A Rose From the Dead (27 page)

“Abby, there’s no smell. I’m not even sure they’re real fish.”

“Trust me, Nikki. You don’t want to wait around to find out.”

Marco whispered, “Tell her we’ll come help her. Give us ten minutes.”

“Marco said we can be there in about ten minutes.”

I held the phone between our heads so Marco could hear her reply. “Don’t bother. I’ve already pushed it to the top of the stairs. I’ll give it a good shove, then drag it over to the Dumpster. Then I’m heading for a party, so don’t wait up for me. Oh, I almost forgot. Call your mother. She left about seven messages.”

I ended the call and examined Marco’s slim phone. “Maybe I’ll get one like yours. I like not having to flip it open, especially when I’m trying to send you a message in the dark.”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again. So, what’s the significance of the fish?”

“Ross made a remark about me fishing for answers when I tried to question him this afternoon. I’ll tell you more about that later, because if I don’t call my mom soon, she’ll freak.”

I dialed my parents’ home phone number, and my dad picked up. “Hey, honey, good to hear from you. Where have you been? Your mother has been trying to reach you.”

“I was a little, well, tied up. Is she there now?”

“She just left for the grocery store.”

“Do you know why she left all those messages for me?”

“Sure do. You know that gift she was sculpting for Marco’s sister’s baby shower? The one that was giving her so much trouble?”

“Was that when she was throwing clay? Wasn’t she making a lamp?”

“You’re not even close. She finished it this afternoon and was so excited that she took it to your place to show it to you, but no one was home.”

Oh, no!
“Did she leave it there?” I asked in dread. “In a big box?”

“Yes, did Nikki find it?”

“Tell me it wasn’t two giant fish, Dad.”

“It’s a bassinet.”

“A baby bassinet?”
Then what had Nikki seen?

“A different sort of bassinet. You remember your mother’s footstool? Or her palm tree?”

How could I forget a stool made up of four feet, or a coat rack made of lifelike human hands, palms up, reaching out on long human arms?

“Think about it, Abby. A bass-in-net.”

“Oh, Dad, no.” I covered the phone and whispered the details to Marco, who merely shook his head in amazement.

“It’s not too bad, really, honey,” my dad said. “Two big yellow bass make up the cradle. They face each other, with their tails curling up on each end and the center scooped out to hold blankets. The cradle sits in the bottom of a strong net that hangs from a tall, curved stand. I guess you could say it’s modern funk.”

“Gee, it sounds—terrific, Dad. I can’t wait to see it. Tell Mom I’ll call her later.”

I hung up and immediately dialed my apartment phone but got no answer. That meant Nikki was on her way to the Dumpster with my mom’s gift.

“I’m doomed,” I told Marco.

“Do you want to see if we can get there in time to save it?”

“It’s too late. Nikki will already have pushed the box down the stairs, dragged it across the parking lot, then tipped it over the side of the big garbage bin. It’ll be in a thousand pieces.” Although…that wasn’t necessarily a
bad
thing, considering that if it somehow escaped harm, that hideous ‘bass-in-net’ was what Marco’s family would forever remember my mother for.

What I’d have to do was come up with a really good explanation for what happened to her gift so Mom’s feelings wouldn’t be hurt. Then maybe I could talk her into going in with me on a real bassinet for the baby, since the shower was only a week away.

“I have an idea,” I said. “Let’s go back to my apartment after dinner.”

“Now you’re talking.” We stopped at a red light and he leaned toward me for a kiss that whetted my appetite for more. “Do you have anything particular in mind?” he murmured, nibbling my jaw.

“You bet I do.” I turned my head to kiss him. “We’re going to pour ourselves glasses of that Cabernet in my fridge, light a few candles in my bedroom, get real cozy, and”—I kissed him again—“come up with a whopper of a fish story.”

“A fish story?” Marco pulled his head back to see whether I was serious; then the light changed and his attention went back to the road. “So we’re on a fishing theme, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Then tackle this one.” He gave me a lustful glance that heated areas inside me to the sizzle stage, making me tingle all over. “If you bring the bait, I’ll bring the pole.”

Oh, baby. What an evening this was going to be. “You know I’m hooked.”

With a wicked grin, he put his arm around me, and I snuggled against his shoulder.

Cod, how I loved that man.