Page 150 of The Seven Rings
“You start talking about buoyancy, floatation, displacement until your average eight-year-old’s eyes glaze over, and you’ve done your job.”
Yoda let out a trio of barks, raced out of the kitchen. Jones gave a grunt, then went back to his nap. Pye, apparently wise to routine, sauntered over to the back door.
“I’ll feed them, start the grill. Hey, Yoda, this way. Come on, Jones, pull it together.”
Minutes later, Sonya saw Mookie, tail wagging, ears flapping, run to the backyard. Yoda greeted him as if they’d been parted for centuries.
Then Trey, T-shirt, jeans, high-tops. As all that thick raven-black hair was windblown, she decided he’d had his truck windows open on the drive from the office.
She watched him and Owen exchange a few words. Owen passed him the beer, and when Trey took a swig before handing it back, Sonya got another out of the fridge.
“Trey looks a little frazzled. He rarely does.”
When he came in, she held out the beer. “You look like you could use this.”
“Could. Thanks. Hi.” He leaned down to kiss her.
“Trouble?” she asked.
“Hmm. No. End of day, hysterical client. This happens.”
“Why don’t you sit down?”
“I’m good. Grilling? I can set things up on the deck.”
“Sit down a minute,” she repeated.
His eyes sharpened. “Trouble?”
“No. But I want to show you something.”
She picked up the manilla envelope she’d prepared, handed it to him. “It’s for Deuce, but you should see it first.”
“All right.”
No more questions, Sonya thought. He simply slid onto a stool and opened the envelope.
She’d put the drawing on top so it was the first thing he saw when he pulled out the papers.
He stared at it for a long moment, then lifted his gaze to hers. His heart lived in his eyes.
“You didn’t draw this from a photo you found.”
“No.”
“You saw this? Them?”
“Yes.”
“The mirror?”
“No. The way it was with Astrid in the parlor, Lissy in the music room. That way.”
“Horde fed,” Owen said as he came in. “Grill’s on. What you got?” He stepped over, looked over Trey’s shoulder.
“That’s… that’s Collin and Deuce? Young. I mean, Collin’s even younger than that time I saw him. It’s a hell of a good drawing. And majorly cool.”
He put a hand on Trey’s shoulder as he spoke.
