“We’ll go back up. I’ll tuck you in. I can stay with you.”
“I’m fine, really.” If she didn’t count feeling light-headed and heavy in the limbs. “Just stupid with tired. And the moment’s passed for tonight.”
“I think you’re right. The house is quiet. It just feels quiet now. All settled down.”
Still, when they got upstairs, Cleo sat on the side of the bed. “No wandering without me.”
“Definitely don’t plan on it.”
“I’ll see you in the morning.”
But she sat in her sitting room for another ten minutes, then crept back. When she saw Sonya sleeping, she relaxed enough to go back to bed.
* * *
A quiet house surrounded Sonya in the morning. Grateful for it, she went through the breakfast routine—hers and Yoda’s. Clover greeted her with “Good Morning Starshine.”
“Good morning to you.”
She wondered, if she made it to the afterlife—a very long time in the future—if she’d manage the perpetual cheerful as it appeared Clover did.
By eight-thirty, she settled at her desk with Yoda under it.
An hour later, she heard Cleo shuffling toward the staircase.
“Hey!”
Still in her pajamas, hair everywhere, Cleo looked in with sleepy eyes. And grunted.
“Just wanted to say thanks for having my back last night.”
“I’ve got yours, you’ve got mine.” Yawning, Cleo bent down to rub Yoda when he darted out to greet her. “Who can be a morning grump with that happy face? But I need coffee. Must have coffee.”
Yoda watched her go, then decided to spread out by the fire.
After good progress on the Doyle job, and a few tweaks to the basic design for the flower shop, Sonya started on the Ryder presentation.
One hour, she reminded herself. Then a break, and back to Doyle.
At the end of the hour, she gave herself ten more minutes.
Satisfied, she started to turn to call Yoda. “Let’s go outside.”
But he wasn’t by the fire, or under her desk. Thinking he’d gone to hunt for Cleo, she turned off her music.
And she heard the distinctive sounds of the ball bouncing downstairs and the dog scrambling after it.
“I guess Cleo’s taking a break, too. Maybe we’ll all take a walk.”
She started down as the ball came bouncing back with Yoda giving chase.
“Hey, Cleo, how about we play fetch outside, since we’ve timed our breaks?”
But Cleo didn’t stand in the long hall. No one did.
Yoda dropped the ball, turned his head one way, the other. Then he picked it up again, and raced to her.
“Cleo’s not taking a break to play fetch, is she? Sorry to interrupt the game.”
She picked up the ball and had Yoda racing in circles as she started down the hall.
In the kitchen, she found the cabinet doors open, and the box of dog treats on the island. Open.
“Did they give you some of these, or is this my cue to do that? I can’t be too freaked by a ghost who likes dogs. Just one,” she told Yoda. “Then we’ll go outside.”
When she dug in for one of the little squares, Yoda sat, eyes gleaming. Then he reared up on his stubby back legs and waved his front paws.
After a surprised laugh, she rewarded the dog.
“Did he teach you that? I’m guessing boy, young boy. I don’t know if you can go outside or not,” she said as she closed the cabinet doors, “but if you can, you’re welcome to join us.”
She grabbed the old jacket she left in the mudroom and went out into the brisk April air.
Warm and balmy might be weeks off, but she saw more patches of ground. She decided she’d survived her first winter in Maine.
To her delight, she spied a few crocuses popping purple on the side of the apartment. And as she walked, she saw a few brave stems of green pushing out of the ground.
Daffodils, maybe. She’d find out soon.
“It’ll be so pretty,” she told the dog, then threw the ball for him. “I’m ready to say goodbye to the drama of winter, and hello to the happy of spring.”
Wandering around the house, she hunted for other signs that spring was on the way while the tireless Yoda chased the ball.
She decided the wind off the sea didn’t feel as sharp as it had even a week ago as she walked to the stone wall.
“Oh, oh, look! I think it’s dolphins!” Thrilled, she watched one—no, two—no, three!—as they jumped and dived. Caught, she gathered up the dog, pointed. “See? Can you see them? I think they’re playing.”