Final Appeal

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Authors: Joanne Fluke
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Greek, but I haven’t let it go to my head. Come on then, Mike Kruger, do your stretching and then we’ll go.”
    Before Michael could think of an excuse. Doris had him going through a series of stretching exercises right there in the hallway. As she supervised his routine, she asked more questions.
    â€œAre you married, Mike?”
    â€œNo. I’m single.”
    â€œSo is Toni. I’ve been married for twenty years to the only man who’ll put up with me. My husband is a man of infinite patience. Are you new to this area, Mike?”
    Michael was about to shake his head, but he caught himself just in time. Mike Kruger had an Ohio driver’s license.
    â€œI just moved here from Cleveland.”
    â€œYou’ll love California, Mike. It’s a paradise compared to the Midwest or the East. Of course, it always takes time to get used to a new area, so if you need to know where something is, just ask me. Or you can ask Toni. Isn’t that right, Toni?”
    Toni looked surprised, but she nodded. “Of course. I’d be glad to help.”
    Michael felt a pleasant jolt as he heard Toni’s voice, for the first time. It was warm but slightly tentative. He could tell she wasn’t as outgoing as Doris.
    â€œPut your hands down a little lower, Mike.” Doris gestured. “Now lean against the wall and extend. You have to get the kinks out before we start. So what do you do, Mike?”
    Michael froze, what did he do? Luckily, Doris jumped in before he had time to think of an answer.
    â€œNo, don’t tell me, let me guess. If you were a businessman, you’d be at work right now, so that’s not it. And you don’t have calluses on your hands. That rules out manual labor. You’re not suntanned, so you work inside. And you watch people intently, especially Toni, but that’s understandable. She’s pretty, isn’t she?”
    Michael laughed and nodded. Doris didn’t pull any punches. He glanced at Toni and noticed she was blushing, but she looked amused. Good. She had a sense of humor.
    â€œOkay, Mike. Switch to the other leg. You’re almost ready to run. Now, back to the subject of what you do. I get the feeling that not much escapes you, and that makes you a student of human behavior. You don’t look like a school teacher, because you’re not burned out. And I can’t see you as a doctor or a dentist. I know! I bet you’re either an artist or a writer.”
    Michael latched onto her suggestion. Not an artist. She might want to see some of his work.
    â€œYou’re right. Doris. I’m working on a novel.”
    â€œI knew it! And you work at home?”
    Michael nodded and Doris beamed. “That’s wonderful! Toni and I work at home, too. I do custom sewing for a local designer. Toni? Tell Mike what you do.”
    â€œI’m a computer researcher.”
    Toni stepped a little closer, and Michael felt his heart beat faster. Since she didn’t seem inclined to elaborate, he searched for something to say.
    â€œI’m afraid I don’t know much about computers, Toni. What kind do you have?”
    Toni began to smile as she described a laptop with a second external hard drive with a graphics card that was on the cloud and hooked up to her hotspot. Mike didn’t have the slightest idea what she was talking about, but he noticed that she didn’t seem shy at all when she was describing the equipment she used for work.
    As soon as Toni stopped speaking, Doris reached out to grab his hand. “Okay, Mike. Let’s go get some exercise.”
    Then, before he even had time to catch his breath, Michael was jogging down the hallway between Doris and Toni, heading for the door to the stairs.
    â€œWhere do we go from here?” Michael slowed a little as they approached the door.
    â€œUp one flight and past the four hundreds.”
    Doris led the way, running up the stairs backwards so she could

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