Coming Home to Greenleigh

Chapter 22b

[Thank you for your patience! I'm a little late and the chapter got a little long, but this is the rest of Chapter 22!]

"Oh, hey," Gunnar said.

"Hey," Elisabeth replied. She looked at Christine, who was dressed in cropped jeans and a tight white sweater. She'd done something to her hair—it was shorter, and almost platinum blonde. She looked like Marilyn Monroe, complete with bright red lipstick. "Aren't you cold?" she added, eyeing her cropped jeans and sneakers.

"Hi!" Christine said brightly. "I just ran over to ask a question. I took the day off—I had to get the plumber in, something wrong with my radiators—and I saw Gunnar out here. Can I borrow him? He's awesome."

Gunnar was watching Elisabeth, a lazy smile playing about his lips. She shot him an annoyed look.

"Sure," she said, trying to keep her voice friendly. "I don't keep his schedule."

"He said he's here every day," Christine said helpfully. "So if you can spare him—" She looked at Gunnar, then leaned toward Elisabeth conspiratorially. "He's going to do a tattoo for me," she said in a stage whisper.

"What?" Elisabeth said, startled. She looked at Gunnar again, who had started sweeping the floor and had his back turned.

"I have a small one," Christina confided. "I got it after I ran the New York City marathon, but I had just turned eighteen, so I had to hide it from my parents. They would have freaked. I was able to keep it under my bikini bottoms, though. It's tiny and not very good."

She patted her hip bone. Elisabeth gawked. She turned to look at Gunnar again, but he was studiously avoiding her gaze, sweeping further and further away from them.

"I was thinking I'd like something really awesome, like a tiger. If he could incorporate that old tattoo and do something new around it, that would be great."

"I can do that," Gunnar said from a far corner, continuing to sweep.

"I think it'll be great," Christine said. "I'm so excited!" She beamed.

"It'll probably show around your, uh, bikini bottoms," Elisabeth said. "I guess you're not planning on hiding it anymore?"

"Oh, pfft." Christine waved a hand. "Too bad if people don't like it. No one at work will know it's there, and who cares if people at the beach see it. And anyone else—well, it'll be a case-by-case basis. If guys don't like it, then they can go away." She winked.

"I'm going in," Gunnar announced. "Elisabeth, this place is done. And the garage and the shed are both done. All empty. We can hit the attic next. After the auction house people take a look tonight."

"I can't believe it," Elisabeth gasped. "That's nuts! All those boxes?"

"Gone. Gone, baby, gone." He paused next to the door. "You're fine with not seeing them before they go? I just sent Eddie with the last truckload, but if you wanted to see anything—"

"No," Elisabeth interrupted. "No, just get rid of it. Get rid of it all."

"This is a huge change, Beth," Christine said. "Are you sure you're okay just throwing everything away? You can put things in storage." Gunnar walked out, slamming the door behind him, and Christine watched through a dirty window as he strode toward the kitchen door.

"No, it had to go. All of it," Elisabeth replied curtly.

"When did you decide to sell? I was so surprised when I got here and Gunnar was loading up the truck! I thought there was a robbery going on. But he's cute. Gunnar, I mean." Christine was smiling, but Elisabeth was not fooled. She shrugged and began to walk toward the door, but Christine blocked her way.