He knew he was thisclose to cuffing Bobbie Faye. Thisclose to keeping her from getting killed in the inevitable cross fire he sensed was coming; he felt it all the way to the cellular level of his bones.

to erect a house or a fort

I have never yet been able to steer my lovers through the Scylla of presence, or the Charybdis of absence.

Many species of coral are calcifiers; this is how they construct the towering structures that become reefs.