‐she was sure of that now‐‐and while thinking of him, she was reminded of somethingthey'd shared from the summer they were together. With head down, she pacedaround slowly, looking for it until she found it‐‐the carving.
Noah loves Allie, in a heart. Carved into the dock a few days before she'd left. Abreeze broke the stillness and chilled her, making her cross her arms. She stoodthat way, alternately looking down at the carving and then toward the river, untilshe heard him reach her side. She could feel his closeness, his warmth, as shespoke. "It's so peaceful here," she 'said, her voice dreamlike.
"I know. I come down here a lot now just to be close to the water. It makes me feelgood."
"I would, too, if I were you."
"Come on, let's go. The mosquitoes are getting vicious, and I'm starved."
The sky had turned black, and Noah started toward the house, Allie right beside him.
In the silence her mind wandered, and she felt a little light‐headed as she walkedalong the path. She wondered what he was thinking about her being here and wasn'texactly sure if she knew herself. When they reached the house a couple of minuteslater, Clem greeted them with a wet nose in the wrong place. Noah motioned heraway, and she left with her tail between her legs.
He pointed to her car. "Did you leave anything in there that you need to get out?"
"No, I got in earlier and unpacked already." Her voice sounded different to her,as if the years had suddenly been undone.
"Good enough," he said as he reached the back porch and started up the steps. Heset the bucket by the door, then led the way inside, heading toward the kitchen. Itwas on the immediate right, large and smelling of new wood. The cabinets had beendone in oak, as was the floor, and the windows were large and faced east, allowingthe light from morning sun. It was a tasteful restoration, not overdone as wascommon when homes like this were rebuilt.
"Do you mind if I look around?"
"No,go ahead. I did some shopping earlier,and I still have to put the groceries away."
Their eyes met for a second, and Allie knew as she turned that he continued to watchher as she left the room. Inside she felt that little twitch again.
She toured the house for the next few minutes, walking through the rooms, noticinghow wonderful it looked. By the time she'd finished,
it was hard to remember how run‐down it had been. She came down the stairs,turned toward the kitchen, and saw his profile. For a second he looked like a youngman of seventeen again, and it made her pause a split second before going on. Damn,she thought, get a hold of yourself. Remember that you're engaged now. He wasstanding by the counter, a couple of cabinet doors open wide, empty grocery bagson the floor, whistling quietly. He smiled at her before putting a few more cans intoone of the cabinets. She stopped a few feet from him and leaned against the counter,one leg over the other. She shook her head, amazed at how much he had done.
"It's unbelievable, Noah. How long did the restoration take?"
He looked up from the last bag he was unpacking. "Almost ayear." "Did you do it yourself?"
He laughed under his breath. "No. I always thought I would when I was young, and Istarted that way. But it was just too much. It would have taken years, and so I endedup hiring some people.., actually a lot of people. But even with them, it was still a lotof work, and most of the time I didn't stop until past midnight." "Why'd you work sohard?" Ghosts, he wanted to say, but didn't.
"I don't know. Just wanted to finish, I guess. Do you want anything to drink beforeI start dinner ?"
"What do you have?"
"Not much, really. Beer, tea, coffee."
"Tea sounds good."
He gathered the grocery bags and put them away, then walked to a small room offthe kitchen before returning with a box of tea. He pulled out a couple of teabags andset them by the stove, then filled the teapot. After putting it on the burner, he lit amatch, and she heard the sound of flames as they came to life.
"It'll be just a minute," he said. "This stove heats up pretty quick."
"That's fine."
When the teapot whistled, he poured two cups and handed one to her.
She smiled and took a sip, then motioned toward the window.
"I bet the kitchen is beautiful when the morning light shines in."
He nodded. "It is. I had larger windows put in on this side of the house for just thatreason. Even in the bedrooms upstairs."
"I'm sure your guests enjoy that. Unless of course they want to sleep late."
"Actually, I haven't had any guests stay over yet. Since my daddy passed on, I don'treally know who to invite."
By his tone, she knew he was just making conversation. Yet for some reason it madeHer feel.., lonely. He seemed to realize how she was feeling, but before she coulddwell on it, he changed the subject.
"I'm going to get the crabs in to marinate for a few minutes before I steam 'em,"
he said, putting his cup on the counter. He went to the cupboard and removed a largepot with a steamer and lid. He brought the pot to the sink, added water, then carriedit to the stove.
"Can I give you a hand with something?"
He answered over his shoulder. "Sure. How about cutting up some vegetables for thefryer. There's plenty in the icebox, and you can find a bowl over there." He motionedto the cabinet near the sink, and she took another sip of tea before setting her cupon the counter and retrieving the bowl. She carried it to the icebox and found someokra, zucchini, onions, and carrots on the bottom shelf.
Noah joined her in front of the open door, and she moved to make room for him. Shecould smell him as he stood next to her‐‐clean, familiar, distinctive‐‐and felt his armbrush against her as he leaned over and reached inside. He removed a beer and abottle of hot sauce, then returned to the stove. Noah opened the beer and poured itin the water, then added the hot sauce and some other seasoning as well. After
stirring the water to make sure the powders were dissolved, he went to the backdoor to get the crabs. He paused for a moment before going back inside and staredat Allie, watching her cut the carrots. As he did that, he wondered again why she hadcome, especially now that she was engaged. None of this seemed to make much senseto him. But then, Allie had always been surprising. He smiled to himself, rememberingback to the way she had been. Fiery, spontaneous, passion‐ate‐‐as he imagined mostartists to be. And she was definitely that. Artistic talent like hers was a gift. Heremembered seeing some paintings in the museums in New York and thinking thather work was just as good as what he had seen there.
She had given him a painting before she'd left that summer. It hung above thefireplace in the living room. She'd called it a picture of her dreams, and to him it hadseemed extremely sensual. When he looked at it, and he often did late in the evening,he could see desire in the colors and the lines, and if he focused carefully, he couldimagine what she had been thinking with every stroke.
A dog barked in the distance, and Noah realized he had been standing with the dooropen a long time. He quickly closed it, turning back to the kitchen. And as he walked,he wondered if she had noticed how long he'd been gone.
"How's it going?" he asked, seeing she
was almost finished.
"Good. I'm almost done here. Anything else for dinner?"
"I have some homemade bread that I was planning on."
"Homemade?"
"From a neighbor," he said as he put the pail in the sink. He started the faucet andbegan to rinse the crabs, holding them under the water, then letting them scurryaround the sink while he rinsed the next one. Allie picked up her cup and came overto watch him.
"Aren't you afraid they'll pinch you when you grab them?"
"No. Just grab 'em like this," he said, demonstrating, and she smiled.
"I forget you've done this your whole life."
"New Bern's small, but it does teach you how to do the things that matter." Sheleaned against the counter, standing close to him, and emptied her cup. When thecrabs were ready he put them in the pot on the stove. He washed his hands, turningto speak to her as he did so.
