Sand Castles by Antoinette Stockenberg Page A

shelter, so I've been there every spare minute. I even took the afternoon off from the quilt shop to cover for someone—although I can't do that too many times, or, yikes, I won't be paying my rent."
    That will not be a problem , Zack insisted to himself.
    He said, "How's the skunk?"
    Zina laughed and said, "Cassie's fine and she says hello. I'm becoming so attached to her; I'd like to adopt her myself, except that I promised my landlady I wouldn't start doing that—bringing cats home and keeping them, I mean. I think Margie's afraid that I'll end up old and gray with forty-two cats."
    "You're not old," Zack said gallantly. "And you're not gray."
    "But I would like forty-two cats."
    "All right, then, Zee; I'll see what I can do to make your wish come true."
    "Honestly, Zack. Where would I put forty-two cats?"
    ****
    The move by Wendy and Jim from the half-demolished house on Sheldon Street into the wonderful house on the beach took place over the weekend. They weren't moving enough of their things to justify calling in professional movers, so Wendy had her husband buy some boxes and wardrobes from U-Haul, and they did the job themselves. They packed their clothes, their music, some books, and their favorite pillows; more than that seemed pointless. Besides, Wendy didn't want their stuff to feel bad that other people's stuff was so much better than it was.
    Jim refused to rent a U-Haul truck—too low-rent—and instead used the SUV to run a shuttle back and forth between their house and the beach house while Wendy packed and Tyler pretended to pack. The neighbors nodded knowingly when Wendy told them of the temporary move; clearly they didn't expect to see the Hodenes living again on Sheldon Street .
    "Which is not true," she told Jim as they wolfed down pizza in the dust-filled kitchen of their house between runs. "As long as Tyler has so many friends and family here, why would I want to move? How many kids get to enjoy the experience of growing up in a traditional way in their ancestors' home nowadays? Almost none."
    "We'll see," Jim said noncomittally between huge chomps of pizza.
    He was hungry and he was in a hurry. Wendy knew that he had been working like a fiend all day because he was absolutely determined to sleep in the new house that night. Tyler was all for it, too, and even Wendy was excited about living in another house after having spent most of her thirty-four years on Sheldon Street .
    "It'll seem odd not to wake up looking at the Almeidas' roof," she mused. "We've done it for eight years. I remember at the time thinking, what if we can't keep up with the payments? What if we end up on the street? I was so scared. And now look."
    She finished her last slice of pizza and began folding up the box. "Jim?"
    "Hm?" he answered, swigging down the last of his beer.
    "What was it you wanted to tell me the other day?"
    She hated asking the question; but the question had to be asked. A wife didn't forget an expression on her husband's face like the one Wendy had seen. A look like that clung to a woman's subconscious like a burr on a sweater.
    The blank look on Jim's face made her give him a extra nudge. "Wasn't that the point of finding a house to live in—so we could talk in private?"
    Damn it , she thought with dismay . You really are hiding something. You're going to ruin this for us, aren't you?
    "Whatever it was, it's gone," he said with a shrug. "It couldn't have been too important." Going on the offensive as he liked to do, he added in a testier tone, "Besides, we're still in this fishbowl of a house at the moment, even if I could remember."
    "It's Sunday, Jim; the contractors aren't here."
    " Tyler is."
    ' Tyler l ives here!"
    "He's getting older, more observant," Jim countered. "It's harder to talk—or do—anything in private around him now."
    At that point, she wasn't certain whether Jim was dragging the conversation around again to the need to buy a mansion, or whether he was simply trying to change the