A door slammed from farther down the building, making me jump awake. Reaching for my
phone, I realized that it was five-thirty. Dammit.
Scrubbing my hands and face, and brushing my hair at top speed, I raced to the farmhouse
and into the kitchen. Miriam was there, calm and cheerful
as ever, stirring up a huge pot of
delicious smelling sauce. I saw that Dean was behind her, chopping green onions for the
salad.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, “I was working all afternoon and fell asleep, and forgot to set an
alarm.”
“It happens, honey,” Miriam said, waving her hand at me as if it was no big deal. I noticed
that today she had little tomato clips holding her hair in place. “Dean said that you worked
really hard this morning, so that will tucker a gal out.”
“I’m usually on time, really. I’ve set my phone so that there’s an alarm at ten to five every
day, in case it ever happens again.”
Miriam turned to Dean. “I’m glad this one is staying for more than a week.”
“Me too,” Dean said quietly as Miriam turned away. Something in the way he looked at me made my skin feel warm while my breath quickened.
Miriam turned back to the huge center island, handing me a freshly washed bowl of three
different types of lettuce. “Be a lamb and tear this up for me, then maybe you could make
us another batch of that salad dressing of yours.”
“Sure.” When she was back at the stove, humming to herself, I asked Dean quietly, “Where
are the other girls?”
“They’re leaving tomorrow, so they probably didn’t see the need to do another round in the
kitchen,” he shrugged.
“Wow,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I guess it must be odd having strangers in and out all
the time. It’s hard enough to learn whether you can depend on a person.”
“Don’t you worry, Dean,” Miriam said, shaking a spoon in his direction. “Do you remember
Ryan, that musician with the long black hair?”
Dean nodded slightly. “He was here last year, right?”
“That’s it. He’ll be here tomorrow. He’s only staying for two days, to lock himself in a room
to edit the lyrics of his new album. Something about construction at his apartment making it