Tribute

wouldn’t marry one who couldn’t hurt me.”
    Baffled, Cilla stared at Penny. “That makes absolutely no sense to me.” “If and when it does, I think you’ll be ready to see if the ring fits. I think your cabinets are beautiful, and they’re giving me cabinet lust. Why don’t we find somewhere to sit down, go over this menu for a few minutes. Then we’ll get out of your way.”
    Cilla sighed. “Maybe he’s not so much my father’s type. Maybe he’s you.”
    “No, indeed. I’ve always been so much meaner than Ford. Let’s sit out there.” Penny pointed out the window. “Under that blue umbrella.”
    When Penny sailed out, Patty stepped closer to slip an arm around Cilla’s waist. “She loves her boy. She wants him happy.”
    “I know. So do I.”
    MAYBE SHE SHOULD make a list, Cilla considered. Reasons for and reasons against taking the ring out of the box. She depended on lists, diagrams, drawings in every other area of her life. Surely it made sense to utilize one before making such a huge decision.
    The against list would be the easy part, she thought as she scooped up some post-workout, pre-workday Special K. She could probably fill pages with those items. She could, in fact, write a freaking book, as many others had, on the Hardy women.
    To be fair, there were a number for the pro side. But weren’t they primarily, even exclusively, emotion-driven? And weren’t her emotions twisted up with nerves because she was waiting—as he damn well knew— for him to stroll up to her at any point in any day and say, "Well?”
    Which he hadn’t, not once, in days.
    So she jumped, nearly bobbled her bowl of cereal, when he strolled in. “Too much coffee?” he suggested, and poured himself a bowl of Frosted Flakes. Spock dashed straight in to attack his dog feeder. “How do you eat that stuff? It looks like little twigs.”
    “As opposed to your choice, the vehicle for sugar?”
    “Exactly.”
    Not only up at six in the morning, she thought, but cheerful and bright-eyed. And she knew he’d worked late. But he was up, dressed and eating Frosted Flakes because he insisted on walking her across the road, hanging out until some of the crew arrived.
    Would that sort of thing go on the for or against list?
    “You know I’m not going to be attacked crossing the road at six-thirty in the morning.”
    “Odds are against it.” He smiled, ate.
    “And I know you worked late last night, and find it unnatural to be up at this hour of the morning.”
    “Had a good run, too. You know, I’m finding that I can get a lot done by round-about noon most days with this routine. A habit which I intend to shed like a bad suit in what I hope is the near future. But right now?”
    He paused to shovel in more Tony the Tiger. “It’s working. I should have ten chapters fully inked by the end of today and have time to put a couple of new teaser panels up on my website.”
    “Happy to help, but—”
    “You’re looking for the negative. I like that about you because it pushes me to look on the brighter side of things—sides I might’ve missed or taken for granted otherwise. You remind me I love what I do. And loving what I do, it’s interesting to do more of it than usual for a space of time. And to pay us both back for all this industry, I’ll be taking us to the Caymans—a favorite place of mine—right about the middle of January, where we’ll soak up sea and sand while our neighbors are shoveling snow.”
    “I’ll be finishing up two flips. I—”
    “You’ll have to make time in your schedule. We can always bump sun and sea to February. I’m easy.”
    “Not nearly as much as you pretend to be.” She opened the dishwasher to load in her bowl, spoon, mug. “You’re a slow leak, Ford.”
    His eyes continued to smile as he scooped up cereal. “Is that what I am?”
    “A slow leak, unchecked, eventually eats through just about anything. Stone, metal, wood. It doesn’t make much noise, and it’s a long way from the big gushing flood. But it gets the job done.”
    He shook his spoon at her. “I’m going to take that as a compliment. Kitchen counter’s coming in today, right?”
    “This morning. Then Buddy’s on for the finish plumbing this afternoon. ”
    He tucked his breakfast dishes in with hers. “Big day. Let’s get started. Walk!” he said, lifting his voice, and Spock raced in to run in circles.
    She walked out with them, then stopped just to look at the Little Farm. Summer thrived