Eclipse Bay

and shower?”
    “Pipes?” Hannah stopped trying to tease out the little nuances of “honey” and focused on the more disturbing word. “Rafe, what’s going on there? Is something wrong?”
    “I’m getting an assessment of the condition of the plumbing and wiring,” he said casually. “The good news is that Isabel had it all brought up to code a few years ago.” His paused to speak to someone else again. “Is that copper?”
    “Rafe, who are you talking to?”
    “The Willis brothers are here,” he said into the phone. “I’m having them go over the place from top to bottom.”
    “You’ve got Walter and Torrance Willis there?” She shot up from the kitchen chair. “Why?”
    “Just getting together some preliminary estimates to see how much it will cost to put in the inn and restaurant,” he said with breathtaking innocence.
    “You can’t do that.” She grabbed her keys and broke into a run, heading to the door. “Not without my permission, damn it.”
    “We both agreed we wanted to open an inn here at Dreamscape.”
    “We haven’t even decided how we’re going to deal with the legalities of ownership. Don’t you dare touch a thing until I get there.”
    Winston saw her heading for the door. He started to bounce a little.
    “I told you, I’m just getting some preliminary figures together,” Rafe said.
    “I am coming over there right now. You listen to me, Rafe Madison. I own half of that house. Don’t you dare touch a single thing until I get there. And don’t let the Willis brothers touch anything, either.”
    “It’s a little late to call them off,” Rafe said reflectively. “They’re already pretty deep into the plumbing.”
    “I don’t believe this.”
    She tossed the cordless phone down on the hall table and rushed outside to the car. Winston followed. He leaped into the passenger seat and sat back with an air of anticipation.
    “I knew last night was all about Dreamscape,” she told him.

    She sailed through the front door of the big house a short time later, ready for battle. Winston trotted in right behind her, greeted Rafe briefly, and began a tour of the kitchen.
    Rafe glanced at his watch as Hannah came to a seething halt in front of him. “Six minutes and twenty-two seconds. You made good time.”
    She planted her hands on her hips. “What is going on here?”
    Rafe was saved the necessity of responding to the question by the small, neatly made man who chose that moment to wander out into the hall.
    Compact and completely bald, Walter Willis had always reminded Hannah of an android. There was a mechanical precision about his movements that lacked the casual human element. His speech was clipped and crisp. The starched creases in his work clothes never softened. It was as if he had been designed and constructed under controlled, sterile conditions in a high-tech manufacturing plant.
    “Hannah.” Walter wiped his hands on a spotless rag that dangled from his belt. “Good to see you again. Heard you were back in town.”
    Hannah was amazed by her self-mastery. She managed to veil the fuming expression she knew had been blazing in her eyes. She even summoned up what she hoped looked like a genuinely pleasant smile of greeting.
    “Hello, Walter,” she said. “It’s been a while.”
    “Certainly has.” Walter turned his head and called to his brother over his shoulder. “Torrance, come on out here and say hello to Hannah.”
    Torrance stepped out of the laundry room. His expression brightened instantly. He hoisted a pipe wrench in greeting. “Hey, there, Hannah. Welcome back.”
    The Willises were identical twins, but it was easy to tell them apart because, sartorially speaking, they were polar opposites. If Walter had been engineered to precise specifications on a futuristic computerized assembly line, Torrance had been someone’s home garage project.
    Rather than shaving off what little hair he still possessed as Walter did, Torrance wore his thin, scraggly locks in a ponytail that stuck out through the opening at the back of his cap. The trailing end of a snake tattoo slithered out below one sleeve. His coveralls were stained with what looked like several eons’ worth of grease, grime, and pizza sauce. The only things that were clean and shiny about him were the tools in the wide belt that he wore low on his hips.
    “Isabel always said the two of you would come back for good someday.” Torrance turned to Walter. “Didn’t she say exactly