Page 25 of A Dark and Stormy Night

Gwen stepped out of the way. "We'll wait out here on the deck."

Mario said, "Good idea."

They headed out the door.

Landon followed.

Cecily snapped, "Landon, you stay!"

Mario held the door for Gwen, shut it behind them and said, "Arf."

"Good boy!" Gwen said.

They grinned at each other and went to lean against the rail.

"So," Gwen said. "We're going to Victoria to celebrate our first date."

"Sounds like a good idea to me. You want me to make a reservation?"

"This is your busy season. Can you take the time off?" Gwen asked.

"I'm the boss. I will make the time." He pulled the phone from his pocket. "Besides, after this, I owe it to you."

She nodded. "You really do. Don't worry, I'll hold these two days over your head forever."

He laughed.

Inside the cottage, something shattered.

With a growl, Mario placed the phone in his pocket and started toward the door.

Gwen stopped him. "No. Let it go. We'll clean it up. We'll replace it. What maters is—they're leaving."

But when Cecily slipped on her way down the stairs and landed with a thump at the bottom . . . they didn't leave.

And after a few weeks, Gwen began to fear they never would.

Five Weeks Later

Mario opened the pantry door. "Why are you sitting in here in the dark?"

Gwen looked up at him, a dark figure silhouetted against the light. "There's no intercom in here. Cecily can't find me here."

He snapped, "She's bedridden."

"She's contaminating the whole house. I want to hide."

He didn't answer.

She could almost see impatience radiating from him, and she hated him. Hated him for not taking her side. Hated him for betraying her. "Come in or go out."

He stepped in and shut the door with a crash.

Gwen had been bullied enough, and Mario wasn't going to bully her too. "I expected you hours ago. Our dinner is ruined. Where have you been?"

"Working. Did you get the bookkeeping done?"

"I didn't have time." Gwen tried to control herself, but she heard her voice grow high and childish. "I had to cook and wait on her. I offered to bring in a nurse. She doesn't want to put us out. She got mad when she spotted a piece of celery in the soup, wouldn't eat it, accused me of trying to poison her. I wish. So she ordered pizza. An all-meat pizza! With pepperoni. It was dripping with grease, orange grease. She got it on her nightgown and on the sheets, I had to help her out of her clothes and change the sheets and wash everything, and I couldn't get the stains out. Then tonight, after Landon got here, I had a few minutes to myself. I sat down with the accounts, and I can't make them balance." She looked at Mario accusingly. "Someone is siphoning money out of our account!"

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