Local Hero

both brows lifted. She hadn’t thought that Mitch would have a roommate. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth. That was something she should have checked out. For Radley’s sake.
    “I really am sorry,” she continued in a voice that had cooled dramatically. “Apparently I’ve caught you at a bad time.”
    “No.” Give the stupid mutt an inch and he took a mile, Mitch thought as he hefted the phone and climbed to the other side of the bed. “What’s up?”
    “Are you?”
    It was the mild disdain in her voice that had him bristling. That and the fact that it felt as though he’d eaten a sandbox. “Yeah, I’m up. I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”
    “I only called to give you all the numbers and information you need if you watch Radley next week.”
    “Oh.” He pushed the hair out of his eyes and glanced around, hoping he’d left a glass of watered-down soda or something close at hand. No luck. “Okay. You want to wait until I get a pencil?”
    “Well, I . . .” He heard her put her hand over the receiver and speak to someone—Radley, he imagined from the quick intensity of the voice. “Actually, if it wouldn’t put you out, Radley was hoping we could come by for a minute. He wants to introduce you to his friend. If you’re busy, I can just drop the information by later.”
    Mitch started to tell her to do just that. Not only could he go back to sleep, but he might just be able to wrangle five minutes alone with her. Then he thought of Radley standing beside his mother, looking up at her with those big dark eyes. “Give me ten minutes,” he muttered, and hung up before Hester could say a word.
    Mitch pulled on jeans, then went into the bath to fill the sink with cold water. He took a deep breath and stuck his face in it. He came up swearing but awake. Five minutes later he was pulling on a sweatshirt and wondering if he’d remembered to wash any socks. All the clothes that had come back from the laundry neatly folded had been dumped on the chair in the corner of the bedroom. He briefly considered pushing his way through them, then let it go when he heard the knock. Taz’s tail thumped on the mattress.
    “Why don’t you pick up this place?” Mitch asked him. “It’s a pigsty.”
    Taz grinned, showing a set of big white teeth, then made a series of growls and groans.
    “Excuses. Always excuses. And get out of bed. Don’t you know it’s after two?” Mitch rubbed a hand over his unshaven chin, then went to open the door.
    She looked great, just plain great, with a hand on a shoulder of each boy and a half smile on her face. Shy? he thought, a little surprised as he realized it. He had thought her cool and aloof, but now he believed she used that to hide an innate shyness, which he found amazingly sweet.
    “Hiya, Rad.”
    “Hi, Mitch,” Radley returned, almost bursting with importance. “This is my friend Josh Miller. He doesn’t believe you’re Commander Zark.”
    “Is that so?” Mitch looked down at the doubting Thomas, a skinny towhead about two inches taller than Rad. “Come on in.”
    “It’s nice of you to put up with this,” Hester began. “We weren’t going to have any peace until Rad and Josh had it settled.” The living room looked as though it had exploded. That was Hester’s first thought as Mitch closed the door behind them. Papers and clothes and wrappers were everywhere. She imagined there was furniture, too, but she couldn’t have described it.
    “Tell Josh you’re Commander Zark,” Radley insisted.
    “I guess you could say that.” The notion pleased him. “I created him, anyway.” He looked down again at Josh, whose pout had gone beyond doubt to true suspicion. “You two go to school together?”
    “Used to.” Josh stood close to Hester as he studied Mitch. “You don’t look like Commander Zark.”
    Mitch rubbed a hand over his chin again. “Rough night.”
    “He is too Zark. Hey, look, Mom. Mitch has a VCR.” Radley easily overlooked the clutter and homed in on the entertainment center. “I’m saving up my allowance to buy one. I’ve got seventeen dollars.”
    “It adds up,” Mitch murmured, and flicked a finger down Radley’s nose. “Why don’t we go into the office? I’ll show you what’s cooking in the spring issue.”
    “Wow.”
    Taking this as an assent, Mitch led the way.
    The office, Hester noted, was big and bright and every bit as chaotic as the living room. She was a creature of order, and it was beyond