Read Elaine Orr - Jolie Gentil 07 - Vague Images for Free Online Page B

identities in the witness protection program . Nada that related to the Finch family.
    Tortino’s comments confirmed that it might not be a good thing if Thomas Edward showed up, but if he was in Ocean Alley I really wanted to see him . There had to be a good reason. If it was just nostalgia, why not visit the beach and leave?
    My fingers slowed on the keyboard and I thought back to that night in early spring of my junior year of high school . Thomas Edward and Hannah and I had been getting along really well since Christmas. In the fall they were kind of whiney, but I had not wanted to spend my junior year in Ocean Alley, so I wasn’t in such a good mood either.
    I smiled, seeing an image of the six-year old Hannah earnestly reading me the list she had prepared for Santa . It was a long list. Thomas Edward wanted one thing. What was that?
    A board creaked on or near the back porch . When I first moved into the two-bedroom frame house a few months ago, every unusual noise sent me to the window, mobile phone in hand as I checked for burglars. Now, I’m an old hand at tree branches that brush the side of the house when it’s windy and various other explainable sounds.
    At night I knew it could be a raccoon creeping onto the porch . I could usually tell if one did because I’d hear Jazz growling at it from her perch on a kitchen window sill. Her partner in hijinks, Pebbles, would paw at the back door when Jazz issued alerts from the window.
    Jazz jumped from her spot next to me on the couch and Pebbles sauntered after her, toward the kitchen. Neither of them appeared to be in a particular snit. I pulled my crutches toward me and stood, wincing slightly, and clumped into the kitchen. The light was off, and I decided to leave it off until I could look out the window.
    I slid the curtain to one side and peered out. “Holy crap!” 
    Thomas Edward Finch looked at me . “Can I come in?”
    Even Aunt Madge would have to say that the shock of finding Thomas Edward at my window would make all but the rudest words understandable . I forgot Lieutenant Tortino’s instructions. With fingers that shook slightly I pulled back the swing bar lock that was supposed to make it impossible for an unwanted person to get through the door.
    Thomas Edward walked in without speaking, and while I locked the door again he looked around the kitchen . He started and backed up a step. “What the…?”
    I nodded at the skunk, which was sniffing Thomas Edward’s shoe. “She doesn’t have scent glands.” His eyes met mine . “What are you doing here?  Is it safe?”
    “I, um, I’m not sure.”  His eyes followed Pebbles as she made a quick exit from the kitchen . At about six feet, he dwarfed me. His hazel eyes looked as if he hadn’t slept for a couple of days and his expression was strained. His brown hair was cut neatly but looked as if it hadn’t been washed lately, and his navy blue hooded sweatshirt had what looked like a smeared ketchup stain on the front.
    “Are you hungry?” I asked.
    He grinned and for a moment I saw the face of the fun-loving ten-year old. “Yep. Can you make me a grilled cheese?”
    “I’ll make it and sit . You can flip it.”  I clumped the couple of steps to the refrigerator.
    “I’m sorry you broke your foot because of that deer.” He shrugged out of the hooded jersey jacket and hung it on the back of a kitchen chair.
    So, it was him outside of my ER cubicle. “Just a bad sprain or something. How did you know to look for me in the ER?”
    “I was sitting in that little roadside park and saw you screech and sorta spin because of the deer . I was coming to help after you skidded onto the shoulder, but that car pulled up right behind you and a lady got out. I didn’t want to talk to anyone but you. And I hadn’t really decided about you.”
    I finished buttering two pieces of bread, slapped a piece of cheese between them, and took a frying pan from the cupboard . “Am I allowed to say I know you