absently. “Must be a hell of a war. It’s been going on for days.”
“Days here, sure; maybe no time there at all. You never can tell how time runs on the other side.”
He felt her nod. “Good point. But, gee, Davy, how much longer can it go on? If it rains like this all summer, nothing’ll get done: everything’ll mildew, and gardens won’t grow, and the tourists all stay away by droves.”
“No loss that!”
“You don’t make your money off ’em. A lot of folks do. Think about them!”
“Okay,” David conceded. “But you know what really bothers me?”
“I give.”
“That it’s all our doing, really. Alec’s fault if you look at it one way, or ours if you get to the real bottom.”
“Don’t say that, David; we’ve been over it before.”
“But it still bothers me—I guess it’s got to be practically an obsession. If you and I hadn’t got things going he’d have never gotten jealous of you. If he’d never gotten jealous, he’d have never been vulnerable to manipulation by that Faery woman who betrayed him.”
“Would you rather we’d never gotten together?”
“No, of course not. But I wish we’d been more aware of the effect we were havin’ on him. I mean, shoot, Liz, he’s my best friend, has been forever, and then suddenly he’s odd man out. That has to be a bitch to deal with.”
“He has to grow up.”
“Well he did a lot last summer, let me tell you. It may have ruined him, too.”
“How so?”
“Well, with women, for one thing. He’s hardly dated at all since then.”
“He didn’t date before then, either,” Liz pointed out. “The pickings are rather slim, if you notice.”
“That didn’t stop Gary and Darrell and Aikin.”
“They’re not as picky.”
“Okay, I’ll grant you that. But even so—”
David interrupted. “I mean being shafted’s one thing; practically everyone goes through it. But Alec wasn’t just shafted; he was tied up and roasted over a long, hot flame, then sauced with guilt and left to stay warm in the oven. I mean, most folks’ exes don’t deliver their friends to enemies who threaten to kill them, and use the weather for weapons.”
“Well, I can’t argue with that.”
“Know what’s weird, though? I think he’s still in love with her. In spite of all she did, Alec’s still in love with Eva.”
“You sure about that?”
“Well, he’s more or less said as much—and she was his first.”
Liz pinched his side. “That’s lust , David, not love!”
“Yeah, but even so, she did admit there at the last that she loved him—at least that’s what he told me.”
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t there when she died,” Liz replied slowly. “And anyway, I was kinda concerned with other things—like whether you were dead or alive.”
“I still think it’s possible, though—”
“Okay,” Liz said decisively, and David knew she was seeking to divert the conversation. “So we’ve established that it’s the war in Faerie causing the shitty weather. And we’ve established that it’s all our fault for ignoring Alec—which in a way it really is, though I think the Sidhe would’ve found something else to fuss over even if Fionchadd hadn’t been captured. What about the newest stuff?”
“My dreams, or yours?”
“You’ve had ’em too?”
David nodded. “For the last week. I didn’t tell you on the phone ’cause walls have ears, and I didn’t want to upset the folks any more than I had to. I’ve told Uncle Dale, Ma, the Gang—but I didn’t know who might be listening on your end, I mean the phone down at your dad’s isn’t exactly private. So,” he added, “you wanta go first?”
Liz took a deep breath. “Well, it’s basically like I said. I was just sitting there with your mom and dad, looking up at you on stage and thinking how handsome you were. But then the weather started acting up and I started getting real edgy, like I’ve been since I got back up here, and then I started, like,
“Days here, sure; maybe no time there at all. You never can tell how time runs on the other side.”
He felt her nod. “Good point. But, gee, Davy, how much longer can it go on? If it rains like this all summer, nothing’ll get done: everything’ll mildew, and gardens won’t grow, and the tourists all stay away by droves.”
“No loss that!”
“You don’t make your money off ’em. A lot of folks do. Think about them!”
“Okay,” David conceded. “But you know what really bothers me?”
“I give.”
“That it’s all our doing, really. Alec’s fault if you look at it one way, or ours if you get to the real bottom.”
“Don’t say that, David; we’ve been over it before.”
“But it still bothers me—I guess it’s got to be practically an obsession. If you and I hadn’t got things going he’d have never gotten jealous of you. If he’d never gotten jealous, he’d have never been vulnerable to manipulation by that Faery woman who betrayed him.”
“Would you rather we’d never gotten together?”
“No, of course not. But I wish we’d been more aware of the effect we were havin’ on him. I mean, shoot, Liz, he’s my best friend, has been forever, and then suddenly he’s odd man out. That has to be a bitch to deal with.”
“He has to grow up.”
“Well he did a lot last summer, let me tell you. It may have ruined him, too.”
“How so?”
“Well, with women, for one thing. He’s hardly dated at all since then.”
“He didn’t date before then, either,” Liz pointed out. “The pickings are rather slim, if you notice.”
“That didn’t stop Gary and Darrell and Aikin.”
“They’re not as picky.”
“Okay, I’ll grant you that. But even so—”
David interrupted. “I mean being shafted’s one thing; practically everyone goes through it. But Alec wasn’t just shafted; he was tied up and roasted over a long, hot flame, then sauced with guilt and left to stay warm in the oven. I mean, most folks’ exes don’t deliver their friends to enemies who threaten to kill them, and use the weather for weapons.”
“Well, I can’t argue with that.”
“Know what’s weird, though? I think he’s still in love with her. In spite of all she did, Alec’s still in love with Eva.”
“You sure about that?”
“Well, he’s more or less said as much—and she was his first.”
Liz pinched his side. “That’s lust , David, not love!”
“Yeah, but even so, she did admit there at the last that she loved him—at least that’s what he told me.”
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t there when she died,” Liz replied slowly. “And anyway, I was kinda concerned with other things—like whether you were dead or alive.”
“I still think it’s possible, though—”
“Okay,” Liz said decisively, and David knew she was seeking to divert the conversation. “So we’ve established that it’s the war in Faerie causing the shitty weather. And we’ve established that it’s all our fault for ignoring Alec—which in a way it really is, though I think the Sidhe would’ve found something else to fuss over even if Fionchadd hadn’t been captured. What about the newest stuff?”
“My dreams, or yours?”
“You’ve had ’em too?”
David nodded. “For the last week. I didn’t tell you on the phone ’cause walls have ears, and I didn’t want to upset the folks any more than I had to. I’ve told Uncle Dale, Ma, the Gang—but I didn’t know who might be listening on your end, I mean the phone down at your dad’s isn’t exactly private. So,” he added, “you wanta go first?”
Liz took a deep breath. “Well, it’s basically like I said. I was just sitting there with your mom and dad, looking up at you on stage and thinking how handsome you were. But then the weather started acting up and I started getting real edgy, like I’ve been since I got back up here, and then I started, like,
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