|
|
|
|
|
|
of his lips. "Knock it off, Hannah. I told you when I called from the office that I was bringing Abby home and that she'd lost her family in the desert." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Abby swallowed in confusion. No one was acting as expected. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hannah took Abby's arm, standing on tiptoe to speak loudly but conspiratorially in her ear. "Don't mind him, dear. Poor Mike has no imagination. He only sees in shades of black and whitenot even much gray, poor boy. But you and Iwe see colors, don't we? Marvelous colors." She gave an emphatic wink of one pale hazel eye, then turned back to Mike. "Everything's aired out, and I'll whip up dinner in a jiffy." Again she winked at Abby. "Men are so much more tractable when they're fed, dear." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pivoting on the tile floor, she sashayed toward the back of the house, the long skirt of her orange dress swishing from side to side. Before disappearing, she turned back. "Abby, dear, things are seldom as bleak as they seem. But though you are wise to be wary, I hope your deep fear will prove unfounded." Then she was gone. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Abby looked quizzically at Mike, who shrugged. "Hannah is as eccentric as they come, but she means well." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Does she truly know what is on people's minds?" She had, after all, sensed Abby's anxiety. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"So she'd have you believe, but what she says is so broad that she's bound to strike a chord in everyone. Now I'm going to go freshen up." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wishing to do the same, Abby brought in some |
|
|
|
|
|