キャミー・タング著「戌年」連載小説 プロのドッグトレーナーであるマリ・ムトウは、厄年を迎えている。 犬小屋と訓練所の改築をしながら、いつも不服そうにしている家族と同居することになった。母と姉に言わせれば、犬の毛とよだれかけにまみれる仕事は、家族にとって恥ずべきものだという。彼女は元カレを説得し、数ヶ月間犬を預かってもらうことにした。しかし、彼の兄は、数週間前に彼女が誤って車に追突した、怒り狂ったセキュリティ専門家であることが判明する。 アシュウィン・ケイトウは十分な問題を抱えている。叔母が玄関先に現れ、同居を希望している。彼は彼女にすべてを借りているので、断ることができません。母親が家を出て行った後、ネルおばさんはアシュウィンと弟を引き取り、愛のあるキリスト教の家庭で育てた。しかも、弟のダスティもアパートを追い出され、居場所を求めている。しかし、彼は犬を飼っている。そして、その犬の飼い主は誰だと思いますか？ しかし、旧友でオアフ島のノースショアでデイスパを経営する私立探偵のエディサ・ゲレロから依頼を受ける。マリの施設で奇妙な破壊行為があり、3年前に失踪したエディサの妹の財布を発見する。エディサはマリが危険な目に遭っているのではと心配する。警備の専門家であるアシュウィンがすでにマリを知っていることを知ったエディサは、忙しい若い女性を密かに監視することを彼に依頼する。 アシュウィンは、活発でのんびりとしたドッグトレーナーに不本意ながら惹かれていく。彼女は、幸せそうな母親を思い出させる。その母親の裏切りによって、彼は人と距離を置くようになったのだ。マリは、アシュウィンの冷たい外見を見抜き、彼が家族に忠実な男であることを認める。彼は、彼女のキャリア選択を批判するだけの母親や姉とは違う。 マリのバラバラな家庭とアシュウィンのバラバラな家庭の中で、過去を隠そうとする人たちから、彼らの周りに危険が迫ってくるようになる。彼らは、影で動く秘密に光を当てることができるのか？ 過去に発表されたパートへのリンクはこちら。 *** 第8章 - 恐ろしくも真っ白な不動産書類 『みんな仲良くできないのかな？』 マリは無用に力を込めて箱に本を投げ入れた。最近、なぜ彼女は人生の中で全員と言い争いをしているのだろう？もしかすると、これは本当に悪いアイデア
Captain's Log, Stardate 01.04.2008
(Hannah won The Restorer by Sharon Hinck! Congratulations!)
Myra tagged me. I could point to my old 8 Random Things, but thought I’d come up with something new.
1. Don’t laugh, but I’ve just started the Ultimate Tea Diet (I got it on ebook from Fictionwise.com for less than $10 club price). I’m pretty stoked because I love tea and this diet encourages you to drink as much as you like. You’re also supposed to resteep the loose tea leaves so there’s no caffeine in successive cups of tea, which is great. So far, it’s been neat because I haven’t been as hungry at night.
2. I finished knitting all my (late) Christmas gifts, and now I’m working on a couple graduation presents (for two teen girls in my youth group) that are about half a year overdue.
3. I like looking at complicated lace knitting patterns, but so far I’ve only done two lace shawls, both in the same pattern. One was for my agent, the other was for my husband’s Christmas gift exchange at work. It brought him a few kudos/brownie points with his female coworkers.
4. I’m listening to the audiobook of Cesar Millan’s Cesar’s Way in hopes of learning how to discipline my dog better. I think it’s helping, because she’s been better behaved since I’ve started projecting “calm assertive” energy on our walks.
5. I’ve started walking the dog more! Captain Caffeine has always been very responsible and taken her for a walk in the morning, but I would often let her run in the backyard for her afternoon potty break. But after listening to Cesar’s audiobook, I’ve been taking her for a long walk in the afternoon in addition to letting her run in the backyard. This has been good for both her and me!
