later.
Marley had a feeling. Not just any ordinary feeling, but a strong compulsion to spend time alone with the red chinoiserie house. Each time she touched it, she held her breath, expecting the Ushers to tune up and for the portal to appear. But she did not have to enter that portal until she made the decision she wanted to and this morning she wouldn’t go anywhere until she answered some of her own questions.
Gray had seen the Mentor. They had talked. Family loyalty pushed her toward telling Uncle Pascal and the others, but she had to be sure Gray hadn’t imagined—or misunderstood—the whole thing.
Just the idea that the mystery they had always lived with might actually be solved made her jumpy with excitement. What would it mean to them all if the Mentor became an active part of their lives?
“Sidney wouldn’t have to know I was there,” Gray said.
“You don’t give up, do you?” she said. “I’d know if you were there even if I couldn’t see you.”
He slammed a fist on the wheel and Marley jumped. And like a naughty boy, he grinned at her. “Got your attention.
She glowered at him.
“Wouldn’t you?” He looked a little less full of himself.
Marley crossed her arms and let him suffer until she felt sorry for him. Then she said, “Yes, I would. You’re developing like a racehorse with the finish line in sight. Pretty soon you’ll pick out the real thing from the wannabes yourself. And don’t start swaggering around every fortune-teller and tarot reader’s pad accusing them of fraud because most of them are genuine.”
“You’re kidding. Fringed tablecloths and chintzy psychedelic wall hangings? Bead curtains? It’s all a rip- off.”
“It’s not,” Marley said. “And you’re making me angry.”
“Ooh, I’m so scared,” he said in a high voice.
Marley glanced at his big, capable hands, narrowed her eyes, but couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from twitching. She constricted her concentration to one of his knuckles and stared.
“Ouch!” Gray shook his hand in the air and put the knuckle between his lips.”
“What’s the matter?” Marley asked.
“Ouch,” he repeated. “Something stung me.”
She sank into her seat. “Sorry.” And she was. She had supposedly grown out of childish tricks years ago.
Gray glanced at her, but she didn’t meet his eyes. “Did you do that to me?” he said.
She shrugged.
“You did. That was mean.”
“It was. I’m sorry, but you made fun of me. It was only a little pinch, anyway.”
Gray smiled and shook his head. “I forgive you. But I’m going to be careful to tiptoe around you in future.”
“No you won’t. You’ll forget and do it again.” She tipped up her nose. “But I don’t care. I’ll rise above it next time.”
“I’m coming with you,” Gray said.
“No, you’re not. Nat’s waiting for you.” Nat had called Gray back just as they were leaving the cottage.
“Let him wait.”
Marley turned in her seat and rested her face on his shoulder. “There are a lot of things I need to tell you, but they’ll have to come out slow.”
“I’m trying to cope with that, but you’ve got to promise me something right now.”
Winnie yawned in the backseat. She lay with all four feet in the air and didn’t as much as flicker her eyelids when they went over a bump or made a sudden stop.
“Pay attention,” Gray said. “Please—note how polite I’m being—
She bowed her head so he couldn’t see her smile.
“Will you listen to me?” he said. “I’m asking a woman not to leave her body. This is what you’ve reduced me to. Say it. You won’t leave your body while I’m away.”
She didn’t intend to, but what if something unexpected came up and she had to make a snap decision?
“No promise from you means Gray’s not going anywhere. I’ll stick to you, lady.”
Marley breathed in loudly through her nose. “Okay, I promise.”
“Let me see your hands,” he said and when she showed them, he said, “Now say it again.”
“Why?”
“You might have had your fingers crossed.”
She burst out laughing. “Well, I didn’t. But to repeat, I promise to remain in my body at least until I see the whites of your eyes again. Now stop here. If Pascal’s in the shop and sees the car he’ll want you to come in.”
Gray frowned. “Why would he?”
“Because Sister Willow has a big mouth and a cell phone—and Uncle will want to start the interrogation.”
“Interrogation?” He pulled up to the curb on Royal Street while Marley chastised her own loose tongue.
“Later,” she said, and hopped out. “Stay where you are. No need for both of us to get sodden.”
“When you see Willow, tell her I think that’s some rig she’s got,” Gray said. “The green-and-white scooter with the little trailer on the back. Pretty hard to miss.”
“That’s the idea.”
She hauled Winnie out and set her down on the sidewalk where water ran in mini-eddies. “Poor baby,” Marley said. “Stuffed into that nasty old trailer.” Winnie whined and danced to keep her feet as dry as possible.
Marley bent down and looked toward Gray, who turned in the driver’s seat. “See you,” she said. “Be careful.”
“See you,” he echoed. “I care about you.”
She couldn’t move for an instant. They stared at each other, unsmiling.
“Go,” Gray said. “You’re getting soaked.”
She slammed the door and ran with Winnie to the shop and inside the front door.
He did care about her, Gray thought, turning off the windshield wipers and making the car a private place to consider what had just happened. No declarations of love, no kisses, but when he told her he cared he might as well have told her he loved her. He did. For the first and only time in his life he knew how it felt to love a woman.
The car had already been at the curb longer than was allowed. He turned the wipers on again and looked in the wing mirror before starting to pull away.
Straight ahead, a woman in wet jeans and a sweatshirt darted toward J. Clive Millet Antiques. In front of one window, she stopped and peered through the glass. She put a hand above her eyes to shield them.
She took a few steps toward the door, then backed away. Quickly, she turned and he thought she would run away, but she skidded to a halt and returned, to look through the other window this time.
“Well, hell,” Gray said under his breath. He turned off the car and got out. There would be a ticket, but so what?
Unfortunately he didn’t get close enough to grab Pipes Dupuis before she saw him and started really running. She flung her arms out and cannoned off people she passed. This woman wasn’t a natural runner.
He caught up with her just after she turned onto Conti Street. A truck passed, sending up a rooster tail of water that soaked them both from head to foot and he took advantage of her confusion to push her through an open gate leading to a passageway behind a hotel.
“Let me go,” she said, hardly able to get the words out. “Please. I’ve got to go.”
“You wanted to go into Millet’s Antiques. Why?”
“I was just looking in the window.” She panted and shook.
Gray didn’t like making her more frightened than she already was. “Calm down, Pipes. I’m not going to hurt you. I’ll help you if I can. Tell me what I can do.”
She leaned to see around him, then looked behind her. “You just go out the way we came in,” she said. “I’ll
