“This must have cost a fortune.”“Halves on the log and a few hours in the shop,” he said as he took off his gloves and tucked them into the po...kets of his coat.“Huh?”“The wood is off my property here. The man who saws the logs up keeps half of the slabs. I get the rest, and made that chair in my shop out back.”“Wow. You made this?”He hung up his coat and nodded. He then pointed out other things while unzipping his bibs. “That. The kitchen table and chairs. All the tables and cabinets over. How could I refuse?" Yuck! By the way, how is the wonderful Clark these days?" Don't be a bad boy Matty," she admonished. We were teasing. We both knew each other too well. But there was something new, something that had never been there during our first fourteen years together. And it was directly related to the part of my anatomy that was rapidly stiffening in my shorts. It had never been part of our relationship before."He's the perfect husband," Emma added. I stuck my finger into my mouth. Well that had changed dramatically, he was an unofficial Lazarus now and that was that. A familiar voice broke into her thoughts, ‘why so unhappy little one?’ Dani looked up and saw Bull’s uncle Philippe standing beside her. He was a big man like his nephew and she knew he was one of the men who were as powerful in the arcane arts as Maylene. She couldn’t call it voodoo, what Maylene and Massie did was not the standard black or white magic you associated with this part of the country. ‘I have. I grabbed my cell phone and guided a still-groggy Dory out of the front door and onto the lawn, punching in 911 as we went.I backed us away from the house as I reported the fire to the operator and gave them the address. It was cold; as we were both barefoot and with only a terrycloth dressing gown and nightwear, we were getting chilled quickly. I could see flames now erupting from behind the house as the fire took hold.It seemed forever until the first of the fire trucks and the rescue truck.