Ghost Town Page 0,92

were a little cold, but she savored every bite. It tasted like normal life, and she needed every bit of that she could get. They cleaned up afterward, and Shane decided that he'd better wash the dishes, because it was Eve's turn and she wasn't going to remember anyway, even if by some miracle she found her way back here. And that felt good, too.

It felt like being in control, at least of the kitchen.

Claire called her mom, who talked about the tests they were running on her dad, and how they planned surgery to fix the valve in his heart, and how he was doing so well, really, all things considered. Claire said very little, because she was afraid she'd just start crying hysterically if she did. Mom didn't seem to notice; her focus was on Dad, of course. And that was okay.

The last thing her mother said to her was, "I love you so much, honey. Be safe. And call me tomorrow."

"I will," Claire whispered. "Love you, too, Mom."

She hung up before her voice could tremble, and saw Shane watching her with a kind of warm understanding in his face.

"That was hard, huh?" he asked, and put an arm around her. "Your dad's okay?"

"Doing better than they expected," Claire said, and took in a deep breath. "Unlike us, I guess."

"Hey, don't count us out yet."

"I don't," Claire said. "But it's bad, Shane. I feel like we're really alone this time. Just the two of us."

He hugged her closer. "And that's not all terrible. Tomorrow we're going to get this handled, all right? You're too shaky right now, and going out in the dark isn't a fabulous plan. We'll fight monsters in the morning."

The Morganville TV station was showing reruns of shows from three years ago. Shane put in a movie, and they talked some about . . . well, nothing, really, and kissed and stayed together until finally there was nothing to do but go to bed.

Shane walked her to her bedroom door, and before he could say anything, she said, "Stay, okay? I want you with me." He just nodded, and she saw relief on his face. He'd been going to ask, anyway.

They got undressed--mostly--in silence, and slipped under the blankets to hold each other. Claire was too worried and scared to want to do anything else, and she thought he felt the same, really; it was more holding on for comfort right now. And that was good. That was really good.

"I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow," Claire said finally, into the dark. Shane's arms tightened around her, pulling her closer against his chest.

"Tomorrow, we're going to find out who can still fight, and get down there and pin Myrnin down and fix this," he said. "I swear. We're going to make this work."

"The two of us." "Yeah, the two of us, and whoever's left who's not bug-eyed crazy." He kissed the back of her neck, very gently. "It's going to be okay. Sleep."

And she did, warm in his embrace, and dreamed of silver rain.

Chapter Thirteen

THIRTEEN

Claire woke with the sun in her eyes, again, and for a precious, sweet second she just savored the warmth of it on her body, and the fact that Shane was still curled up against her back, one heavy arm around her waist. Then, regretfully, she turned over to face him. "Hey," she said. "Wake up, sleepyhead; we overslept."

Shane mumbled something and tried to put a pillow over his head. She pulled it off. "Come on; get up; we've got things to do!"

"Go 'way, Lyss," he moaned, and opened his eyes, blinked, and finally focused on her.

And then he completely, totally freaked out.

He actually flailed around, got caught in the covers, and, when he tried to get free, fell out of bed onto the floor. Claire laughed and leaned over the side, looking down at him. "Hey, are you . . . okay . . . ?"

The words died in her mouth, because he was still freaking. He writhed around in the covers, grabbed a blanket, and wrapped it around his body as he climbed to his bare feet, backing away from the bed.

And her.

He held out the hand that wasn't holding up the blanket, palm out. "Okay," he said. "Okay, think, Collins, think--yeah, okay, this is awkward, and I'm really sorry, because I'm sure you're really--Oh, man. What the hell did I do? Was there drinking? There must have been drinking."

"Shane?" Claire still had a sheet, and