6. For Christmas, Captain Caffeine and I made a batch of cards for our sister-in-law. She loves pigs, so I bought a bunch of pig stamps and we made 5 different designs, ranging from thank you cards to Happy Birthday to blank cards. Captain Caffeine did almost all the coloring, and I assembled the cards together. I was very proud of ourselves.
7. I just stopped reading an old Regency romance novel that had truly cardboard characters, illogical character actions, and instant (a bit unrealistic) sexual attraction between the hero and heroine. It’s a 2000 reprint of a 1993 book, so I expected better writing (I mean, why would anyone reprint a bad book?) and was terribly disappointed.
8. I’ve been wearing the few pairs of wool socks I knit for myself because it’s been very cold here in California, and I don’t want to put the thermostat too high because gas is expensive. The wool socks are great! My feet tend to be colder than the rest of my body, and the wool keeps my feet warmer than with two layers of cotton socks.
Your turn: list a random fact about you!
(Hannah won The Restorer by Sharon Hinck! Congratulations!)
Myra tagged me. I could point to my old 8 Random Things, but thought I’d come up with something new.
1. Don’t laugh, but I’ve just started the Ultimate Tea Diet (I got it on ebook from Fictionwise.com for less than $10 club price). I’m pretty stoked because I love tea and this diet encourages you to drink as much as you like. You’re also supposed to resteep the loose tea leaves so there’s no caffeine in successive cups of tea, which is great. So far, it’s been neat because I haven’t been as hungry at night.
2. I finished knitting all my (late) Christmas gifts, and now I’m working on a couple graduation presents (for two teen girls in my youth group) that are about half a year overdue.
3. I like looking at complicated lace knitting patterns, but so far I’ve only done two lace shawls, both in the same pattern. One was for my agent, the other was for my husband’s Christmas gift exchange at work. It brought him a few kudos/brownie points with his female coworkers.
4. I’m listening to the audiobook of Cesar Millan’s Cesar’s Way in hopes of learning how to discipline my dog better. I think it’s helping, because she’s been better behaved since I’ve started projecting “calm assertive” energy on our walks.5. I’ve started walking the dog more! Captain Caffeine has always been very responsible and taken her for a walk in the morning, but I would often let her run in the backyard for her afternoon potty break. But after listening to Cesar’s audiobook, I’ve been taking her for a long walk in the afternoon in addition to letting her run in the backyard. This has been good for both her and me!
6. For Christmas, Captain Caffeine and I made a batch of cards for our sister-in-law. She loves pigs, so I bought a bunch of pig stamps and we made 5 different designs, ranging from thank you cards to Happy Birthday to blank cards. Captain Caffeine did almost all the coloring, and I assembled the cards together. I was very proud of ourselves.
7. I just stopped reading an old Regency romance novel that had truly cardboard characters, illogical character actions, and instant (a bit unrealistic) sexual attraction between the hero and heroine. It’s a 2000 reprint of a 1993 book, so I expected better writing (I mean, why would anyone reprint a bad book?) and was terribly disappointed.
8. I’ve been wearing the few pairs of wool socks I knit for myself because it’s been very cold here in California, and I don’t want to put the thermostat too high because gas is expensive. The wool socks are great! My feet tend to be colder than the rest of my body, and the wool keeps my feet warmer than with two layers of cotton socks.Your turn: list a random fact about you!
Comments
Im going to Adelaide to see my cricket team play in a 20/20 game but im more excited that it will be 40 or about 105ish on Thursday and i will still be in Adelaide and i will have Air Conditioning!
we dont have it in our house so days like today and worse still nights like tonight are hard to take. (I am looking forward to the cricket and hopefully this time they will win)
You need to knit some neon green socks! I think they would be so cute, hee.
You made some really cool looking socks, btw.
Happy New Year!
Love the socks! No, really, I love those socks!!!