“Tell me.”

I felt my face getting hot. I didn’t know why I was embarrassed. My emotions had become so unpredictable. “No.”

“I can’t do what you want unless you tell.” He stared at me. “Why are you blushing? Terry, we’re married, for fuck’s sake. What?”

My voice was soft. “Putting on your boots and riding the bull.”

“That’s your nasty?”

“Pretty tame, huh?”

“Y’think?” He kissed my forehead and laughed. Then he gave me a blinding smile. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

I broke away and started to clear the clothes from the bed.

He said, “Just leave it.”

“We’ll mess up the clothes.”

He picked up a pair of electric-blue ostrich-hide boots, took my hand, and led me into the suite’s living room. “Baby, that’s why God made sofas.”

WITH NOWHERE TO go with the Pauline Corbett case and with Baer behind bars, Decker tried to concentrate on other things. Daylight became shorter and the feel of autumn permeated the air. Leaves were changing, painting the landscape in a multicolored patchwork of golds, burgundies, and oranges, and temperatures were dropping. Rosh Hashanah—the Jewish New Year—was just days away, and with it, a chance for renewal and change, for good health and happiness, and for God’s love and mercy. After Simchat Torah, the culmination of the weeklong holiday of Sukkoth, Decker and Rina planned a trip to Israel to finalize real estate papers and the schematic drawings for the renovation of their little house. It might be a quick turnaround or it might be a lot longer. It all depended on how Decker was doing with the Corbett homicide.

Because the family was coming in for the holidays, Rina had been baking for weeks: breads, pies, cakes, rolls, muffins, and cookies. The kitchen had become sensory overload. The smells wafting through the house were diabolically enticing. Every time Decker came in, he couldn’t help grabbing a cookie or a muffin fresh from the oven.

“You’re going to kill my pancreas,” Decker told her.

“Men, unlike angels, were born with free will.”

“Not this man when it comes to your raisin buns.”

Rina smiled. “It’ll be lovely for everyone to get together for the holidays. Especially after the COVID years. You really appreciate intimacy.”

“Let’s see if you’re still saying that in a couple of days.” He took some walnuts from a bowl. “Good stuff.”

“Peter, I needed those for my cookies. I just candied them.”

“Make more.” Decker took another handful. “A boy needs his nuts.” Then he realized what he said and both of them broke into laughter. He put the walnuts down and drew Rina into a big embrace. “God, I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She regarded his eyes. He looked a little lost. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m great. Why do you ask?”

“You seem a bit restless.”