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door also needed repair. There were a
    number of small, but important, repairs to be made around this house.
    Standing there looking around, he wondered who would do them. He
    mashed the doorbell again, and this time he heard a feminine voice come
    from somewhere within the house.
    “Craig is that you?” he heard her call out. “Come on in honey, I’m just
    getting ready for work, I’ll be down in a minute.”
    Clay didn’t respond. He slowly entered the front entry hall and pulled the
    screen closed behind him. There was a staircase on the right as you entered
    the house, leading upstairs. The sound of running water could be heard up
    there. The living room was directly to his left and beyond that the formal
    dining room. In front of him, and at the end of the hall, was the kitchen. A
    kitchen table sat in the middle of the floor and beyond the table, bright
    yellow curtains framed a window above the sink. The curtains billowed in
    and out on the afternoon breeze.
    As he waited, his body reacted to the unpleasant task he was about to face.
    A lump the size of a golf ball lodged itself in his throat and his hands shook.
    Thinking hard, Clayton realized he didn’t know how in the world he was
    going to do this.

    24

CHAPTER

    FOUR

    Upstairs, Vivian Simpson ran her hands through curly, dark auburn locks.
    Her no-nonsense hairstyle was shoulder length and required very little
    attention, which was just the way she liked it. Although she was too busy to
    fuss with her own hair, Vi took pride in making sure everyone walking into
    her salon walked out with spectacular hair.
    She was an attractive woman with expressive light brown eyes. She also
    possessed a pretty good figure for having had three kids, working out and
    keeping fit because it made her feel good, not so much to attract any man.
    Besides, between work and the kids, she was way too busy to think about
    men. After applying a small amount of lipstick, Vi smooched her lips
    together and peered into the mirror. Satisfied with her reflection, she turned
    off the faucet and wiped her hands on a nearby towel. Blessed with flawless
    skin, she’d never worn makeup over her coffee with extra, extra cream
    complexion.
    Just before leaving the bathroom, Vi pumped a dollop of hand crème into
    her palm, switched off the light and walked through her bedroom. As she
    zipped down the stairs, working the lotion into her hands, she was brought up
    short. Vi was expecting Craig to be downstairs. He’d promised to look at
    the lawnmower today, so she wouldn’t have to call the landscaper this
    weekend. When she saw it wasn’t Craig, but his roommate and partner,
    Clayton Marshall, standing in her living room, she was momentarily
    confused.
    “Hello, Mrs. Simpson.”
    “Oh, hello Clayton I wasn’t expecting Craig to drag you over here to help
    with this chore, but I guess he needed reinforcements. So, where is he
    anyway?” She inquired and gave him a bright smile. Not waiting for his
    answer, she turned away from him and picked up her purse from the desk in
    the hall.
    “I’m sorry to cut into your afternoon like this. I know you guys planned to
    go down to the shore today. I’m just on my way to work, but if Craig wants,
    he can take a look at it. If it looks like it will be too involved, it’ll keep till
    tomorrow.”
    Rummaging around in her purse for her car keys, she turned around to face
    him and continued to have a one-sided conversation. Glancing at him, she
    25

    noted his appearance. He wore bright floral swim trunks and an open,
    tattered denim shirt. Dark glasses hung from the front pocket of his shirt. He
    and Craig were about the same height, she noted, but Clayton was broader in
    the shoulders, more muscular and mature looking than her son’s tall, lanky
    swimmer’s physique. Also, much fairer than Craig, she supposed his clean-
    shaven head and equally clean-shaven jaw managed to turn many female
    heads. When Craig moved out and decided to be