"I do what I have to do."

"But they've only postponedthe wedding. They didn't cancelit."

"Give it time, my dear."

"When I went down for a gla.s.s of milk last night, Elmo was still in his study. It was after midnight."

"That's good. The more time he spends on the computer, the less time he spends with her."

"Well, I just feel sorry for him. He's doing all that work to help you because he thinks you're sick."

"Don't feel sorry for him. He brought this on himself. He should have had the good sense to steer clear of that money grubber."

They both heard the car driving alongside the house. Somebody was leaving. Macy rushed to the window.

"It's Carsie. Looks like she's alone."

"Good. Now we just need to lose the sister."

"Oh, I'm sure she's coming back," said Macy.

"Not necessarily..."

"I'll find out what's going on."

Macy went down to the kitchen and poured coffee into one of Elmo's favorite cups. Then she put a few of Hadley's chewy chocolate chip cookies on a plate. They were still warm.

She peeked into the study. "How about a little snack."

Without looking away from the monitor, Elmo said, "Not right now, Macy. I'm very busy." Then he caught a whiff of the coffee and the freshly baked Hadley's. He smiled at her. "On second thought, sure, that would be great."

Elmo took a big bite of a cookie. "Mmm. n.o.body makes them like Hadley." He washed it down with a sip of coffee.

"Yeah, they're irresistible," said Macy. "By the way, uh, I just saw Carsie leaving in her car."

"She's going to Jefferson. Gonna spend a few days with her grandmother."

"Oh."

"It'll be good for her. I just can't spend any time with her right now, and I know she's feeling neglected."

"I see. Any idea how long she's staying?"

"Not really. Probably a week or two. Why?"

"Just wondering. Well, if you need anything, you know I'm always here for you."

"I know. Thanks, Macy."

As she spun around to walk out of the study, her flowered skirt twirled to catch up with her body. She pictured Elmo watching her, admiring her perfectly shaped calves, waiting for her skirt to settle back down across her cute little b.u.t.t.

Macy knew she could make Elmo forget about his fiancee. She only wished she had pursued him before Carsie came along. She had wasted years of opportunity, spending all those nights alone with him watching movies. She should have grabbed him one night and seduced him with a mind-blowing kiss. A kiss that encompa.s.sed all the pent-up l.u.s.t hidden deep in her heart. She had done it in her mind a thousand times. But instead, she just kept waiting for him to make the first move. And he never did.

Carsie had said that when she accidentally b.u.mped into Elmo in the supermarket she had finally found the man of her dreams. Or had she found the moneyof her dreams? That's what Mallie Mae thought. Macy actually believed Carsie's feelings were real.

But that didn't change the fact that Macy wanted Elmo for herself. And she had been feeling pretty desperate until the wedding was postponed. Maybe there was still hope for her and Elmo. She promised herself that if she didget another chance, she would not be so timid.

"Thanks for helping tonight. But I hate that you're missing choir rehearsal," said Cynthia.

"It's okay. Henry didn't mind filling in for me," said Greg.

They rode along in silence for a few minutes. Beverly had offered to make dinner, since they would get to her house by 6:00. Then they would pack more of her things. Greg had reserved a U-Haul for Sat.u.r.day.

"I had another one of my crazy dreams this morning," said Greg.

"What happened thistime?

"Well, we were lying in bed and-"

"-in bed? I guess our morals aren't as good in your dreams."

"No, no. We were married."

"Oh. Is that where you think we're headed?"

"Uh, I don't know. It was just a dream."

"Okay. Go on."

"Anyway...we were making love and-"

"-you had a s.e.x dream about me?"

"But we were married."

"In your dreams."

"I see," said Greg.

"No-I didn't mean it thatway. I wasn't saying we'd never get married," she said.

"So, you're saying we willget married? Can I take that as a yes?"

She grinned at him and blushed.

He went on. "So, there we were, in the middle of it, and your mother just walked right into our bedroom and announced that breakfast was ready."

Cynthia started laughing.

