Read 3 Can You Picture This? for Free Online Page A

to me and hugged me, guiding my head to her shoulder the way I used to do hers.
    “Dammit, now you’ve got me crying,” I said.
    Adam said, “I’m upset about this. Who wouldn’t be? You could be in danger. But George convinced me that getting angry would only make things worse.”
    I went to him and hugged him too, and started to feel a little better. Turning to George I said, “Can they drive themselves? Or should someone take them to Pete’s?”
    He replied, “I’ve got a ride arranged. You two better finish your coffee and get packed.”
    Sarah asked, “How many days should we plan for?”
    “Hard to say. Why don’t you pack for two or three and if we need to readjust, we will.”
    “What about work? I work five nights a week,” she continued, worry evidenced in her voice.
    “We’ll call in for you for the next few days.”
    “When we get to Uncle Pete’s, do we have to stay inside?” she continued. “Can we go for walks? What about the grocery store?”
    “You are so much like your mother.” George ran his hand through his thinning hair. “You sure have a lot of questions.”
    “But they’re legitimate questions, George,” I said, standing by my girl with my arm on her shoulder.
    “Indeed they are. I just felt bombarded for a moment.”
    “Welcome to my world,” said Adam, laughing. It was good to hear laughter.
    George answered Sarah’s questions, “For the time being you need to stay inside. Pete can get anything you need. He said he’ll stay there with you instead of going to work.”
    The two young ones took their coffee mugs with them upstairs. I could hear them moving about, and it reminded me of when they were young and we lived in Chicago. I felt grateful that I had them in my life, even though time was rushing by and they’d soon be gone. That thought was even more depressing than thinking about a murderer perhaps trying to kill me.
    I shook off both those thoughts. For some reason I always had to physically do a head and shoulder shake to make disagreeable thoughts or emotions go away. It was weird, but…
    George came over and interrupted my reverie with, “I’m thinking it might just be a better idea to move you somewhere else. Not a lot of people know about us; maybe you and Clancy can stay at my place for a few days. We can still have another officer or two there at all times. What do you think?”
    My immediate impulse to say “no,” quickly changed to an “okay.” It might be fun to stay at George’s. Spending so much time together would certainly force us to get to know each other more quickly. We’d see how compatible we were without having to “date” for a long time. This was actually a great idea. At my age, I couldn’t afford to spend years dating someone and then deciding it wouldn’t go anywhere. This would be more like “fast forward” dating.
    “Okay,” I finally said aloud. “Okay.”
    “You’re not going to argue with me about this?” George asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
    “Nope. When you’re right, you’re right.”
    He hugged me so hard it knocked my breath out of me. I didn’t complain. I knew he was excited to win an argument with me, even though the argument was non-existent. In fact he was kind of cute in his excitement.
    Clancy and I went to my room so I could pack. “George,” I yelled, “will you please put some of Clancy’s dry food in a gallon plastic bag? They’re in the third drawer, and her food is on the floor in the cupboard.”
    “Sure,” he yelled back. For a moment I could tell that Clancy had a hard time deciding who she wanted to stay with. I was packing and she wanted to make sure I didn’t leave without her, but George was messing with her food. She chose food over love, and trotted out to the kitchen.
    I smiled as I packed a few things in a gym bag. A sudden realization hit, and I shrieked as I dumped out the contents on my bed, and started over. I’d only packed white “granny panties” and