Joker's Wild by Sandra Chastain Page A

school and kissed her good-bye at the door.
    When she’d awakened earlier, she’d felt better than she had in a year. For the longest time she’d waited for the sound of Joker’s footsteps. But the house had been silent. Finally she’d realized that she was alone—totally alone—and she’d missed her red giant. She’d lounged around all morning waiting for Joker to return.
    Days before she’d demanded that he leave, and he’d ignored her request. Then he’d gone, and the house had become a tomb, until the phone had rung, and the angry voice had demanded to know where Joker was hiding out. She’d imagined terrible things. Suppose he didn’t come back? She really would be alone.
    As the hours dragged by she became restless. Finally, she’d folded herself back into the small red car she’d spent her first paycheck on and driven to the nursing home. She’d even managed to get into Gran’s room and settle into a chair before Gran woke from her nap. Gran was glad to see her, but she hadn’t fooled Allison for long. After several glances around the room, Allison had answered her unasked question.
    “Joker isn’t here, Gran. He had some business to take care of today. Did he tell you that he was building a room on the house off the dining area?”
    “Yes … sun room will be … nice.”
    “You approve?” Allison tried to keep the sound of dismay from her voice.
    “Yes. Joker knows best.”
    She wanted to ask her grandmother why she sold the house, but she took one look at her and knew she couldn’t. Asking about money was totally out of the question. She settled instead for questioning her on Joker’s rebuilding plans.
    “Gran, you like Joker, don’t you?”
    “Yes … good person. You?”
    “Yes,” Allison admitted, “but, do you think it’s a good idea to let Joker spend his money on me? I mean, well, he didn’t even discuss it with me. Hejust cut a gaping hole in the wall and went to work. Is he always so stubborn?”
    Lenice Josey’s eyes lit up. She nodded her head and managed a half smile. “Always … if he loves you.”
    “Loves me? Don’t be silly. He’s a man who loves dirt and rain and moonlight. He probably loves worms and insects too. If he doesn’t, well, he’ll just blink his eyes and they won’t be there.”
    “Yes. Joker’s … special man.”
    When one of the staff members came to change Gran’s bed, Allison managed to slip out the door without calling attention to her crutches. She planned to call back later and make an appointment to discuss Gran’s condition with her doctor. She couldn’t leave everything up to a stranger, even if the stranger was a special man.
    And Joker was a special man. Ever since she’d stepped into that gazebo, her world had changed. She’d come there seeking solitude and had run into a man intent on invading every part of her life. He was so different from Mark. Mark was temperamental and demanding, the man she’d spent the last years of her life trying to please—and he’d never smiled the way Joker did. They never had taken time to play in the rain or cook hamburgers on a grill. Every part of their life had been spent on working toward perfection of an illusion.
    Only now did she understand the truth. Illusion came from inside. It couldn’t be manufactured or orchestrated. It was a reflection of the soul’s most intimate desire. Joker had known that instinctively. Joker, who saw only beauty, was showing her the eyes of her soul.
    Allison had to do something in return.
    The Bolton Boys Ford dealership came into view as she drove. It occupied the corner where the ice rink used to be. Allison pulled in. They paid her cash for her car and arranged to have someone drive her home. She hadn’t stopped to think why she was doing it. She’d just sold the car, collected the money, and gone home to wait for Joker.
    One company problem led to another, and it was late afternoon before Joker exchanged his motorcycle for his van and