Free Talk Nerdy to Me by Vicki Lewis Thompson

she also had a rock
tumbler and a sack full of rocks that had to go somewhere.
    She
tacked them under her round bed, although the hand loom and calligraphy set
were already taking up most of the space. A rectangular bed would have more
storage space underneath. Maybe she ought to consider trading in her round bed
for a traditional one.
    Because
the washing machine wasn't working, anyway, she filled it with whatever she
didn't know what else to do with—unread fashion magazines, widgets she'd bought
at the Middlesex Hardware Store because they looked interesting, the box of
candy she didn't like but couldn't bear to toss because the receptionist at her
talent agency had given it to her. And on top of all that went the book she'd
bought on how to unclutter your life. She hadn't made it past the first
chapter.
    Denise
would be sleeping in what Eve laughingly called her guest room, a den that
opened off the living area. At the moment the daybed was buried under a mound
of clothes still in their plastic dry-cleaning bags. Her broken washing machine
had forced her to get everything but her underwear professionally cleaned.
Scooping the bundle into her arms with a crackle of static electricity, she
looked underneath, hoping to see her notes. No such luck.
    She
was on her way toward her bedroom down the hall when the doorbell rang. A
glance at the clock told her it was still too early for Charlie and Rick.
"Come in!" she called. "It's open!"
    Then
she wondered if maybe she was carrying her complacency about unlocked doors too
far. The crime rate might be low in this little town, but that didn't mean she
should invite someone in without having a clue who they were. A burglar might
have recently located in Middlesex.
    So
she stood there with her arms full of her dry cleaning, unsure what she'd do
if the person on the other side of the door had theft in mind. Smother them in
cleaning bags? Jab them with a metal hanger?
    She
was relieved when Eunice walked in, stomping snow from her booted feet. She
held up two bottles. "I brought wine!"
    "Well,
um, thanks." Eve needed wine tonight about like a battery needed a bow
tie. She had two goals—work on the hovercraft and work on Charlie. She wanted a
clear head for both projects.
    "Not
for you and Charlie, of course. You'll be operating machinery and such. But Rick
and I could have some." Eunice plunked the bottles down on the floor and
started taking off her coat.
    "Yes,
you certainly could have some." And a bottle apiece should keep them busy
while Eve worked her program. "Not that it's any big deal or anything,
but is it possible you forgot to lock the front door after the FedEx man was
here?"
    Eunice
frowned. "I don't think so.
Was it unlocked when you came home?"
    "Yeah, but don't worry
about it."
    "Jeez,
if I forgot to lock it I really apologize. Are you missing anything?"
    Eve thought of her notes,
but they could still turn up somewhere. "No," she said and decided to
change the subject. "Did you decide for or against the cell phone?"
    "Against."
Eunice had piled her blond hair in a fancy arrangement on top of her head, and
she wore a slinky red lounging outfit. "I think this should do the
trick."
    Eve
surveyed the generous display of cleavage. "You know, I always wondered
exactly what they meant by a plunging neckline. Now I get it."
    "This
sucker plunges like Niagara Falls, doesn't it? If I move just right you'll get
a glimpse of the diamond I have in my belly button. Well, cubic zirconium, to
be honest, but if somebody gets close enough to check, they're going to be
interested in something besides gem quality." Eunice glanced at Eve's
burden. "Sarah down at the Press 'n' Go probably paid off her Toyota after
you picked up that load."
    "This
is an accumulation. My washing machine's broken."
    Eunice
leaned against the wall and pulled off her boots. "I'm surprised you
haven't fixed it yourself." She took a pair of jeweled sandals from her
purse and slipped them on her feet. "You being