"She was standing there staring at us. And I was on top of you!"

Cynthia laughed even harder.

Greg laughed too. He was thrilled that Cynthia was not at all shocked by the talk of marriage. But he would have felt better if she had rea.s.sured him that Beverly would notbe living with them if they ever got married.

"I love you, no matter how goofy you are," she said.

"Gee, thanks."

"In fact, your goofiness is one of the reasons I love you. So, don't stop being goofy."

"Don't worry. I don't think I can."

They laughed.

"What about my bald head? Is thatone of the reasons you love me?"

"Well..."

"And how about this spare tire? Is thatone of the reasons you love me? Are you gonna tell me that you likea man with some meat on his bones?"

"Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about that," she said.

"Uh-oh. I finally found the deal breaker. You're dumping me because I'm overweight, right?"

Cynthia chuckled. "No, no."

"What then?"

"You should go with me when I jog every morning."

"Ah-ha! I should have known! If I want to keep you, I'll have to get into shape."

"Well, let's just say that if you really want to catchme, you'll have to be able to catch me."

"Very funny. Okay. Where do I sign up?"

"There's no sign-up sheet, soldier. Just report to my quarters at o-six-hundred."

"Sir! Yes Sir! I will be there, Sir!" Greg saluted her.

"Really, it'll be fun, Greg."

"Yes, Sir!"

Cynthia punched him in the arm and he smiled.

Carnie had finished her dinner and gone down into the sub-bas.e.m.e.nt for further investigation. She looked through one of the notebooks, trying once more to make sense of the formulas, but soon decided it was a waste of time. She went through the bathroom and into the four-bed hospital ward. Yes, this would work just fine, she thought.

She walked into one of the two small rooms off the ward and studied it more carefully than before. There were only two metal cabinets in the room, and they were empty. But something about the floor seemed familiar. It was like the floor in her bedroom. She got down on hands and knees. No, it couldn't be, she thought. She knocked on the floor in several places.

Carnie ran out through the lab and up the stairs and retrieved her Bowie knife. She rushed back to the room and began to search for the edges of a secret door. It didn't take her long to find them.

When she finally got the door open and leaned it up against the wall, she was disappointed to see nothing but dirt. She started to put the door back in place, but changed her mind. Kneeling down, she stabbed her knife into the dirt several times. On the third try she hit something. It was hard, but not rock. It felt like wood. She dug with her knife and her bare hands, throwing dirt to the side of the hole she was making-like a dog digging up a prized bone.

By the time she stopped, some of her fingers were bleeding. It was a door or some type of cover, she decided. She pried it open and was shocked by what she saw. And Carnie Slitherstone was not easily shocked.

"Oh, Elmo, what dirty secrets you have," she said out loud.

Now she knew her scheme would work. Elmo would be forced to play along. It had been a wild idea, and she had already realized that Elmo would turn her down flat. But that was before she found this.

Her cell rang.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"What's happening there?"

"Elmo's going blind at the computer. Mallie Mae and Macy are upstairs. I'm in the secret bas.e.m.e.nt."

"What are you doing down there?"

"Just looking around, working out some details."

"You still think you can talk Elmo into holding secret clinical trials down there?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"He'll never buy it, Carnie."

"Oh, yes he will." She looked down at her discovery. "He'll have no choice."

Chapter14.

"It's 8:55, and we will be closing in five minutes. Thank you for shopping at your Coreyville Pharmacy," said the a.s.sistant manager over the sound system. Then he walked to the entrance and locked the door. If somebody had waited that late to get their prescription, it was just too bad. They could come back tomorrow. His stomach was screaming for an order of Wendy's biggie fries.

There was only one customer in the store-a long-haired man in granny gla.s.ses with a beard, wearing bell-bottom jeans and an oversized jacket. The old guy was straight out of a history book-San Francisco hippies, 1967. The only thing that spoiled the look was the more modern-looking jacket.

The man had been browsing the aisles for ten minutes or so, hands always in his pockets. "Sir, could I please get your help for a minute?" he said.