"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.
"You want to sit on the porch for a few minutes? I'd like to let 'em soak for a halfhour." "Sure," she said.
He wiped his hands, and together they went to the back porch. Noah flipped on thelight as they went outside, and he sat in the older rocker, offering the newer one toher. When he saw her cup was empty, he went inside for a moment and emergedwith another cup of tea and a beer for himself. He held out the cup and she took it,sipping again before she set it on the table beside the chairs.
"You were sitting out here when I came, weren't you?"
He answered as he made himself comfortable. "Yeah. I sit out here every night. It's ahabit HOW."
"I can see why," she said as she looked around. "So, what is it you do these days?"
"Actually, I don't do anything but work on the house right now. It satisfies mycreative urges."
"How can you... I mean..." "Morris Goldman." "Excuse me?"
He smiled. "My old boss from up north. His name was Morris Goldman. He offered mea part of the business just as I enlisted and died before I got home. When I got backto the States, his lawyers gave me a check big enough to buy this place and fix it up."
She laughed under her breath. "You always told me you'd find a way to do it."
They both sat quietly for a moment, thinking back again. Allie took another sip oftea.
