Muriel Jensen - Man With A Miracle

“Really.” Beazie took one step toward it, then thought better of walking into Evan’s room. She stayed where she was and commented simply, “Very elegant name.”

“She arrived named,” he said, walking over to ruffle the furry stomach. The cat took it as her due, made a small sound of approval, then curled up again. “She belonged to Millie Evans. She can’t have a cat at the care center, but I take Lucinda to visit every once in a while.”

Beazie entertained that image as he led her across the hall to another large room, this one pink, with a window seat in a bay window and an eclectic collection of furniture. The temperature was chilly, but the warm atmosphere drew her inside.

He went to a heating vent in the floor and kicked it open with his foot. “It’ll take a little while to warm up here. Maybe you want to fix yourself the Buffalo wings first.”

She fell onto the edge of the bed, seduced by the thick soft mattress and the wonderful ambience of the room. All tension and energy escaped her like water down a drain.

“I think I’ll just go right to bed,” she said, the words requiring effort.

He studied her curiously for one moment. She expected him to tell her he’d suddenly changed his mind, but instead he went to the closet, pulled out an extra blanket and dropped it at the foot of the bed. Then he crossed the hall to his room and returned with a pair of thick socks.

“Sleep well,” he said. “See you tonight.” He left the room in an apparent hurry to get to work.

“Evan!” she called.

He reappeared in the doorway. “Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“Sure.”

He left again, and this time she toed off her shoes, pulled on the socks and got under the blankets, still wearing the coat and hat. She felt her muscles relax one by one as she drifted off to sleep, strangely secure in the unfamiliar surroundings.

EVAN HAD THE FIRST COAT of trim on the accounting office’s doors and windows and was sitting in the middle of the hardwood floor with a tepid cup of coffee, when Cameron Trent appeared in the doorway. He was carrying two cups from Perk Avenue.

“So, what’s going on?” Cam asked, walking in and handing Evan a cup, then doing a slow circuit of the room, inspecting his progress.

Evan suspected this was not just a friendly visit. Cam never checked on him.

“Letting the first coat of trim dry,” he replied, sipping at the contents of the cup. Double-shot mocha. Best high-energy boost in the whole world. “Mmm, thanks. Good stuff.”

Cam turned away from his inspection and faced him across the room, his expression amused. “Who’s the girl?” he asked.

Evan shook his head at him. “They’re not girls, they’re women. Someday the political-correctness cops are going to come and take you away.”

Cam ignored all that. “I understand she arrived naked.”

Evan rolled his eyes. “She did not arrive naked. God, is there no such thing as privacy?”

“No. If she didn’t arrive naked, why did you call Mariah and ask her if there was anything in her size in the clothes she’s collecting for the homeless?”

“Because Mariah’s the same size. I thought she’d be able to find something.”

“For the naked woman?”

“She wasn’t naked!” Evan said impatiently. “She just…doesn’t have a change of clothes.”

When Cam looked confused, Evan lied in an attempt to protect Beazie, and possibly Cam and his family. Until Evan understood completely what was involved here, it was better to keep the truth to himself. “She left home in a hurry. We used to have a thing for each other, and that’s all I’m going to tell you.”

Cam frowned and came to sit cross-legged on the floor, a small distance from him. “Why did she come to you?”

“She missed me. I told you. We used to be lovers.” The lie came so easily off his lips. He hoped he wasn’t going to hate himself for it later.

“She missed you so much that she came in search of you without packing a bag?”

When Evan ignored that, Cam regarded him with concern. “Where is she now?”

“I took her home to rest.” Then he added firmly, “Butt out, Cam.”

Cam raised his hands in a self-protective gesture. “I’m just looking out for you, Evan. You’d help anybody, anytime. I just wondered if she was the reason you came here with a dark burden. If so, I was going to warn you to be careful.”

Evan drew a deep breath for patience. “You know, if you hadn’t arrived with a double mocha, you’d be out on your keister by now. She’s not the reason I left Boston, but she wouldn’t come with me at the time, and now she’s decided she can’t live without me.”

“Really.”

“Really.”

“Yeah, well, if you’re happy, we’re happy. Just wanted to remind you to be careful.”

Evan had to appreciate the sincerity of Cam’s concern, if not his determination to protect him. “You know, I’m five years older than you are, and I was a cop. I think I’m equipped to handle whatever happens.”

“Just reminding you that nobody’s invincible.” As Evan grinned, Cam went on intrepidly. “I know you’ve got this lone warrior thing going and you don’t share much, and that’s okay. I used to be that way, too, until I let a woman and children and friends into my life. Now I don’t even have a thought to myself—”

Evan wasn’t sure where Cam was going with this, but it was entertaining to listen.

“Anyway, we know something major happened to you because of that accident, and it makes life difficult for you. We don’t even want to know what it is, or if and how this girl—woman—relates to that, just that you’ll call us if you need us.”

There was something oddly touching and seriously annoying in the knowledge that his friends had read his situation so clearly. They didn’t have details, but they’d certainly grasped the basics.

“She has nothing to do with that.”

Cam said, “I’m talking in generalities.”

“You’re crazy.”

His friend toasted him with his empty cup and got to his feet. “Who else would go into partnership with you? See you.”

Evan followed him to the door. “You know anybody around here named Evans?”

“Yeah,” Cam replied. “Millie. The woman you bought your house—”

Evan shook his head. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“Why?”

“Never mind. Thanks. And thanks for the mocha.”

“Sure. See you Sunday. Bring the woman.”

Evan accepted that his friends were intent on providing backup, whether he needed it or not. He glanced at his watch. Almost five. He’d better get moving if he was going to stop for groceries on the way home. It was a little unsettling to think that someone was there waiting for him.

BEAZIE SLEPT until midafternoon and awoke feeling a little like she was in a sauna. The house had warmed up considerably, and she was still wearing the coat and hat Evan had lent her. She was also wearing Lucinda.

The cat opened big yellow eyes as Beazie stirred, then meowed a protest and dug into the front of the jacket when Beazie tried to sit up.

Beazie laughed and stroked the cat, then tried to lift her off. Lucinda meowed peevishly and leaped down, clearly affronted at being disturbed.

Sitting up in the middle of the bed, Beazie peeled off the coat and hat, then looked around her, captivated anew by the coziness of the simple room. The furniture was trendily mismatched—an oak highboy, a white wardrobe in the distressed cottage style, a small, square shelf that served as a bedside table, and a cut-shade lamp. The bed itself was brass and quite ornate.

And the pieces had the feel of things handed down, kept because they were loved or had precious memories attached.