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would be closer to the truth,
if she was going to be totally honest) contemplating the lake, the
cats and the ceiling. Working a case would give her mind something
to do. She'd figure out how to manage the physical side effects as
she went along.
    Fae considered the room she used as her
office, thinking about how she could reconfigure it so she could
either sit or recline most of the time. It shouldn't be that hard to set it up. She thought about how she would organize the
files and how she wanted to work the case.
    By the time she got around to thinking about
the conversation she'd have with Harry at the Bide-A-Wee Motel, the
pain had dimmed and she finally felt able to walk into the
house.
    Before she even had the door unlocked, she
remembered that her pantry was pretty close to empty and her frig
contained little more than a spoonful of rice and some nearly dead
carrots. She sighed, wishing she had thought of it sooner. She
could have stopped at the store in Silver Bay on the way back. She
looked at her watch and knew that the little store in Ruby Cove
would be closed by now. So if she wanted a decent meal, she was
either going to have to drive all the way to Grand Marais or eat at
Storm Point Lodge.
    Fae groaned. She really didn't feel like
dealing with the Lodge, but knew she wasn't up to going all the way
to Grand Marais.
    Once in the house, she went straight to the
phone and dialed the Lodge from memory.
    "Hi, Donna. Is Jessica there?"
    Jessica came on the line a minute later and
Fae ordered dinner. "I'll be there in about ten minutes. That
okay?"
    "Better make it fifteen. It's a little crazy
here tonight."
    "Okay. Thanks."
    Fae hung up and went into the kitchen and
refilled the food and water dishes for the cats. She checked her
phone for messages out of habit more than anything else. Most of
her calls had dried up shortly after the accident, so she wasn't
surprised when the little red message light simply stared at her,
unblinking.
    Since the idea of getting back in her car was
depressing, Fae decided she'd pretend to be Scarlett O'Hara and
think about that some other day. For now she was going to
concentrate on the fabulous meal she was going to have when she
finally got back. With that idea in mind, she got back in her car,
eased into the driver's seat and drove into the Storm Point Lodge
parking lot a few minutes later.
    Fae parked the car near the Lodge and
reflected how differently she looked at everything since the
accident. Like how great it was to make it twenty feet to the
bathroom with your walker so you didn't have to use the bedside
commode any longer. Or your first shower in two weeks because you
could finally lift your legs high enough to get into the tub.
    Time for Fae was now divided into before the
accident and after. All the things she hadn't given any thought to,
like taking a shower, walking to the kitchen or even cleaning the
cat box were now activities that required thought and ingenuity to
figure out how to do them on her own.
    Figuring out how to make a long handle for
the kitty box scooper because she couldn't bend over, or figuring
out how to get in the car because the seat was too low. Before the
accident she hadn't given a thought to what was involved in doing
mundane daily chores. After the accident, she had had to think it
through and figure out how to do something. What had once been an
ordinary activity now became a major triumph.
    Before the accident, she would have walked to
the Lodge and probably eaten dinner there before walking home. It
was less than a mile and the weather was perfect for a walk. But
now it was too far. Just being out of bed and able to drive again
was huge. Mostly, she was happy it was so much easier now. Not to
mention possible.
    Getting out of the car required her to turn
sideways and then pull herself to a standing position. Usually
accompanied by a grunt of some kind. Depending on the pain level,
it was either a quiet "ugh" or a very loud "aghhh". Tonight it