Valerie kept an A.M. news station on during her drive back down to Tampa, hoping to hear—something. By the time she tooted her horn at the refuge gate, just before six, her hands were shaking. She kept brushing back her hair.
Little Steve was on the front deck, shirt off, hairy as a grizzly. He chugged a Big Gulp. He smiled when he saw her. “Hey, Doc! Welcome back!”
“Thanks. Any news?”
“Nah, nothing.”
“Jared around?”
“Yeah, we’re working on the back deck. He’s afraid somebody’ll fall and get hurt. I tried to get him to slow down but…” Little Steve shrugged his big shoulders.
“How is he holding up?”
Little Steve just shook his head, his black beard glistening in the afternoon light.
Valerie said a polite “hello” to some folks she didn’t know hanging out in Jared’s living room. She g
