Six.
I see Clarissa Easterbrook in a pink silk sweater on Taylor's Ferry
Road, holding Griffey by his leash. A man in an ankle-length duster
and brown leather hat has stopped to pet the dog. The man asks if she
has seen the view of Mount Hood and begins to lead her to a crest
through a clearing in the trees.
He reaches his hand out behind him to guide her, but now it's my hand
he grasps. When he turns his head to smile down at my trusting face, I
recognize Tim O'Donnell. My expression changes from confusion to
shock, as I open my mouth to scream for help.
'Babe, wake up, what's wrong?'
My right elbow flew out instinctively, and Chuck bolted upright,
holding his ribs where I jabbed him.
'Oh, God, are you OK?'
'Yeah, I'm fine,' he said. 'You just took me by surprise.'
'I guess we fell asleep.'
'You fell asleep. I watched.'
'That's more than a little disturbing.'
'Tell me about it. Your hair's even worse than it was when we started;
you snore; and a spindle of drool was working its way from your lip to
the mattress.'
'I'm really going to hurt you this time,' I said, reaching over and
poking my fingers into his side.
With one swift move, he had my hands above my head. 'Stop it, I was
kidding. You weren't drooling, you don't snore, and your hair well,
you're cute as hell, Kincaid.' He gave me a kiss and let me go. 'I
woke you up because you looked like you were having another one of
those dreams. I've seen cops after a shooting, and it can take a long
time to get over.'
'I'm over it. Just one of those weird naked-in-front-of-the-classroom
dreams.'
'Was I there?'
'No, that'd be one of your dreams. I hate to kick you out of bed,
stud, but I really need to get a move on. I promised Dad that Vinnie
and I would come over for dinner tonight, and I can't show up with bed
head.'
'That poor impersonation of a dog over there is invited, but I'm
not?'
Vinnie was spread out like a bear rug in the hall, still looking
annoyed that he'd been locked out of the bedroom during playtime.
Vinnie's got bug eyes, bat ears, and a face that looks like it was
flattened by a steel plate. I couldn't tell if the snort he emitted
was in response to Chuck's comment or just one of his everyday
snorts.
'When your date's a French bulldog, you can talk about boring family
stuff without being rude,' I said.
'I don't mind if you talk about your boring family. I just want to be
fed.'
I did feel guilty running out on him, and Dad would enjoy seeing Chuck.
'Fine. But I need some time alone with Dad. Give me an hour's head
start, and we'll have dinner on the table right when you get there.'
The last thing I needed post-vacation was one of the bricks of beef my
father feeds me whenever he cooks, so I had e-mailed a list of
ingredients in the morning and promised to cook if he'd pick them up.
New to computers, he was still so impressed by the technology that he
didn't even complain about the menu.
'You look great,' I said, adjusting the collar on the blue shirt I'd
given him for his most recent birthday. He had complained that it was
too young for him, but it brought out the blue in his eyes and the
silver of his hair. 'You didn't have any problems printing out the
shopping list?'
'I've turned into a real computer whiz since you left.' I had helped
him hook up his Dell right before my trip. 'It's so easy I was even
thinking of telling Al to get one.'
Al Fontana is my dad's ninety-year-old neighbor and checker partner.
He's also a dirty old man.
'Dad, you put that man on the Internet, and he'll be dead in a month
from Viagra and porn.'
Point taken.
It wasn't long before Dad got to the heart of things. Apparently I
wasn't the only one who spent the day uncomfortable with where we left
things the night before. 'I know we talked about this, but I want to
