Free Green Fire by Stephanie James Page A

look politely interested.
    Rani decided it was time to step in and regain control of the situation. "Well, I don't. There's not much connection between painting and career hunting."
    "Sure there is," Flint said, looking offended. "They're both creative efforts, aren't they?"
    "Perhaps you should be making a bit more of a creative effort," she suggested coolly as she glanced pointedly at her watch. "In fact, maybe it's time you went back to work."
    Flint shook his head. "Not tonight. I've taken your advice and given up trying to write at night." His green eyes glittered between his narrowed lashes as he looked at Mike. "Rani prefers me to work during the day and keep my evenings free.''
    Patience exhausted, Rani set down her cup and saucer with a clatter and got to her feet. "Good night, Flint."
    He looked up at her. "I haven't finished my coffee."
    "Take it with you."
    "What's the rush, honey? It's not that late."
    Before Rani could respond, Mike was getting to his feet, mild embarrassment on his lean face. "Uh, maybe I'd better be on my way, too. It is getting kind of late. Thanks for a great evening, Rani. I'll probably see you at the post office in town tomorrow."
    "There's no need to leave," Rani said grimly. "Flint was just on his way out."
    Flint stretched hugely, putting down his mug. "You're right, Slater. It is late."
    "Yes, well, see you tomorrow, Rani." Mike was already at the door.
    Rani shot a glare at Flint and hurried forward. "I'll walk outside with you." She let the door close behind herself and Mike and wound up standing on the porch, smiling apologetically at her date for the evening. "I'm sorry about that. He's a very strange man. Just sort of moves in and makes himself at home."
    "Where did he come from?" Mike looked down at her, bracing himself with one hand against the porch railing.
    "Beats me. Here, there and everywhere from the sound of things. I asked him about his previous jobs and he implied he's had a lot of them. Very unstable."
    "I hope that applies to his job history and not his psychological profile."
    Rani's eyes widened. She rubbed her forearms with her palms. "Surely you don't think he's dangerous?"
    Mike looked immediately chagrined. "No, of course not. I don't know anything about the man, do I? It's just that you made him sound weird and he does seem to have assumed he's got a right to wander in and out of your house without permission. That's hardly the behavior of the average handyman."
    "I wouldn't know. I haven't met too many handymen." Rani tried a nervous smile. "Or gardeners either, for that matter. Actually, he's also a part-time writer of some sort. Does articles for magazines, or so he says."
    "What kind of articles does he write?"
    "Articles about legends."
    "Legends?"
    "Umm." Rani held up her hand so that the porch light gleamed dully off the green stone in her ring. "Legends concerning things like this ring, which he thinks might be very old."
    Mike took a closer look at the ring. "He's interested in this rock?"
    "He says it's one of the reasons he's here. Oh, it's a long story. The bottom line is that this ring once belonged to my Uncle Ambrose who died earlier this year, Flint knows the history of the ring, and when he decided to write his article he wanted to see what happened to it. He found out it had been left to me." She broke off at the odd expression on Mike's face.
    "Rani, are you telling me the man got a job here just to be near the ring?"
    She swallowed uneasily. "Put like that, it does sound rather strange, doesn't it? But I think it's the truth. There's nothing really menacing about his actions. He's just a… a different sort of man."
    "Is the ring valuable?" Mike asked sharply.
    "Oh, no," she hastened to assure him. "At least not from a jeweler's point of view. The stone is paste. I had it appraised. Besides, have you ever seen a real emerald this size?"
    Mike grinned. "Are you kidding? I don't shop at the kind of stores that sell emeralds that