Still Life with Elephant by Judy Reene Singer

Author:Judy Reene Singer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2007-08-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-nine

SOMEONE UP there was listening, because Reese was gone by the time I got home. I led Tom into the house, where Grace sniffed his shoes for an embarrassingly long time before finally nipping him in the shoelaces. I pulled her off. “NO BITE!” I growled into her ear.

“What does she have against Bruno Maglis?” Tom asked, retying his shoelaces.

“She has issues,” I explained, then excused myself to lock her in the bathroom.

When I got back, Tom was staring at a mug on the drain rack that Matt had always used for his morning coffee. It was a big blue mug with a shaggy dog on the front, and it read “World Class Vet.” Reese had started drinking out of it. I turned it to face the other way.

“My brother was here,” I said. “I guess he was using it.”

Tom raised his hand to my face and ran his thumb across my cheek. It left a trail of sweetness.

“Would you prefer I go home?” he asked gently.

“No,” I said, reaching up and clasping his hand in mine. I didn’t want him to go. I wanted to let go of Matt. I didn’t want it to be his and my house anymore. I wanted to cleanse him from everything. I wanted to begin a new life.

I stood awkwardly in front of Tom, painfully aware that everything in the house had once belonged to Matt and me, and I was standing in it with another man.

“I guess I’ll make coffee,” I said.

“Not now,” he said. He was being very polite, but I could see him looking around. I loved my kitchen, but I realized how modest and small it must have seemed to him, although earlier that morning I had thought it was perfectly comfortable. We stood there for a moment, awkward and aching for more from each other, and afraid to move, until I got an inspiration.

“Would you like to see my horses?” I asked.

“I thought you would never ask,” Tom said, maybe a bit relieved, and followed me out through the back door.

Mousi was asleep in his hay nest, a big white mound; Isis was sleeping with her head under her hay rack; Conversano was vacuuming up the remains of his dinner; Delaney watched us with great suspicion from over his stall door. I introduced them all, until we got to Delaney. Tom reached out to pet him, and Delaney reared sideways before scooting away.

“I got him in for retraining,” I said. “He’s got—issues.”

“Good God,” Tom said, “does everything in your life have issues?”

“I had a jelly donut this morning that didn’t,” I said.

We returned to the kitchen, and I stood there wondering what to do next. Reese had left the elephant music playing loudly on the stereo for me.

“Would you mind if we turned the music down a little?” Tom asked, looking toward the stereo. “And what on earth is that playing, anyway?”

“It’s my brother’s music, he lent it to me.” I said. “I always keep music playing.”

“Always?” he asked.

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