beach."
"He told me that he wanted to look at girls in bikinis, all day," Jeff announced.
"Yeah," Theo added. "He said there's even beaches where some of the ladies don't wear any
swimsuits at all."
"No kidding?" Ethan paused, a forkful of potatoes halfway to his mouth. "I've got Uncle Victor's
address in Maui. Maybe I'll pay him a visit next time I get a few free days. Take a tour of the
beaches, or something."
Jeff chortled so hard that he nearly fell out of his chair.
Theo kicked the bottom rungs of his chair. "You really like to watch bare naked ladies, Uncle
Ethan?"
"Well," Ethan said. "Given a choice between working and watching naked ladies on the beach,
I've gotta say that – "
"I think," Bonnie interrupted firmly, "that you've all said enough on the subject of naked
ladies." She looked at Ethan. "Getting back to Nightwinds, Jeff said something about your new
client being an interior designer?"
"Decorator. What's that got to do with Nightwinds?"
Bonnie ignored that. "It occurs to me that after you handle her case, you could hire her to
help you do something with that pink elephant."
"Residence," Ethan corrected.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I have it on good authority that you're supposed to call a house a residence. Classier
sounding word. But, trust me, there's not a chance in – "
He realized that Theo and Jeff were watching him with thinly veiled anticipation. Catching him
in the act of using a forbidden word was one of their favorite spectator sports.
"I will definitely not be hiring Ms. Luce to remodel the place," Ethan finished smoothly.
Disappointed, Jeff and Theo went back to their food.
"Why not?" Bonnie asked.
"Two reasons." Ethan finished the last of the potatoes. "First, I can't afford to hire a
decorator at this point even if I were inclined to redo the place. Second, I doubt that Zoe
Luce would make it past the front door of Nightwinds without fainting."
Jeff stopped in mid-chew, eyes bright with curiosity. "Why would she faint, Uncle Ethan?"
"You think maybe she'd be scared of the ghost?" Theo asked.
"I doubt that Zoe Luce would be scared off by a ghost," Ethan said. "But I'm sure that her
delicate designer sensibilities would be severely traumatized by the sight of the inside of my
new residence. Let's face it, Nightwinds isn't going to win any house-of-the-year awards."
"That's putting it mildly," Bonnie murmured. "Talk about Hollywood tacky."
"You think Ms. Luce would be so stunned she'd just fall down right there in the front hall?" Jeff
asked.
"Wouldn't surprise me," Ethan said.
"Maybe she'd start to twitch or something," Theo suggested.
"Yeah, like this." Jeff jerked his left arm wildly.
"Or like this." Theo wobbled his head from side to side.
Both boys began to cackle gleefully. Their spasmodic movements got more creative.
Ethan watched both performances with open admiration. "Not bad. Yep, I'll bet she'd collapse
and start to twitch just like that."
At the other end of the table Bonnie gave a long-suffering sigh. "Why does dinner always end
like this when you eat with us, Ethan?"
"What can I say? It's a gift."
* * *
He drove backto Nightwinds an hour later. When he got out of the car, he stood in the drive
for a moment and surveyed his new residence, wondering for some inexplicable reason what
Zoe Luce would think of it. Okay, so the place did look like a Hollywood fantasy version of a
Spanish Colonial mansion. And it was definitely pink, not the faded, sunwashed pink of old
adobe – more like bubblegum pink. So what? It had character. Or something. And it was
spacious. Plenty of room for his books and personal stuff.
Best of all, it was fully furnished, which was a very good thing because the combined financial
disasters of his business and his last divorce had left him with very little in the way of
furniture.
The hell with Zoe Luce's opinion. Why should he care what she thought of Nightwinds?
He summoned up his impressions of her that
"He told me that he wanted to look at girls in bikinis, all day," Jeff announced.
"Yeah," Theo added. "He said there's even beaches where some of the ladies don't wear any
swimsuits at all."
"No kidding?" Ethan paused, a forkful of potatoes halfway to his mouth. "I've got Uncle Victor's
address in Maui. Maybe I'll pay him a visit next time I get a few free days. Take a tour of the
beaches, or something."
Jeff chortled so hard that he nearly fell out of his chair.
Theo kicked the bottom rungs of his chair. "You really like to watch bare naked ladies, Uncle
Ethan?"
"Well," Ethan said. "Given a choice between working and watching naked ladies on the beach,
I've gotta say that – "
"I think," Bonnie interrupted firmly, "that you've all said enough on the subject of naked
ladies." She looked at Ethan. "Getting back to Nightwinds, Jeff said something about your new
client being an interior designer?"
"Decorator. What's that got to do with Nightwinds?"
Bonnie ignored that. "It occurs to me that after you handle her case, you could hire her to
help you do something with that pink elephant."
"Residence," Ethan corrected.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I have it on good authority that you're supposed to call a house a residence. Classier
sounding word. But, trust me, there's not a chance in – "
He realized that Theo and Jeff were watching him with thinly veiled anticipation. Catching him
in the act of using a forbidden word was one of their favorite spectator sports.
"I will definitely not be hiring Ms. Luce to remodel the place," Ethan finished smoothly.
Disappointed, Jeff and Theo went back to their food.
"Why not?" Bonnie asked.
"Two reasons." Ethan finished the last of the potatoes. "First, I can't afford to hire a
decorator at this point even if I were inclined to redo the place. Second, I doubt that Zoe
Luce would make it past the front door of Nightwinds without fainting."
Jeff stopped in mid-chew, eyes bright with curiosity. "Why would she faint, Uncle Ethan?"
"You think maybe she'd be scared of the ghost?" Theo asked.
"I doubt that Zoe Luce would be scared off by a ghost," Ethan said. "But I'm sure that her
delicate designer sensibilities would be severely traumatized by the sight of the inside of my
new residence. Let's face it, Nightwinds isn't going to win any house-of-the-year awards."
"That's putting it mildly," Bonnie murmured. "Talk about Hollywood tacky."
"You think Ms. Luce would be so stunned she'd just fall down right there in the front hall?" Jeff
asked.
"Wouldn't surprise me," Ethan said.
"Maybe she'd start to twitch or something," Theo suggested.
"Yeah, like this." Jeff jerked his left arm wildly.
"Or like this." Theo wobbled his head from side to side.
Both boys began to cackle gleefully. Their spasmodic movements got more creative.
Ethan watched both performances with open admiration. "Not bad. Yep, I'll bet she'd collapse
and start to twitch just like that."
At the other end of the table Bonnie gave a long-suffering sigh. "Why does dinner always end
like this when you eat with us, Ethan?"
"What can I say? It's a gift."
* * *
He drove backto Nightwinds an hour later. When he got out of the car, he stood in the drive
for a moment and surveyed his new residence, wondering for some inexplicable reason what
Zoe Luce would think of it. Okay, so the place did look like a Hollywood fantasy version of a
Spanish Colonial mansion. And it was definitely pink, not the faded, sunwashed pink of old
adobe – more like bubblegum pink. So what? It had character. Or something. And it was
spacious. Plenty of room for his books and personal stuff.
Best of all, it was fully furnished, which was a very good thing because the combined financial
disasters of his business and his last divorce had left him with very little in the way of
furniture.
The hell with Zoe Luce's opinion. Why should he care what she thought of Nightwinds?
He summoned up his impressions of her that
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