..gotta grant one..." hemuttered to himself as he slowly began to walk from the park grounds.---------------------------------------------------------...--------------Patrick took a deep breath as he climbed aboard the bus that would takehim to school. He was not anxious to begin another day."Morning Loomis," the smiling bus driver greeted him. Hank was afriendly sort; and, after taking Patrick to school for the past fewyears, had developed an easy-going rapport with the boy. The skinnylittle man. "Corvus doubted very much that Malcolm had said those words. Malcolm might say that other slaves awaited Corvus's pleasure, but he himself might "stand ready" or something else similarly dignified sounding. Since Malcolm had taken over the matter of getting Corvus's new house ready, Armand had been almost ubiquitous, overseeing preparations for the guests, bringing news, and pretty much doing anything that kept him in Corvus's line of sight. He clearly wanted the job of being Corvus's new. As I walked into her living room/bedroom most of her friends were leaving with the exception of one guy who obviously fancied her and her friend Jill who was crashed out drunk on the sofa. Roxy sat on on the floor and leaned against an armchair and as she did so her dressing gown opened slightly and the view I got suggested she was wearing nothing underneath. She told me to grab a beer and gestured for me to sit down next to her and we became engrossed in conversation and the guy who had. Even though she was married, I had caught her looking at Mark as if she was a wolf salivating over a large steak. Or as she kept telling me, she was a Cougar on prowl for the next cub.The next day, my husband called…he would not be able to make it to the island until the middle of next week at the earliest. At best he would have maybe two full days.Great…maybe I should cancel too, ran through my mind, the disappointment must have resonated thru the phone.My husband caught it, and then he.