High Noon

Eve she hadn’t been with a manfor…
    No, no, no. She wasn’t going to count back again and make herself crazy.
    She was picky, that’s all—and good for her, right? She was picky about whom she dated, and a whole lot pickier about whom she slept with. She had pride, she had her values, and most important, she had a daughter to consider.
    Yet here she was obsessing about sex while getting ready for a simple Sunday barbecue. Pitiful.
    She took another long, searching look at herself in the mirror. Pitiful or not, she was going to use a little extra blush. And wear the damn green dress.
    She took longer than usual to put herself together. Not as long as it took Carly, the Fashion Princess, to primp for a backyard picnic, but longer than her usual routine. Her first reward for the effort was the beaming smile her mother sent her when Phoebe stopped by Essie’s sitting room.
    Essie had switched from chat room to sketching, but stopped when Phoebe did a flourishing turn in the doorway. “Well?”
    “Oh, Phoebe, you look a picture!”
    “Not too much?”
    “Honey, it’s a simple dress, and just perfect for a Sunday barbecue. It’s how it looks on you that snaps. You look all fresh and sexy at the same time.”
    “Exactly the combination I was shooting for. Duncan’s going to be here in a few minutes, I expect. I’m going down to get those flowers. Anything you need before I leave?”
    “Not a thing. You have a good time, now.”
    “I will. I’ll be back before Carly’s bedtime, but—”
    “If you’re not, I think Ava and I know how to tuck her up. I don’t want you watching the clock.”
    She wouldn’t, Phoebe promised herself. She’d just let it all unfold at its own time and pace. She’d enjoy herself, and enjoy knowing she looked fresh and sexy in a green sundress that showed off her arms and back. She’d worked hard enough on them.
    She went down, and out to the summer kitchen. In Cousin Bess’s day it had been used routinely. For the lavish parties she enjoyed throwing, for canning, for preparation of simple meals on hot nights. They used it more sporadically now, but the second refrigerator was handy for storing extra cold drinks. Phoebe took out the butter-yellow daisies she’d picked up as a hostess gift.
    It was going to be a pretty evening, she decided, and turned to admire the flowers of the courtyard Ava had labored over.
    “Well, my God!” She stared, openmouthed, at the dead rat at the bottom of the steps.
    She had to bury revulsion to step down for a closer look. No doubt it was dead, but it didn’t look mauled, as she’d expected. As she imagined it would if some cat had caught it, then gotten bored enough to dump it in the courtyard like some nasty neighbor’s gift.
    If she’d had to guess at cause of death, she’d have voted for the sharp spring of a trap, right across the neck. The idea made her shudder as she stepped back again.
    Some kids, she thought, playing a particularly unpleasant prank, tossing a dead rat over the wall.
    She went back inside, dug up a shoe box, got the broom. And, stomach rolling with disgust, managed to sweep and nudge the corpse inside. She wasn’t ashamed to look away with her eyes half-closed as she put on the lid, or to hold the box at arm’s length to carry it to the trash can.
    Shuddering, shuddering, she backpedaled from the trash can, then turned to dash inside. She scrubbed her hands like a surgeon before an operation, all the while telling herself not to be an idiot. She hadn’t touched the awful thing.
    She had herself nearly settled down when the doorbell rang. The quick, appreciative grin on Duncan’s face did the rest of the job.
    “Hello, gorgeous.”
    “Hello back.”
    “Those for me?”
    She tucked the flowers in the crook of her arm as she closed the door behind her. “They certainly are not. They’re for our hostess. Or host. You never said which it was.”
    “Hostess. How’s that shoulder?”
    “It’s coming right along, thank you.” She sent him a knowing look. “I’m about ready to start arm wrestling again.”
    “I knew this guy when I was tending bar. Russian guy, arms looked like toothpicks. Nobody could take him down. I don’t think he ever paid for a drink.” He opened the car door for her. “You smell great, by the way.”
    “I really do.” She laughed, slid in. When he got in, she shifted toward him. “Now tell me about this friend of yours who’s going to be feeding me.”
    “Best person I