Eventually, I give in and tell him he can take the couch.
“But just so we’re clear,” I say, “I let you win this time.”
“And just so we’re clear on something else,” Jimmy says, “I’m not staying because I think he’ll come back. I’m staying because Ihopehe does.”
Being the good host that I am, I go and get some sheets and a blanket and his pillow and make up the couch for him.
“Do you think Harrington made a call after he left the bar and had this done?” I ask Jimmy.
“Only because I stopped believing in coincidence when I stopped believing in Santa Claus,” he says.
“Wait a second. You’re telling me there’s no Santa Claus!” I say in mock horror.
He nods gravely.
“The Easter Bunny killed him,” he says.
After another brief standoff inside my bedroom with Rip, I allow him to sleep on the bed. Then I make sure that both the front and back doors are locked and that the alarm, which I had neglected to set before I left for Jimmy’s bar, is fully armed now.
Jimmy and I did some cleaning up before I told him he had to stop, we could finish in the morning.
“I hate clutter even when it’s not mine,” he says.
“You want to empty the dishwasher, too?” I ask.
In the darkness of the living room I say, “You still awake?”
“Yeah.”
I walk over and lean down and kiss him on the forehead and thank him for coming right over when I called.
“I had no choice,” he says. “This is where the job was.”
Then he adds, “You’re still too sick for this.”
“Not when I’m pissed off,” I say. “And tonight I am royally pissed off.”
Before I close the door to my room, knowing from other nights like this that Jimmy Cunniff can snore like a champion, I say, “You gonna go see Harrington in the morning?”
“Way ahead of you on that.”
“What does that mean, exactly?”
“It means that that matter will be taken care of shortly.”
“Do I want to know how?”
“How about I surprise you in the morning?” he says. “You know how you love surprises.”
I say, “I hate surprises.”
From the couch he says, “Go to sleep.”
“Easy for you to say,” I tell him.
My version of white noise tonight is the faint sound of Jimmy’s snoring from the other room, and Rip’s from the end of my bed.
When I do finally fall asleep, I dream of hummingbirds.
