Морган Лливелин - Drop by Drop

“I had, all right, but I couldn’t believe it. And I never expected to find you—”

“In your bed? I suppose not, but I didn’t want to be alone last night; all the weird stuff that’s going on. You know?”

“I know.”

“You offered to bring me home because you didn’t have a pet.”

“Did I really say that?”

“You really did.”

He needed to clear his befogged mind. “Okay, wait a minute. Let me fix a cup of coffee… fix us some coffee… and then…”

Wrapping the lower half of his body in a bedsheet, he made his unsteady way to the kitchen. With his left hand he reached for a jar of instant coffee and two cups. He heard her come up behind him. He could feel her warm breath on his back but did not look around, in case she was a drunken delusion.

It might be better if she was. Suppose Evan woke up and found his naked father in the kitchen with… “Lila?”

“Hmmm?”

“You are Lila Ragland, aren’t you?”

“And you’re a veterinarian.”

“I’m a man with a teenage son who’s likely to walk in on us any minute.”

“I heard someone leave the house a while ago.”

“That must have been Evan, going out back to feed his horse,” Shay said. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I would have, if I’d wanted to get up myself, but I didn’t. And now look at you.” She lowered her eyes and smiled. “You’re up already.”

For the first time since she took the job Paige Prentiss had been in the veterinary clinic for an hour before her boss arrived. She called him on his personal AllCom, but it was turned off—either that or the device was no longer working. Paige assured the Reed-Johnsons that Dr. Mulligan would attend to their bulldog’s erratic breathing as soon as he arrived. “Your dog’s probably just too fat,” she said.

Mrs. Reed-Johnson bristled. “Chauncey only eats what I eat,” she retorted icily. “Are you saying I’m fat?”

Paige regretted her words. Half of the dogs who came to the clinic were too fat, but their overweight owners didn’t want to hear it.

By the time Shay entered the clinic the Reed-Johnsons had left with their bulldog and without paying their overdue bill, as Paige was quick to point out.

It’s going to be that kind of day, Shay told himself. My clients don’t pay, and when I wake up with Lila Ragland she won’t tell me when I can see her again.

Two of the Nyeberger boys were rushed to the Hilda Staunton Memorial Hospital when Styrofoam cups containing Cokes dissolved into white goo. Flub and Dub mistook the goo for marshmallow whip and gobbled it down.

On a sweltering, overcast Saturday morning Bea Fontaine answered her doorbell to find an unexpected visitor standing on the porch.

Bea unlatched the screen door and ushered the young woman into the house. “I’ve been almost expecting this. Dwayne Nyeberger saw you outside the bank a few weeks ago and had a nervous breakdown.”

“Serves him right.”

“I never thought you were dead.”

“Neither did I,” Lila Ragland said with a wry smile.

“Why come to me?”

“I thought it would be better to explain to you privately, rather than in the bank.”

“This is about money, I assume.”

“Isn’t everything?”

“Not in my experience, no.” Bea’s voice was cool. “If you want to talk, come into the living room and sit down; I’ll be right back.” She went to the kitchen for a pitcher of iced tea and a plate of vanilla wafers. The conventions of hospitality were as much a part of Bea Fontaine as her gold-framed eyeglasses. She would have done the same for Jack the Ripper.

After taking a sip of tea Bea removed her spectacles to give the younger woman the Look.

Which had no effect.

“Do you want to open a bank account?” Bea queried. “You’ve picked a bad time for it.”

“I don’t have any money to deposit.”

“We couldn’t give you a loan, even if you had collateral.”

“I don’t; at least I don’t think so, but I’m trying to get my assets together. Did my mother have a safe deposit box in your bank a long time ago?”

“I have no idea.”

“Could you find out for me? Her name was Treasie Ragland and she died before I… went away.”

“Do you have a death certificate for her?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You can get a copy of one from the courthouse. Then you’ll need a court order requesting us to give you the box. Don’t worry, it’s pretty straightforward.” Bea was beginning to feel sorry for Lila. She was well dressed and well groomed, but there was something almost forlorn about her.

At that moment they heard the front door open. Footsteps sounded in the hall.

Jack Reece paused in the living room doorway with a copy of The Sycamore Seed tucked under his arm. His aunt had a guest, a not uncommon occurrence on Saturday morning. Bea’s house was in a long-established neighborhood. Friends often stopped by to chat with her when she was not at work.

This visitor did not resemble Bea’s usual friends.

Jack shot a quizzical glance at his aunt.

The height of Lila’s notoriety had coincided with Jack’s most prolonged spell of globetrotting. By the time he returned the town’s interest had been captured by another tumultuous presidential election followed by a steep recession. Bea was uncertain how much he had heard about Lila—if anything. She believed old scandals were best left alone.

Fortunately she had the old courtesies to fall back on. “Lila, this is my nephew, Jack Reece. Jack, Lila Ragland.”

Bea was watching her nephew’s expression. It was obvious the name meant nothing to him. “Do you want some iced tea, Jack?”

“No thanks, I just brought you a copy of the paper. The Seed has the local news, and our wallscreen’s not working,” he explained to Lila.

“I’ve always liked newspapers myself,” she said. “And real books with hard covers.”

“You and my aunt have something in common, then. She loves to read thrillers.”

Bea reached for the newspaper. “Is there anything in here about the Change?”

“It’s all about the Change, but not much that’s really new. A physicist in California did suggest that the squeezing and stretching of gravitational waves was affecting the planet.”

“How would that work?”

“Don’t ask me, I’m not a physicist.”

“He knows something about everything, though,” Bea boasted to Lila. “Jack of all trades.”

“And master of none,” he added. “Now tell me something about you, Lila. Where do you—”

She stood up. “I’m sorry, but I have to go now. I have a lot to do.”

“When you have that certificate bring it to the bank,” said Bea, “and we’ll help you.”

After Lila left Jack commented, “That’s an attractive woman. Have you known her long?”

“I don’t really know her at all. Her mother may have been a customer of the S and S, but as you saw for yourself, she’s not very forthcoming. Now, let’s see what’s in the paper.”

She read aloud, “‘Mitchells Motors on Davis Street reports that new automobiles equipped with android boosters are not selling, even with real rubber tires. Customers are asking for old-model used cars with manually operated windows and door locks.’ Hunh! Abraham’s not for sale at any price.”

Jack said, “The AllCom market’s suffering too. The newest ones seem to be failing first.”

“And listen to this,” Bea went on. “In the competitive world of online shopping, business has slowed to a trickle. Telesales employees are looking for other work. Advertising revenues generated by data gathering from high-end consumers are dropping alarmingly.”