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I turned the barn into what my mother called our playhouse. Pop couldn’t play, but he liked having my friends around. Two years after he died I turned the hayloft into an apartment and moved out here.”
    “You live in a gym?”
    “Not exactly.” She gave a warm laugh. “Though I know it must look that way. Come with me. I’ll show you.” She led him across the court to a set of stairs leading up to the second floor.
    Asa decided that watching Sarah climb the steps unsettled him about as much as the barn below. Normally Asa was very good at masking his thoughts and his facial expression, but this morning he felt as if he’d borrowed someone else’s body and nothing fit.
    First he’d had too much to drink with Mike. He’d lost Jeanie. He’d lost his clothes. He’d lost his Silver Girl. Now, for a reason even hecouldn’t figure out, he was about to have breakfast in a hayloft.
    At the top of the steps Sarah opened a door, flipping off the lights below.
    “If you’d like to take a shower and clean up while I cook breakfast, the bathroom is through there.” Sarah flicked her head toward a corridor leading off the combination kitchen, dining and living room in which she was standing.
    “Shower?” Asa finally roused himself enough to respond.
    He was having a hard time following her conversation. Take a shower in her shower? Not this guy. There was something too personal about the idea. Then he shook his head at his hesitation. Hell, she was only offering the use of her shower—not her bed, or her body. He didn’t know why he was having such a problem with the suggestion.
    “Sure,” Sarah replied. “This has been a long night. Personally I always feel better when I’m fresh and clean, don’t you?”
    Sarah could see that Asa looked a bit stunned. Losing the woman he had sworn to look after had left him confused. For a person like Asa, that must be a real blow to his pride.
    Sarah was certain that he never lost a crook, or misplaced his squad car, or forgot his gun. He was too careful. This breach of procedure was bound to weigh heavily on his mind. He was hurting.
    Hurt was something she considered herself an expert in. She’d had enough experience concealing it and dealing with others who didthe same. Sarah moved into the kitchen and began removing things from the refrigerator. She kept talking.
    “There’s an extra toothbrush in the medicine cabinet and a razor. There’s a robe hanging on the back of the door. It will be too short, of course, but …” She took a quick look at the sheriff, realized that she was overwhelming him, and slowed down.
    “Sorry, Deputy Canyon. I don’t normally talk like this. I guess you may have guessed I’m nervous. I mean you’re the first man I’ve invited up here. I’m not quite sure what to say to you that won’t sound dumb.”
    She was nervous, Asa agreed. Well, she wasn’t the only one. It didn’t take a Supreme Court justice to know that they were both out of their element. She was right about one thing. He felt like hell. His head was still vibrating, and his stomach was grumbling. Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember having eaten since yesterday morning.
    “I’m sorry. Nothing you could say would sound dumb. After what happened last night, I’d believe you had E.T. hidden in the closet and Starman in your shower.”
    “Oh no,” she quipped. “Downstairs, maybe, but not up here. This is my home. This is personal. Besides, I’ve never met an alien. Have you?”
    “No. I’ve met a few characters that I was suspicious of, but no confirmed cases. Are you making coffee?”
    “Yes,” she replied, astonished that the manactually had a sense of humor. “According to Pop, a cup of my coffee will really give you a reason to be out of sorts.”
    “I can’t believe it’s that bad.”
    “It is, trust me.”
    “I’ll find a way to live with it. I always do.”
    “Sugar?” she questioned, biding her time for when she could ask him to