Dance Upon the Air Page 0,87

began shoving Nell toward the door. "Go! Get."

"You need to toss the salad just before-"

"Yes, yes. Go!"

Nell clutched her new sweater as Lulu slammed the door in her face.

"Serving," she finished and chuckled all the way to the car.

The minute she got home she stripped off her sweatshirt and slid into the magnificent sweater. Unable to get a satisfactory view from top to bottom, she dragged a chair in front of the mirror and stood on it.

There'd been a time when she'd had dozens of sweaters-cashmere, silk, the softest cottons, the thinnest wools. None of them brought her the sheer joy of this one, handmade by a friend.

Or close enough to a friend, she thought. And payment for a job well done.

She took it off again, folded it lovingly in a drawer.

She would wear it to work on Monday. For now the sweatshirt was a better choice. She had messy work to do.

Her trio of pumpkins waited on a bed of newspapers on her kitchen table. She'd already used a portion of the largest for Lulu's dessert. It only waited to be carved into the appropriate design.

She would make pumpkin bread, she thought, as she began on the second. And pie, cookies. The hulls would serve as decorations on her front porch. Big, fat, scary pumpkins to entertain the neighbors and children.

She was up to her elbows in pumpkin meat and seeds when Zack strolled in the door. "I get to do the third one." He came up behind her, wrapping his arms tight, nuzzling her neck. "I'm a jack-o'-lantern master."

"The things you learn about people."

"Want me to dump the guts for you?"

"Dump them? How would I make a pie?"

"With a can." His brow furrowed as he watched her slide chunks of pumpkin into a large bowl. "You mean you actually use that stuff?"

"Of course. Where do you think they get the stuff in the cans?"

"I never thought about it. Pumpkin factory." He picked up the knife to start on the third while Nell washed her hands.

"You've obviously led a very sheltered life, Sheriff Todd."

"If that's so, I can't think of anyone I'd rather have corrupt me. How about when we finish this, we take a drive to the windward side, sit in my cruiser and break a few laws."

"Love to." She came back with a Magic Marker and began to draw a hideous face on the first pumpkin. "Everything quiet in the village?"

"It tends to be on Sundays this time of year. Did you get Lulu all set?"

"I did. I didn't realize she'd been married once."

"Long time ago. Some drifter who worked on the docks for a bit, I'm told. Seems to me I heard it didn't last six months. I guess it soured her on men, because I've never known her to take up with one since."

"She worked for Mia's grandmother, then her mother."

"That's right. Lu's kept the reins on Mia as long as I can remember. In fact, thinking about it, Lu's the only one Mia's let hold the reins for very long. Mia had a thing going with Sam Logan-his family owns the hotel. It didn't work out, and he left the island, Jesus, it's been ten years, maybe more."

"Oh, I see." Sam Logan, Nell thought. The man Mia had loved once.

"Sam and I hung out together some, back when we were younger," Zack went on as he hollowed out the pumpkin. "We've lost touch. But I remember that when Sam and Mia were seeing each other, Lulu watched him like a hawk."

He grinned, remembering it, then pulled the knife out of the heart of the pumpkin.

Nell saw it gleam in the overhead light, she saw it drip. She saw, as a rushing wind filled her head, the blood that stained his shirt, his hands, and pooled like a red river on the floor at his feet.

She made no sound at all as she slid bonelessly from the chair.

***

"Hey, hey, hey. Come on, Nell, come on back now."

His voice was dim, as if they were both underwater. Something cool slid over her face. She seemed to rise from fathoms deep, slowly toward the surface. As her eyes opened, she saw a white mist that rolled away, layer by gauzy layer, until she saw his face.

"Zack!" In terror, she grabbed at him, yanking his shirt to check for wounds. Her fingers felt fat and fumbling.

"Hold on." He might have laughed at the way she pulled at his buttons if her face hadn't been deathly white. "Lie back