lived.
“You a friend of hers?”
He was full of questions. “We’re becoming friends. I’m boarding here while looking for a place of my own.”
“She own the dog?”
“Yeah.”
“He recover?”
I nodded. “Have you ever seen a dog with a hangover? It isn’t a pretty sight.”
Nick grinned. “Can’t say that I have.”
“I saw you and Elvis and came rushing down…I wanted to thank you for the other night.”
He shrugged off my appreciation as though he didn’t want to hear it.
“Would you like to sit on the porch awhile?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t refuse. “The view from there is lovely and it’s restful.” Seeing it was the dead of night, the view wasn’t going to be nearly as spectacular as it was in the middle of the day.
He seemed to be in some kind of internal debate before he nodded. I struggled to hide my smile. He remained leery of me, although he’d taken a huge risk on my behalf the other night at the biker bar. One on one, I suspected Nick could have held his own, but against an entire motorcycle club, well, it would have been ugly.
He hesitated and it looked like he was about to change his mind.
“I don’t bite,” I assured him.
He grinned. “Not sure I believe that.” Whether he did or not, he followed me to the porch.
We sat in the very chairs that Jo Marie and I so often did, overlooking the cove. The moon was bright, casting a warm glow across the still waters. The lights from the Bremerton shipyard sparkled in the distance. For the first few minutes, neither of us spoke. I looked skyward at the amazing display of stars. Nick’s attention was focused on the night sky as well. I thought I could see Venus, but then I wasn’t that knowledgeable about the position of the planets and wasn’t about to make a fool of myself by pretending I was.
“It’s peaceful here,” Nick whispered.
“It is,” I returned in a low voice, stretching out my legs and crossing my ankles. “I sometimes sit out here at night and think.” My hair was in total disarray and I was grateful for the dark. I wished I’d taken time to run a brush through it, but then I might have missed talking to Nick and seeing Elvis. We hadn’t gotten off to a good start, and I was hoping to correct that.
“What do you think about?” he asked.
I shrugged, unwilling to delve into anything too personal. “I don’t know: life, the future, nothing profound, just everyday stuff. What about you? What do you think about when you’re taking these nighttime strolls?”
His response was the same as mine. “Nothing of importance. Mainly I walk in order to get tired enough to sleep.”
“Working on the house doesn’t do that?”
“Apparently not.”
I suspected his mind was occupied with thoughts of his brother and the car crash that claimed the other man’s life. Nick didn’t bring up the accident and I didn’t pry; that wasn’t my nature. I had secrets of my own and wasn’t prone to spilling them out like some trashy talk-show guest for strangers to dissect.
We both seemed caught up in the peacefulness of the moment, although I was well aware of the man sitting next to me. For reasons I didn’t want to examine more closely, I wanted to get to know Nick better. Yes, I was interested in his house, but it went beyond that. He intrigued me. The tragedy that had marked his life—the way he hid himself away and came out at night. The tragic hero had always attracted me. Strange, really, as it was highly unlikely I would be able to comfort or cure him.
Elvis rested between us in almost the exact spot where Rover loved to curl up. His head was inclined toward me as if waiting for me to speak. Nick reached down and rested his hand on the dog’s head, ruffling his ears.
“Did Elvis’s bark wake you?”
“Not at all—well, maybe,” I confessed. “I read until nearly one. Actually, I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately. Summers give me that opportunity,” I continued. If he suspected
“You a friend of hers?”
He was full of questions. “We’re becoming friends. I’m boarding here while looking for a place of my own.”
“She own the dog?”
“Yeah.”
“He recover?”
I nodded. “Have you ever seen a dog with a hangover? It isn’t a pretty sight.”
Nick grinned. “Can’t say that I have.”
“I saw you and Elvis and came rushing down…I wanted to thank you for the other night.”
He shrugged off my appreciation as though he didn’t want to hear it.
“Would you like to sit on the porch awhile?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t refuse. “The view from there is lovely and it’s restful.” Seeing it was the dead of night, the view wasn’t going to be nearly as spectacular as it was in the middle of the day.
He seemed to be in some kind of internal debate before he nodded. I struggled to hide my smile. He remained leery of me, although he’d taken a huge risk on my behalf the other night at the biker bar. One on one, I suspected Nick could have held his own, but against an entire motorcycle club, well, it would have been ugly.
He hesitated and it looked like he was about to change his mind.
“I don’t bite,” I assured him.
He grinned. “Not sure I believe that.” Whether he did or not, he followed me to the porch.
We sat in the very chairs that Jo Marie and I so often did, overlooking the cove. The moon was bright, casting a warm glow across the still waters. The lights from the Bremerton shipyard sparkled in the distance. For the first few minutes, neither of us spoke. I looked skyward at the amazing display of stars. Nick’s attention was focused on the night sky as well. I thought I could see Venus, but then I wasn’t that knowledgeable about the position of the planets and wasn’t about to make a fool of myself by pretending I was.
“It’s peaceful here,” Nick whispered.
“It is,” I returned in a low voice, stretching out my legs and crossing my ankles. “I sometimes sit out here at night and think.” My hair was in total disarray and I was grateful for the dark. I wished I’d taken time to run a brush through it, but then I might have missed talking to Nick and seeing Elvis. We hadn’t gotten off to a good start, and I was hoping to correct that.
“What do you think about?” he asked.
I shrugged, unwilling to delve into anything too personal. “I don’t know: life, the future, nothing profound, just everyday stuff. What about you? What do you think about when you’re taking these nighttime strolls?”
His response was the same as mine. “Nothing of importance. Mainly I walk in order to get tired enough to sleep.”
“Working on the house doesn’t do that?”
“Apparently not.”
I suspected his mind was occupied with thoughts of his brother and the car crash that claimed the other man’s life. Nick didn’t bring up the accident and I didn’t pry; that wasn’t my nature. I had secrets of my own and wasn’t prone to spilling them out like some trashy talk-show guest for strangers to dissect.
We both seemed caught up in the peacefulness of the moment, although I was well aware of the man sitting next to me. For reasons I didn’t want to examine more closely, I wanted to get to know Nick better. Yes, I was interested in his house, but it went beyond that. He intrigued me. The tragedy that had marked his life—the way he hid himself away and came out at night. The tragic hero had always attracted me. Strange, really, as it was highly unlikely I would be able to comfort or cure him.
Elvis rested between us in almost the exact spot where Rover loved to curl up. His head was inclined toward me as if waiting for me to speak. Nick reached down and rested his hand on the dog’s head, ruffling his ears.
“Did Elvis’s bark wake you?”
“Not at all—well, maybe,” I confessed. “I read until nearly one. Actually, I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately. Summers give me that opportunity,” I continued. If he suspected
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