry, “she looks like she’s been electrocuted.”
Berry bit her lip. “Something wrong, Mrs. Fitz?”
“I need tea.” And she shuffled off toward the kitchen.
Next, Mrs. Dugan stomped down the stairs, gave Berry and Jake a cursory glance, and huffed after Mrs. Fitz. There was a flurry of banging pots and clattering silverware from the kitchen. A few minutes later Miss Gaspich joined them.
“Where’s the tea bags?” Mrs. Fitz called. “I can’t find nothing in this kitchen.”
Jake grinned at Berry. “The ladies didn’t have a good night.”
He sauntered out to the kitchen, and soon soothing sounds drifted in to Berry. Jake was telling Mrs. Fitz how nice she looked in the morning… full of energy. Mrs. Dugan and Miss Gaspich were similarly pacified.
Berry joined the group, and a tablecloth was discovered and spread over the round oak table. A blue teapot appeared. Packing crates were drawn up to serve as chairs. Mrs. Fitz looked like she was beginning to come around, but Miss Gaspich looked like death. Her red-rimmed eyes sagged in her face, and her mouth crinkled into a small furrow in pasty cheeks.
“Miss Gaspich, do you feel all right?” Berry asked.
Miss Gaspich slumped against the table, staring glassy-eyed at her teacup. “Couldn’t sleep all night. Didn’t sleep a wink.”
Mrs. Fitz looked disgusted. “You snored all night, you old bat. And you hogged the pillow.”
Mrs. Dugan leaned across the table. “You! You were the one who hogged the pillow. Tossing and turning and complaining. Mildred was the perfect bed partner compared to you.”
Jake deposited a steaming mug of coffee in front of Berry. “Looks like we have a problem here.”
“Possible multiple homicides.”
“I think I’ll go out and get some beds today.”
He slouched over Berry, draping his bare arm across her collarbone, and whispered in her ear. “I only have four bedrooms. Guess that means two of us will have to double up.”
Mrs. Dugan glared at him. “I heard that. You men. You only have one thing on your mind. Sex. Sex. Sex.”
Mrs. Fitz winked at Jake. “Don’t pay no attention to her. She’s cranky because she’s always got sex on her mind, too, but she can’t remember what you’re supposed to do about it. Last man Mrs. Dugan knew was old Criswald, and he couldn’t remember what to do about it, either.”
Miss Gaspich giggled. Mrs. Dugan looked scandalized. And Mrs. Fitz looked like she was enjoying their reactions.
“I tell you what,” Mrs. Fitz said, smiling broadly. “How about when Jake goes out to get us some beds, he gets us some handsome men to go with them?”
Sarah Dugan pursed her lips. “That’s disgusting.”
“Yeah. But it made Mildred giggle. It’s bringing some color to her cheeks.”
Berry sipped at her coffee and thought she wouldn’t want to underestimate Mrs. Fitz. Her methods were a bit unorthodox for a little old lady but she knew how to rally the troops.
Jake finished his coffee. “It’s Saturday. What time does the Pizza Place open on Saturday?”
“Ten.”
“I guess we can get ourselves together by ten.”
“First breakfast,” Mrs. Dugan said.
Mrs. Fitz drained her cup of tea. “Then the laundry. If we don’t do the laundry we’ll have to work in our nighties.”
Jake set his cup on the table and lazily stretched behind Berry. “I’ll take a quick shower, and then we can check out the apartment.”
Berry was having a difficult time not bursting into tears. The apartment was even worse than she’d remembered. The soot was everywhere. It had infiltrated every drawer, it clung to the walls, and it blackened the windows.
Jake put his arms around Berry and rested his chin on the top of her head. “It could be worse. No one was hurt.”
“Yes, but everything is ruined.”
“Not everything.”
Berry looked down at the rug. “The rug is ruined.”
“Mmmm.” His voice rumbled in her ear.
Berry was having a difficult time concentrating on the rug. She was being distracted by his hands inching their way down her spine.
“And the couch is ruined,” she said.
“Mmmm. The couch.”
The hands squeezed her ever so slightly, and his thumbs massaged little circles into her back just above the waistband of her jeans.
“And… um.” She couldn’t think what else was ruined. It was right on the tip of her tongue, but she was being
