Page 44 of Homebody
“You do?” he asked.
“Um, well, you know, I don’t really know her very well. I do think she’s too much of a bad girl for my taste, personally. I don’t particularly like that aspect. But she is a hard worker. At least according to Ruby. And she’s always been nice to me when I’ve seen her at the salon, so…”
“Mm, hm. Gotcha.”
Something very odd was going on with his mom, but he wasn’t going to take the time to investigate. His time home on leave was too short already.
“So I, uh, think I’ll go call Tessa now. See if she’s free.”
“She is,” she jumped in too quickly to say.
He cocked up a brow at his mother’s statement.
There was that flash ofuh, ohin her eyes again. “Um, I mean, she’s not working. I know because Ruby’s salon isn’t open late tonight.”
He nodded. “Oh, okay. Thanks, Mom. I’ll just go call her now then.”
His mother’s weirdness aside, the thought of seeing Tessa again, even if it had only been yesterday that he’d seen her, had him sprinting up the stairs to his room.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“You okay there, Tess?”
Tessa swallowed hard and nodded, hoping Liam didn’t notice as she braced one hand against the metal table behind her to remain upright. “Yeah. Fine.”
“Need the trash can?” Liam watched her closely. On alert. Looking poised to grab the receptacle at the first sight of vomit or catch her should she faint.
“I…I’m good. It’s just…” She swallowed again. “…not what I was expecting.”
He smiled. “What were you expecting?”
“Books. Desks. Computers. Monitors. Not… bodies.”
“That’s what I study. Cadavers.”
“Yes. But I thought any hands-on research you might be doing would just involve… brains.”
“Oh. Brains are in the fridge.” Liam hooked a thumb toward the back of the lab.
“And this? H-him?” Tessa asked, torn between staring and looking away as the complete cadaver of a man was laid out in front of her.
He was covered in clear plastic but he was visible enough to freak her out a bit. Make that more than a bit.
“Ah. Yeah. That’s Gabe. He was one of my first when I opened the lab a couple of years ago. I returned the other cadavers when I was through with them, but I keep him around.”
“Why?” she asked, horrified and fascinated at the same time.
Liam bobbed his head to the side. “Eh, he’s special.”
Again the question ofwhyechoed through her mind but she didn’t voice it. Just nodded.
“So, what do you think? Are you able to handle this? You still want the job? Cadavers, brains and all?” Liam asked.
“Yes,” she rushed to say.
“Don’t want to think about it?”
“No.”
