By the time she’d reapplied her lipstick, he’d recovered enough to leave the truck. “Crisis is over. I can walk in with you now.”
“Then I’ll get your door.” She came around to the passenger side and helped him out.
Happily, Gandalf didn’t sink his claws into the plaid shirt when Grady stepped down to the pavement. Maybe the cat recognized the place and wasn’t too worried about going inside.
“So give me some background on George,” Grady said as they neared the building. “I’m trying to keep everybody straight.”
“He’s retired military, about sixty, has a bushy white beard, a great laugh and a little potbelly.”
“You just described Santa Claus.”
“He used to have a gig as Santa but now he only dresses up for our holiday events at the barn. I’ve known him for about five years. We did craft shows together and that’s when we came up with the idea for the co-op.”
“His carving’s really nice. I was thinking of getting something for my mom, maybe the heron. She loves waterbirds.”
“I’m sure he’d be honored.” She held the door open for him. “We’re still ahead of schedule. Let’s close Gandalf in the office with a bowl of dry food and go say hello to George before we feed the ferals. I know he’s eager to meet you.”
“Sounds great.”
Moments later Gandalf was munching away and didn’t even look up when Grady and Sapphire slipped out, closing the office door behind them.
“He might just be happy to be out of the bathroom,” Grady said as they walked down the barn aisle to George’s spot.
“I hear the trip-trap of feet!” boomed a voice from the last stall on the left, right across from Grady’s.
“I’m bringing you a visitor,” Sapphire called back.
A Santa look-alike appeared in the aisle holding a knife and a piece of wood. He even wore the frameless half-glasses Santa favored. “I’m gonna take a wild guess that this is Grady Magee.”
“In the flesh.” Grady stepped forward and offered his hand. “I admire your work.”
“And I yours.” He transferred the knife to his shirt pocket and shook Grady’s hand. “Thanks for coming up to our event! I’m a huge fan. So’s my wife, Eloise. We have one of your smaller pieces in our living room.”
“That’s great to hear. Thank you.” Grady smiled. “I’ve been thinking about your heron for my mother. She’d love it.”
“Good eye, son. That heron was a bitch to carve, but I’m mighty proud of it. I took a peek at what you’re working on. Wolves, right?”
“It’s for Rosie, his foster mom,” Sapphire said. “It’s a surprise, so we’re all sworn to secrecy.”
“I won’t tell. Rosie and Herb are good people. A credit to the community.”
“I’ll go along with that.” Grady rolled his shoulders. The stupid shirt had begun to itch. It hadn’t before, so he thought it might be all in his head, but he wanted it off. “Listen, I need to run a quick errand, so I’ll leave you two and be back in a little while. Great meeting you, George. And if you’d set that heron aside for me, I’d be obliged.”
“I’ll put a sold sign on it right now. See you soon. I look forward to sharing the workspace with you.”
“Same here.”
Sapphire glanced at him. “I’ll walk you out.”
“No need.” He gave her a quick smile. “I’ll be back before you know it.” It was just a dumb shirt, but it was bugging the hell out of him. He moved swiftly toward the front door.
Sapphire kept up. “You’re acting twitchy. What’s up?”
“I have to pick up my stuff from Ben and Molly’s sometime, so I might as well do it now. Then that part will be taken care of. And I can return this shirt to you.”
She followed him out the door. “No rush on that.”
“Yeah, there is. Whose was it?”
“Does it matter?”
“Just morbid curiosity.”
“Jeremy’s.”
When he reached his truck, he turned to face her. “Jeremy was the immature slob, right?”
“Right.”
“And you dumped him, so the shirt means nothing.” Or so he tried to tell himself.
She took a deep breath. “That’s not quite true.”
Oh, God. She still loved him.
“There’s a reason I kept the shirt, which he forgot that he left at my place. So typical.”
“What reason?” He braced himself for a sob story about how Jeremy was bad for her but she couldn’t forget him and she slept in his shirt every night except this last one when they’d boinked each other senseless.
“I keep it to remind myself never to get involved with someone like him again.”
He was somewhat relieved but still not in a happy place. “So now I’m wearing this negative reminder.”
“It really was the only thing in the house that would fit you! I worried about offering it but thought it would only be temporary. I wasn’t ever going to tell you where it had come from.”
“Have you kept anything else? From the other guys?”
She hesitated.
“Never mind. It’s none of my business.”
“Yeah, it is, now that I loaned you the shirt. I just— Nobody knows I’ve kept reminders, not even Amethyst. It’s my own silly way of trying to stay on track. I didn’t keep anything from Gregory. He was trying to deny he was gay, poor guy. That was biology, not a character flaw. I started keeping reminders when Jeremy left his shirt.”
“And the next guy?”
“Edgar was a wine snob and made fun of people who didn’t drink the best, like me, for example. He left a bottle of wine worth about two hundred bucks. I’ve never opened it but I keep it so I can remember what arrogance looks like.”
“What about the cheater?”
“I kept the sentimental card he sent with his Valentine’s Day roses. The woman who works at the floral shop is a friend from high school. We went out for drinks one night and after a few too many she told me he’d sent the same message and bouquet to three girlfriends that day.”
