After a moment, Austin nodded. "It's brilliant."

Claire picked him up and kissed the top of his head. "It's why I get the big bucks," she agreed.

Sledge over his shoulder, Dean bounded down the stairs into the lobby and rocked to a dead stop when he saw Claire's door open. "I uh, piled all the bits of your keyboard on the desk," he said as she emerged.

To his surprise, she smiled. "That's great. When I get a minute, I'll separate what's recyclable and throw the rest out."

He took a tentative step closer. When he realized he was holding the sledge across his body like a shield, he let it swing down until the head rested on the floor. "You're not angry, then?" he asked tentatively.

Claire shrugged. "Accidents happen."

"No, I meant about saying you sounded like..." Although she no longer seemed as crusty as she had, it didn't seem polite to say it again. "You know."

"I was angry because you were right."

Coming out from behind the counter, Austin performed an exaggerated double take. Dean tried not to smile.

"But," she continued, "I've come up with a way to solve the problem." She nodded toward the sledge. "How's the elevator coming?"

"We've got all four doors cleared. They didn't take anything out when they closed the system up, so it just needs the trim back around the holes. Jacques is in the attic right now having a look at the works."

"Jacques is?"

"It's old," Dean told her cheerfully, as though that explained everything. When it didn't appear to, he added, "It's the sort of machinery he's familiar with."

Walking over to the recessed doorway, Claire peered through the wrought iron scrollwork into the closet-sized s.p.a.ce. She could just barely make out the cables. "Where's the car?"

"In the bas.e.m.e.nt."

"Given what's in the furnace room, is that entirely safe?"

"Given gravity, the bas.e.m.e.nt seemed safest."

Up on her toes, Claire sent a pale white light into the shaft. Everything she could see seemed in remarkably good shape, but she supposed there was no point in taking chances. "You're probably right."

Austin sat back on his haunches and stared up at her in astonishment. "That's twice."

She ignored him. "Do you think you can get it working?"

"Sure." Dean's grip slipped as he realized what he'd said. "I mean, yeah. No problem."

"Don't try it without me. I'd like to be in on the inaugural ride."

"It might not be safe..."

"It'll be safer with me in it." Turning to go, she paused and took a deep breath. There was one more thing she'd resolved to do. "Oh, and, Dean? I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier."

"That's okay. It was nothing."

"It was something if I've apologized for it."

At that point, he decided it would be safer if he just kept quiet.

"Two admissions that someone else might be right and an apology. Circle this day on the calendar," Austin muttered as he followed Claire toward the bas.e.m.e.nt.

"The boys seem to be getting along better," Claire noted as she opened the padlocks.

"They're not boys," Austin snorted from the top of the washing machine.

"It's a figure of speech."

"Dean likes you."

"Get real, he calls me Boss."

"He called you Claire when you fell down the stairs."

"He did?" Given the way her tailbone had impacted with the edge of the step, she wasn't surprised she hadn't noticed. "Means nothing."

"Then what about the way he looks at you?"

"He's twenty. The way he looks at women isn't under his conscious control."

"All right; what about the way you look at him?"

She twisted around enough to grin at the cat. "Like I said, he's twenty. It's an aesthetic appreciation."

Austin's tail beat out an audible rhythm against the enameled steel. "I know that babysitting a site at your age was the last thing you wanted, but it's given you a chance few Keepers get and you'll kick yourself if you blow it."

"Blow what?"

"The chance for a relationship."

"A relationship?" Claire sighed. "Have you been watching Oprah again?"

"No! Well, actually, yes," he amended. "But that has nothing to do with this."

"Forget it, Austin. Dean's attractive, yes, but he's too young."

"Jacques isn't."

"Jacques is too dead."

"Dean isn't."

She hung the chains on their hooks and turned to glare at her companion. "You're not the only one concerned about my having or not having a relationship; h.e.l.l suggested Jacques and I settle down for the duration."

"Just because something is an anthropomorphism of ultimate evil, that doesn't mean it hasn't your best interests at heart."