Oh God. He found me.
Six months of running sent her heart into hyperdrive, and her already wet hands went cold and shaky. She turned off the water and went to hover behind the open kitchen door.
“Oooma, get the door!” Ms. Lloyd called.
She didn’t move.
Breath held in tight lungs, Uma strained to hear above the sounds ofJeopardy!…and knew suddenly who it was. The air whooshed out, and she sagged against the wall in relief. Even if she hadn’t recognized him, her boss’s tittering would have clued Uma in to the fact that the visitor was a friendly male rather than a stranger from Northern Virginia, come to fetch her.
“That you, boy?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, it’s certainly an improvement. Hardly recognized you.”
“Figured it was time for a change.”
“Hmph.”
“You giving Uma any time off, Ms. L? Or you back to your slave-driving ways?”
“Oh please, she’s spoiled rotten. Free food, warm bed. Cash every week. She’s gettin’ a deal, if you ask me!”
Just as Uma was about to move through the kitchen door, he said, “She around right now?” Oh. He’d come to see her. Something about that idea made her hesitate, unsure what to feel. Good, bad, guilty? What did he expect from her? Had she led him on? Did she want to?
“You want to talk to her?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Was he there to ask her out again?
“Well, she’s not currently available.”
She stayed still and waited, stifling a gasp of outrage.
“Her car’s here, so I thought—”
“She’s very busy and doesn’t want to be disturbed.”
He paused then, longer than you’d expect. “Could you please mention that I stopped by?”
“’Course I will.”
Steps sounded on the porch and then stopped.
“So, I take it the ad worked, then? You like her?”
“She’s a bit mouthy. ’Course, it’s only been a week. We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”
“Guess so.”
“What’d it say, anyway?” asked Ms. Lloyd. “Did they get it right? I never got to see it in print.”
His voice faded in and out as he responded. “…nice…older person…live-in helper.”
“Well, I guess it worked all right. Go on now, boy, and don’t come back unless you’ve got those doughnut holes I like. And a copy of theGazette.”
Uma didn’t hear his response, but she didn’t really need to.