The shirt itched even worse now. “Then you need this back.” He took off his hat and laid it on the fender of his truck. After undoing a couple of buttons, he pulled it over his head and gave it to her. The morning breeze was chilly but he’d never been so glad to get rid of a piece of clothing in his life.
“Grady, I apologize for the shirt.”
He shrugged. “Like you said, I needed something and this was what you had.” He gazed at her. “Sounds like you’ve put a lot of effort into deciding what you don’t want.”
“I suppose.”
“Have you put any thought into what you do want?”
She seemed taken aback by the question.
“It’s another way to approach the problem.” Grabbing her by the shoulders, he gave her a quick kiss. Then he put on his hat and unlocked his truck. When he drove away, she was standing in the same spot staring after him, exactly as she’d done three weeks ago.
He might be tempting fate to make a prediction, but she’d confided some important information in the past twelve hours. He might be ahead of where he’d been three weeks ago.
11
SAPPHIRE HAD PLENTY to think about as she maneuvered through her day. Fortunately, George was in charge of handling any customers who came in, which left her free to go with Grady to the shelter for Gandalf’s vet check. The cat got a perfect bill of health and the shelter set their pet alert program in motion. If anyone in the general area had reported losing a gray long-haired male, the shelter would hear about it.
She’d texted all the co-op members and they were fine with having Gandalf as a guest for the next week. She’d warned them that he likely wouldn’t be permanent. But a barn cat was still a good idea and she hoped eventually Fred would be socialized enough to take on the job.
Grady had fetched his things and was dressed in a faded blue Western shirt instead of the buffalo-plaid one that had caused so muc
h trouble. She’d known that loaning it to him was a mistake. She hadn’t wanted to be reminded of Jeremy when she looked at Grady any more than he’d wanted to serve as a reminder.
He had a sixth sense about things. She’d counted on him wearing it for a couple of hours until he’d picked up his clothes. Turned out a couple of hours had been a long enough time to create a problem.
Then again, that tense conversation might have been necessary. He’d made an excellent point. In her determination not to repeat the same pattern, she’d focused only on the negatives she was avoiding. She hadn’t thought at all about the positives she was seeking.
That was tricky because her previous lovers had possessed good qualities, too, ones that had attracted her in the first place. She’d conveniently pushed away thoughts about those because, hey, when a girl broke up with someone, she wanted to think of him as totally evil, right?
Creativity was the real bugaboo for her, the one that set off warning bells. Jeremy had been creative but irresponsible. Edgar had been creative but arrogant. Cal had been creative but fickle. The one trait they had in common, the behavior that drew her like a bee to pollen, was their ability to enrich the world with their art.
Maybe she hadn’t focused on what she wanted because she knew subconsciously that she still craved a man with that magical gift, required it, in fact, before he was interesting to her. In her experience, imagination had always been linked to a fatal flaw. She hadn’t discovered Grady’s, but she had to believe he had one. It just hadn’t shown itself yet.
Whatever her personal misgivings might be about him, the co-op members obviously loved having him around. Inspiration hummed through the building. Usually, the artists wandered around chatting with each other and generally wasting time, but today there had been none of that. At the end of the day when they gathered in the office for a last cup of coffee and the cookies Arlene had brought, everyone thanked Grady for energizing them with his work ethic.
Grady shrugged and looked mildly embarrassed by the praise. “Just trying to set a good example for the cat.”
“I believe it,” George said. “Gandalf kept an eagle eye on you all afternoon from the top of that cat tree.”
“Yeah, that was a great purchase.” Sapphire had been a little startled when Grady had gone for cat-care essentials and had come back with a six-foot multitiered playground for Gandalf in addition to the smaller items.
Occupying a far corner of Grady’s work area, it allowed Gandalf to observe his hero without being anywhere near the torch. He was wary of the instrument but clearly wanted to keep Grady in sight. The carpeted structure let him do that.
“Now’s a good time to vote on how we handle having a cat here at night,” Sapphire said. “We can give him the run of the place or close him in the office.”
“I vote we give him the run of the place.” George grabbed another cookie. “We all store our supplies when we go home, so there’s not much he could get into and I’ll bet he’d rather be free than cooped up.”
“I feel the same.” Arlene reached down and petted Gandalf, who’d followed everyone into the office. “He’s a good cat. Let him roam.” She glanced around. “Everybody agree?” They all did.
“That’s settled, then. “ Sapphire drained her coffee cup. “I need to load up the food dishes for the ferals. Any questions about the event? We’re only three days away, so now’s the time to talk about anything we’ve forgotten.”
“Now that I think about it,” Grady said, “we should close Gandalf in the office during the event. He might be okay with the crowd, but I don’t want to take a chance he’d get spooked and run off.”
“Good call,” George said. “For one thing, we’ll have little kids here. We don’t know how he’d react to them.”
“Then we’ll make sure he’s tucked away before we open the doors. Anything else?” When nobody spoke, she gave a quick little nod. “Okay, then. See you all tomorrow.”
Everyone left but Grady. She glanced at him, not quite sure where they stood. They’d had very few moments alone today and he hadn’t used any of those moments to talk about this morning’s incident. “Want to help me feed?”
