"I had the weirdest dream about Lu the other night - something to do with Mel Gibson and frogs. "
Mia paused, looked up again. "Frogs?"
"Not your lily pad variety. A big, spooky frog. " Ripley furrowed her brow, but could bring the dream back only in vague and disjointed pieces. "Something about the stupid gargoyle thing of hers, too. Weird," she said again.
"Lulu might be interested - if Mel was naked. "
"Yeah, well. Anyway. " Ripley stuck her hands in her pockets, shifted her feet. "Anyway, I guess you knowLogan came over to the house a few days ago. "
"Yes. " Mia said a mental charm as she set a plant. "It's natural he'd want to see the house again. "
"Maybe so, but that doesn't mean Mac should let him inside and give him a damn beer. Believe me, I skinned him over that one. "
"Ripley. There's no reason Mac should've been rude, and no way his nature would allow him to be. "
"Yeah, yeah. " Which was, she thought, just where her argument with him had ended up. "But I don't have to like it. He's got this whole mumbo about Sam's place in the destiny deal, and your step toward holding the circle intact. "
Mia's stomach clutched, but her hands remained steady as she selected another plant. "I've never considered Mac's theories or opinions mumbo. "
"You don't live with him. " But on a sigh, Ripley crouched down beside Mia. There was a time, not so long before, when such a gesture would have come hard to her. It still took her a moment to find what she wanted to say, and how she wanted to say it.
"Okay, Mac's stupendously smart, and he's thorough, and nine times out of ten, he's right, which is really irritating in the day-to-day course of things. "
"You're crazy about him," Mia murmured.
"Well, sure. Sexiest geek on the planet, and all mine. But even the amazing Dr. Booke has to miss sometime. I just want to say I don't figure Sam Logan has to have anything to do with anything. "
"Succinct, and sentimental. "
"Well, why the hell should he?" Ripley lifted her hands, let them fall in frustration. "You two had a thing when you were practically kids still, and it cut you up when he ended it. But you've been handling the way he came bac
k, going about your business and pretty much keeping your distance. You've blown him off, and lightning hasn't shot out of the sky. "
"I'm going to sleep with him. "
"So I say chances are he's irrelevant to your part of the . . . What? What? " Ripley's mouth dropped open as she goggled. "Sweet Jesus Christ. "
Even as Mia's lips twitched, Ripley leaped to her feet and headed into a full-blown rant.
"What are you thinking? Have you lost your mind? Sleep with him? You're going to give the guy sex as a reward for dumping you?"
All amusement fled. Carefully tugging off her gloves, Mia got slowly to her feet. "I'm thinking I'm an adult and capable of making my own decisions. That I'm a single, healthy, thirty-year-old woman who is free to have a physical relationship with a single, healthy man. "
"It's not a man, it'sLogan !"
"Perhaps you could shout just a little louder. I don't believe Mrs. Bigelow across the street heard you clearly. "
Ripley set her teeth, rocked back on her heels. "I gave you too much credit, I see that. I figured you'd kick his ass, one way or the other. Then dust your hands off and walk away. I don't know why I thought you had it in you. You never did. "
"What does that mean?"
"Just what I said. You want to cozy up with Sam, go right ahead. Don't look for me to pick up the pieces when he breaks you again. "
Mia bent to set down her garden trowel. Even a controlled and civilized woman had to take care when she had a weapon in her hand. "You needn't worry. I've had experience in that area with you. You cut me off every bit as coldly, as completely as he did. Cut yourself off, for ten years, from the gift we share and all its joys and responsibilities. Yet I still manage to join hands with you when it's necessary. "
"I didn't have a choice. "
"Convenient, isn't it, how when one devastates another, it's always because there wasn't a choice. "
"I couldn't help you. "
"You could've been there. I needed you to be there," Mia said quietly, and turned to go.
"I couldn't. " Ripley took her arm, wrapped her fingers tight. "It's his goddamn fault. When he left you all you did was bleed, and I . . . "
"What?"
Ripley dropped her hand. "I don't want to get into all this. "
"You kicked in the door, Deputy. Have the guts to step through it. "
"Fine, great. " She paced away, paced back. Temper still stained her cheeks, but her eyes were bleak.
"You walked around like a zombie for weeks, barely functioning. Like somebody who hadn't quite recovered, and never would, from some horrible illness. "
"It probably came from having my heart ripped out. "
"I know it, because I felt it too. " Fisting a hand, Ripley tapped it on her chest. "I felt what you felt. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat. I could barely get out of bed most days. It was like dying from the inside out. "
"If you're talking about complete empathy, I've never - " Mia stammered.
"I don't know what you call it," Ripley snapped. "I experienced, physically, what you experienced. And I couldn't stand it. I wanted to do something, wanted you to do something. Pay him back, make him hurt. And the longer it went on, the more angry I got. If I was mad, it didn't hurt as much. I couldn't think past the fury. "
She drew a breath. "I was standing outside, behind the house. Zack had just come in from a sail. Minutes before. And all this rage just rose up. I thought about what I wanted to do, what I could do. It was inside me to do it. I pulled lightning out of the sky. A black bolt. And it struck the boat where Zack had just been. A few minutes earlier, and I might have killed him. I couldn't control it. "
"Ripley. " Shaken, appalled, Mia reached out to touch her arm. "It must have terrified you. "
"A few giant steps beyond terrified. "