Tribute

Steve reached for it from the inside. “You’re up. Why didn’t you call me? You shouldn’t take the steps by yourself.”
    “I’m fine. I’m good. Ford.”
    “Good to see you out.”
    “Good to be. Hey, Spock. Hey, boy.” He sat on one of the white plastic chairs, stroking the dog, who laid his front legs on Steve’s knee.
    “You look better,” Cilla decided.
    “Magic pills and sleep. I nap like a three-year-old these days, but it does the job.”
    “You’re probably hungry. Why don’t I fix you some food? Something to drink? Get you—”
    “Cill.” He started to tell her not to bother, changed his mind. “Yeah, I could use a sandwich or something. Not hospital food or smuggled-in goods. Maybe you could throw something together for all of us.”
    “Sure. Give me a few minutes.”
    When she dashed inside, Steve shook his head. “She’s hovering, man.”
    “I talked her out of the little bedside john.”
    “I owe you. What’s in the bag?”
    Ford passed it over, and after a quick look, Steve broke out in a grin. “Now we’re talking. Thanks. Listen, I need to get the exercise in. You spot me on a walk around?”
    “Okay.”
    Ford waited until Steve handled the stairs, then walked with him away from the house. “Something on your mind?”
    “Lots of shit, man. It still gets a little bogged coming through the channels. Cops don’t have dick, right?”
    “That’d be about it.”
    “It looks like a one-time thing. Just bad luck. I mean, nothing’s happened since.”
    “No.”
    Steve stared at Ford’s profile. “You’d tell me straight?”
    Ford thought of Cilla’s car door, but set it aside. “Nobody’s broken into the barn, bothered the house.”
    “You were bunking here while I was in the hospital. I got word on that.”
    “Hey. My sleeping bag.”
    “So you and Cilla aren’t in the sack?”
    “Not quite yet.”
    “But you’re into her. Look, that’s your business, her business and all that bullcrap, but I’m asking because I need to know if you’re going to look out for her when I’m gone.”
    Ford paused as Steve did. “Going somewhere?”
    “I haven’t said anything to her yet. I was going to when we got back, but Jesus, she fixed up the room for me. Down to flowers, you know. Oh, and thanks for the push on the cable.”
    “It’s only right.”
    With a nod, Steve began to walk again. “The thing is, I should’ve headed back last week, latest. Plans changed on account of brain surgery. I’d stay if I thought she needed me to watch out for her, or I could help out. She can take care of herself, that’s Christ’s truth, but . . . Hell, maybe it’s the near-death experience. Whatever. I want to get home. I want to sit on the beach, soak up the rays. But I need to know somebody’s got her back.”
    “I’ve got her back, Steve.”
    Steve stopped to stare at the barn. “She said you bought the paint. While I was still out of it.” He nodded, as if satisfied. “You’re all right, Ford. Totally not the type she usually lets get a taste. It’s about time. She digs on candles. When you’re making it,” Steve added. “She digs on lots of candles around. Doesn’t mind music, either. Doesn’t need it, like some do, but she’s good with it. Lights on, lights off; she’s okay either way. But she does dig on the candle thing.”
    Ford cleared his throat. “Appreciate the tips. How are you getting back to L.A.?”
    “The doc wants to see me Friday, so I’m going to stick till Saturday. I’ve got a friend in New Jersey who’s coming down in an RV. We’ll load me and the bike up, head west. Don’t say anything to her, okay? I want to tell her myself.”
    Cilla whistled from the veranda. “You guys want to eat?”
    Spock’s answer was to run toward her as if hellhounds were on his heels.
    “The mountains are cool,” Steve commented as they turned back.
    “That’s part of what pulled her out east. She told me how the mountains seem like home. Me? I miss the ocean.” He nudged Ford with his elbow. “And the women in very small bikinis.”
    SHE SLEPT POORLY, with one ear cocked for Steve, and her mind niggling over the fact he planned on leaving in a matter of days.
    How could she take care of him if he was three thousand miles away?
    One day out of the hospital, and he was planning cross-country trips. In an RV? It was so like him, she thought as she tossed over onto her back. Always had to move, never stay in one place too long. That’s where