must have answered, because she left the room. God only knows what I said. I donât know how long I sat staring at the wall and seeing nothing, either.
Eventually sheer physical discomfort roused me. My shoulder this time. I mushed some pillows around to create more support for it, leaned back and waited for the fire to die down.
The blasted woman had a bad habit of saying outrageous things, then wandering off, leaving me no one to argue with but myself. That would stop, I promised myself. If she was going to drop bombshells, she could damned well hang around and deal with the debris.
But Seely wasnât in the habit of hanging around.
Never mind. People could change, right? She was big on changing walls and furniture. She could just get used to the idea of changing a couple of habits, too.
It was a helluva thing, but somewhere between Chinesered walls and that irritating pat on my shoulder, my gut had made a decision without consulting the rest of me. For the next few days, Iâd be such a good patient my family would worry about me.
Because I had to get well and fire Seely. Soon. I was going to have that woman out of my employâand in my bed.
Six
T he next day, Manny came over for lunch. He dropped off the paint weâd chosen and some painting equipment, then helped Seely move the furniture out of the living room.
I canât explain how I came to agree to this. Slippery, thatâs what she is. She started out by acting as if Iâd already agreed. I recognized this trick, since Annie used to pull it. Sheâd get me to agree that music is important, mention that she wanted to spend the night with a friend, then pretend that meant Iâd agreed to let her go to a concert in Denver with that friend.
When I explained Annieâs teenage tricks to Seely, she looked thoughtful and said she really needed to meet my sister. The next thing I knew we were discussing paint colors.
I did protest. She wasnât being paid to paint my house, for Godâs sake. And I couldnât help her. She wouldnât have let me, for one thing. I couldnât pretend it would be unreasonable toforbid me to paint the living room, so I was bound by our agreement.
But that did not make it reasonable for her to do it, either. I asked if sheâd ever done any painting.
âNot a lick,â sheâd said cheerfully. âWeâll pull the couch into the middle of the room. You can lie there and supervise.â
Sage green. Thatâs the color we ended up with.
I sat on the couch with my bad leg stretched out, and scowled as Manny and Seely carried the last of the chairs into the dining room. Supervising didnât suit me nearly as well as everyone seemed to think.
âYou sure you donât want me to help with the prep?â Manny was asking her as they rejoined me. âOr move the rest of the junk out?â He jerked a thumb over his shoulder in my direction.
âIâm sure I can work around the couch.â
âWasnât talking about the couch.â
Seelyâs lips twitched.
âManny thinks heâs a wit,â I mentioned. âYou might not be able to tell, since his face muscles atrophied years ago. Thatâs the only expression heâs got.â
Manny has an evil chuckle, like a machine gun misfiring. He employed it as he headed for the front door, advising Seely in between bursts not to let me give her a hard time. He paused in the arched entry. âMeant to tell youâthat doctor called this morning.â
âWhat doctor?â
âThe one that put you back together in the E.R.â
âOh,â Gwen said. âThe idiot.â
Manny fired another couple of bursts. âThatâs the one. He seemed to think youâd hurt your shoulder a few days ago instead of when you drove off a mountain. Wanted me to confirm that.â He shook his head. âWeird guy.â
âYeah.â I frowned as Seely walked Manny to the
Stephen G. Michaud, Roy Hazelwood
S. Ravynheart, S.A. Archer