No Sanctuary Read Free Page B

sweaty face. Then she scurried off her bed. At the closet, she grabbed her robe. She put it on as she rushed from the room. It clung to her skin. She got the belt tied on her way down the hall.
    “I’m coming,” she called when she reached the living room.
    “Okey-doke.” It was the voice of Odie Taylor.
    She slowed down. Just Odie. Good.
    She opened the door.
    Odie smiled nervously. His head bobbed and swayed, as usual, like the heads of the toy dogs Gillian sometimes saw in the rear windows of cars. As usual, he didn’t look her in the eyes. His gaze stayed level with her neck.
    “Wake you?” he asked her neck.
    “I’m glad of it. I was having a bad dream.”
    “Gee, I’m sorry.” He hitched up his sagging jeans. “You been gone.”
    “I took a little vacation. Want a Pepsi?”
    “Thank you.”
    He stayed on the balcony outside the door while Gillian hurried into the kitchen and took a can of soda from the refrigerator. She knew better than to ask Odie in. The only time she had invited him into the apartment, he had gone wild-eyed and started stuttering, scared as a trapped animal until he was outside again.
    She handed the can to him.
    “Thank you very much,” he said. He held it and stared at her neck. His head weaved and nodded.
    “Is there a problem? My rent late?”
    “Heyuh.” It was Odie’s way of laughing. “You’re trying to joke me, Miss O’Neill.” Odie seemed as nervous about calling her Gillian as he was about entering her apartment. “You don’t pay no rent, you own the place.”
    “Oh, that’s right. I forgot.”
    “You didn’t forget, you’re trying to joke me.”
    “Is there a problem, or ...”
    “Gee.” He bit down on his lower lip.
    “What is it?”
    “I’m gonna have to go on back home. Pa took a spill off the barn roof.”
    “God, I’m sorry.”
    “Well, he ain’t dead or nothing but he got busted up some. Me and Grace, we’re gonna have to go on back home. I’m sure sorry.”
    “Will you be coming back?”
    “I jist don’t know. I jist might stay. I been thinking maybe with the baby coming we oughta stay at the farm. City’s not a good place for a kid.”
    “Or for anyone else,” Gillian said. “I’m really sorry to have you and Grace leave, you’ve done a great job managing the place.”
    “I’m sure sorry. You’ve sure been nice to us. I don’t know what we’d of done ...”
    “You’re good people, Odie. I’ll miss you and Grace. But I bet you’ll be glad to get back home.”
    “Well ...”
    “When will you be leaving?”
    “Friday, I guess. The rents’re all paid up for last month and everything’s tip-top around here. Want me to bring the stuff over?”
    “No, that’s fine. Just leave it all in your apartment so it’ll be there for the new people.”
    “Okey-doke.”
    “I might not be around for the next few days, so hang on a second and I’ll get you your pay.”
    Odie stayed in the doorway while Gillian returned to her bedroom. Her handbag was on top of the dresser. She took out the checkbook and wrote a check.
    Odie was drinking his Pepsi when she reached the door. She handed the check to him.
    “Thank you very much,” he said. Then he glanced at it. He raised it close to his face and peered at it. His head stopped moving. He looked at Gillian, looked into her eyes. “You made a mistake here, Miss O’Neill. You got a zero too many.”
    “It’s no mistake, Odie.”
    “This says five thousand dollars. We get five hundred, nor five thousand.”
    “It’s a bonus for you and Grace being such good managers.”
    “Holy cow.”
    “If I don’t get a chance to see you again before you leave, have a good trip.” She held out her hand. Odie gripped the check in his teeth and pumped her hand. “Drop me a line sometimes, let me know how things are going.”
    His head started bobbing again. He took the check out of his teeth. “Sure will, Miss O’Neill. Gillian.” His voice was high-pitched. He grimaced as if he were in