Page 185 of Positively Pricked
"I wasn'thurt," she said. "I was asleep. Why'd you keep calling?"
I glanced at the destruction. "Gee, I wonder why."
"I'm just saying, if someone doesn't answer the first time, you don't need to keep calling."
Oh, for God' sake.
"I'm ever so sorry," I said through gritted teeth. "I'll keep that in mind thenexttime our house is squashed while I'm out of town."
"I hope so," she said, "because you know I’m not a morning person."
"Right," I gritted out. "And like I said, I'm sorry. But seriously, what the hell happened?"
It took ten full minutes to get the story out of her, but apparently, the tree had fallen during a storm four nights ago while she'd been out at some art show with the professor.
Her ten-minute explanation included nine full minutes of gushing at how incredible Fergus had been in cleaning up the debris.
She concluded by saying, "He even bought a chainsaw. You should've seen him." Her voice became almost husky. "He was magnificent."
The professor? Magnificent?I couldn’t even imagine. "Uh, yeah. Well, that's good."
She gave a little giggle. "I know, right?"
Funny, I'd never heard her sound so happy. Maybe the lumberjack lifewasfor her. Still, I had to say, "I don't want to be critical here, but there's something I've gotta ask."
"What?"
"Why didn't you call and let me know?"
"Because Charlotte saidshe'dtell you."
"She did? When?"
"The day after it happened, when she stopped by to check on the place – which I didn't appreciate, by the way." Paisley gave a snort of disbelief. "What is it? You don't trust me?"
Considering that I'd spent the final few minutesbeforemy trip stuffing all of my valuables into a suitcase, this was a question better left unanswered.
I cleared my throat. "Well, she was probably in the neighborhood."
"Yeah, right," Paisley said, sounding decidedly disgruntled again. "But anyway, she saw the damage and said she'd let you know."
"She did? Are you sure?"
"Of course, I’m sure. In fact, she toldmenot to worry about it."
Paisley? Worry?
About anyone but herself?
I couldn’t even imagine.
Even now, I knew she was lying. After all, I'd talked to Charlotte just yesterday, and she hadn't mentioned a thing.
Still, there was no point in arguing, so I ended the call with as much grace as I could muster. And then, I shoved the phone back into my pocket and tried to think.
What now?
Zane's voice interrupted my thoughts. "You want me to get anything?"
