Heroes Are My Weakness(40)

“Thanks, Barbara. I’ll be fine.”

As she drove back to Harp House, she thought about how much smarter age and debt were making her. No more trying to patch a living together with puppets and odd jobs. No more worries about a nine-to-five job conflicting with auditions. She’d find something with a regular paycheck and a nice, cushy 401(k).

You’ll hate it, Scamp said.

“Not as much as I hate being poor,” Annie retorted.

Even Scamp couldn’t argue with that.


ANNIE SPENT THE REST OF the day at Harp House. On a trip to dump the trash, she spotted something odd in front of the tree stump near Livia’s hideout. Two rows of short sticks had been stuck in the ground in front of the gnarled hollow at the base of the stump. Half a dozen strips of bark lay across the top like a roof. She hadn’t seen this yesterday, so Livia must have sneaked out today. Annie wished Jaycie would talk about her daughter’s muteness. The child was such a mystery.

The Range Rover disappeared later that afternoon, so Annie left in plenty of time to get back to the cottage on foot before dark. But since she’d filled both a plastic bag and her backpack with groceries from Harp House, she had to keep stopping to rest. Even from a distance, she could see the Range Rover parked in front of the cottage. That wasn’t fair. He was supposed to be gone by the time she returned home. The last thing she wanted was a battle with Theo, but if she didn’t stand up to him now, he’d plow her down.

She entered the cottage through the front door and found Theo with his legs propped up on the arm of her pink couch and Leo slipped over his arm. Theo dropped his feet to the floor. “I like this guy.”

“Of course you do,” Annie said. Two of a kind.

Theo addressed the puppet. “What’s your name, big guy?”

“His name is Bob,” she said. “And now that the second shift’s arrived—that would be me—it’s past time for you to go home.”

He pointed Leo toward the grocery sack. “Anything good in there?”

“Yes.” She got rid of her coat and went to the kitchen. Fully conscious that she’d walked off with his food, she set her backpack on the floor and put the plastic bag on the counter. He followed her, Leo still on his arm, something she found profoundly disturbing. “Put Bob down. And from now on, leave my puppets alone. They’re valuable, and nobody touches them but me. You’re supposed to be working today, not nosing around in my stuff.”

“I worked.” He peered into the plastic grocery bag. “I killed off a runaway teenage girl and a homeless man. They were torn apart by a wolf pack. And since the scene’s set in civilized Hyde Park, I have to say, I’m feeling pretty good about myself.”

“Give me that!” She grabbed Leo from him. The last thing she needed was Theo putting images of wolf pack attacks in her head.

First, I ripped out her throat . . .

She deposited Leo in the living room, then returned to the kitchen. The sight of Leo and Theo together called for retaliation. “A strange thing happened at the house today when I was upstairs. I heard . . . I shouldn’t say anything. I don’t want to upset you.”

“Since when?”

“Well . . . I was at the end of the hall, right by the turret door, and I felt this chill coming from the other side.” She’d always been a truthful person, and she couldn’t imagine how she’d gotten so comfortable with lying. “It was as though somebody had left a window open, except ten times colder.” She had no trouble manufacturing a slight shiver. “I don’t know how you can stand living in that place.”

He took out a carton with half a dozen eggs. “I guess some people are more comfortable with ghosts than others.”

She looked at him sharply, but he seemed more interested in inspecting the contents of the grocery bag than in being spooked. “Interesting that we like so many of the same brands,” he said.

He’d find out as soon as he talked to Jaycie, so she might as well tell him herself. “Somebody canceled my grocery order. I’ll replace everything when the ferry arrives next week.”

“This is my food?”

“Only a few things. A loan.” She began pulling out the groceries she’d stuffed in her backpack.

He grabbed the package closest to him. “You took my bacon?”

“You had two of them. You won’t miss one.”

“I can’t believe you took my bacon.”

“I’d liked to have taken your doughnuts or your frozen pizza, but I couldn’t. And do you know why? Because you didn’t order either one. What kind of man are you?”

“A man who likes real food.” He pushed her out of the way so he could see what her backpack held and picked up a small chunk of Parmesan—a piece she’d cut from the wedge he’d ordered. “Excellent.” He tossed it from one hand to the other, then set it on the counter and began opening her cupboards.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

He pulled out a saucepan. “I’m making my dinner. With my groceries. If you don’t piss me off, I might share with you. Or not.”

“No! Go home. The cottage is mine now, remember?”

“You’re right.” He began tossing the packages back in the plastic bag. “I’ll take these with me.”