“I do.” Laying his hat on the counter, he moved in close and rested his hands on her shoulders. “But I desperately need a kiss.” He massaged her shoulders gently. “Think that could be arranged?”
“Absolutely.” Her pulse quickened as it always did the minute he put those talented hands on her. So he was ready to continue what they’d started. Hallelujah. She wound her arms around his neck. “But the cats are out there waiting and we’re due at my parents’ in an hour.”
“And I need a shower and a change of clothes, so I’ll make it quick.” His mouth hovered over hers. “Semiquick.” He touched down and lightly tasted her lips. Then with a low moan, he gripped her shoulders and delved deep. The erotic movement of his tongue told her what he really wanted.
So did she. Tunneling her fingers through his hair, she whimpered and tried to wiggle closer, but he held her fast, keeping their bodies apart.
Gasping, he lifted his head. “If I let myself settle against your hot body, guaranteed we’ll do more than kiss and we don’t have time.”
“Are you saying you brought—”
“I told you I’d always be prepared.” He pressed kisses at the corners of her mouth. “Which means I have a condom in my pocket, but we’re not gonna use it.”
She gulped for air. “No, we’re not.”
“No matter how much my cock aches for you.”
“I ache for you, too.”
“That helps.” His chuckle sounded strained. “Sort of. No, it doesn’t. God, how I want to—” A sharp, demanding meow stopped him in midsentence.
They both glanced down.
Gandalf sat primly, front paws together and fluffy tail wrapped around his feet. He stared up at them with his sky blue eyes, blinked once and uttered the same quick meow.
“Oh, boy.” Sapphire couldn’t help laughing. “I don’t know if you got that, but the message is clear to me.”
“He’s hungry?”
“I doubt it. Last time I checked, he had dry food in his dish. I’m guessing he wants you to quit fooling around with me and pay attention to him.”
“Really?”
“Really. They get jealous, too, you know.” She’d meant it as kind of a joke, but his expression told her he hadn’t taken it that way. Whoops.
“Sapphire, I wasn’t jealous.” Then he blew out a breath. “No, that’s a damn lie. I didn’t like thinking you’d kept an old boyfriend’s shirt. If I’m being totally honest, I still don’t like it, even though it’s supposed to be there as a warning. It’s like he’s there, and worse yet, he’s one of the reasons you’re afraid to get close to me.”
She swallowed. “Yes, he is.”
“That’s not fair, you know, to judge me based on what another guy—”
“Three other guys.”
“I don’t care if it was twenty.” His gaze intensified. “I’m me, an individual, yet you’ve lumped me in with them and I don’t like it.”
“I don’t blame you.”
Gandalf meowed again, but this time more plaintively.
With a heavy sigh, Grady rubbed the back of his neck. “You know what? We need to feed those cats.”
“I do, but you don’t have to. I’ll give you my house key. You can go back and take your time cleaning up.”
“Think we need a breather?”
“Maybe.”
“First I’ll give Gandalf a nice brushing. Then I’ll take you up on that offer. Come on, cat. I left your brush in your tree house.” He started out of the kitchen and Gandalf trotted after him, tail in the air like a victory flag.
“I’ll leave my key on the desk in the office.”
He kept walking. “Thanks,” he called over his shoulder. “See you soon.”
Although she felt icky and disoriented by the exchange, she forced herself to get out the bowls, fill
them quickly and layer them into the basket. She pulled her keys from her purse on the kitchen counter, then unhooked the one for the front door and laid it on the desk as she went through the office.
Fred was there with the other cats when she set out the bowls. After last night’s episode, he didn’t want to show up late. Apparently, he hadn’t appreciated waiting for his food and was determined to claim a bowl before another cat edged him out again.
All eleven looked healthy. She always eyeballed each one during feeding time to make sure some issue hadn’t cropped up, but they moved well and ate with enthusiasm. She hadn’t fed them alone since Grady had arrived two nights ago. Funny how quickly she’d become used to having him there. The sound of his truck leaving the parking lot added to her funky mood.
Although they hadn’t exactly fought, the spontaneous joy they’d first enjoyed might be gone temporarily—or maybe for good. He could always decide she wasn’t worth the angst and back off completely but he probably wouldn’t. The sex was too good. In spite of everything, she couldn’t wait to be alone with him again and she knew he felt the same way.
Seeing her folks’ reaction to him would be interesting. Her dad tended to like everyone, but her mom was pickier. Gregory had been the only boyfriend of hers she’d warmed to. When he’d finally accepted that he was gay, she’d been as supportive as his own folks had been. But her mom had never quite accepted any of the three guys who’d come along after Gregory.
Sapphire had become so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed that the cats had begun to leave. It seemed nobody craved attention tonight. By the time she became aware, they were all headed back for the woods...all except Fred. He’d finished all the food in his bowl and he crouched there staring at her.
“Hey, Fred,” she said softly. “How’s it going?” Then she used a technique one of the shelter volunteers had taught her. She blinked. That was supposed to indicate friendly intentions. “You’re a handsome boy, Freddie.” She blinked again.
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