All he had was a collection of broken pieces. A man still in love with his dead wife, chained by memories and what should’ve been.
The black-and-white feline with big ears and long tail curled around Gemma’s legs. She scooped her up, set her on the workbench, and grabbed a handful of treats.
“I really should stop buying these things, they’re too expensive.”
“Which reminds me, I put some money on your account at the feed store yesterday.”
She looked at him. “You didn’t have to do that.” She snapped the lid off the cat food container and filled the cats’ bowls.
“I want to help out.”
Gemma set the black-and-white, whom she called Tux, in front of the food. “What did you think of Rick ending up with the police chief instead of Ilsa? I suppose that’s as it should be.” She brushed past him, raising her hair from her neck, fanning away the heat. “She still loved Victor.”
John reached for her without pausing to think or analyze. “Holding your hand sent me to the moon, Gemma. I’m not going to lie. I was all zingy and twittery, distracted. Who cared about Rick and Ilsa, I was with you.”
“Zingy?” She grinned and zapped him with a current of romantic electricity. “Very poetic, Prince.” She stepped out of his arms. “It must not have been a pleasant ride to the moon. You let go. When Ilsa told Rick she still loved him.”
So she’d noticed. What did he expect? “I’m sorry. One moment I was with you, only you, thrilled to just be in the moment and not conflicted with life. Then Ilsa made that confession and I tumbled down a rabbit hole, back to misery, back to disappointment, back to all the memories. Holland and I had a similar confession. When we met, I felt like I’d come home to love. She was the one who would help me be king. You know, for all a man’s bravado, he needs a woman in his life.” He looked down and kicked his foot over the stone aisle. “So very much.”
“For all a woman’s bravado, I reckon she needs a man in hers. Wasn’t it that way from the beginning?”
“There are days when I barely think of her and then something like tonight happens and she consumes me. I’m sick with missing her.”
“Prince, you don’t owe me an explanation. You held my hand, big deal. You’ll go home in a couple of weeks and this will be a distant, if not forgotten, memory.”
“Never distant, never forgotten.” They leaned against the workbench, not moving, their glances passing. “Maybe it was just me,” he said into the quiet. “But holding your hand felt like more than a ‘no big deal.’”
“Not really.” A shadow passed over her expression as she left the workbench for the puppy stall, and his curiosity piqued about what exactly lived beneath her veil. What was she working so hard to conceal?
“I like you, Gemma. A lot,” he said, walking with her to the puppies. “In fact, had we met at another time—”
“If we’d met in another time, we’d not be having this conversation.” She knelt by the puppies and pressed her hand on their cuddled, sleeping bodies. “I feel so protective of them. I’m not sure I can give any away.”
“Surely you’ll let me have Chandler.” John dropped to his blankets and rested his arms on his raised knees.
“You want the runt of the litter?” Her smile was genuine and free from secrets. When she talked about her herd, the puppies, or Imani, she became determined and focused.
“I feel rather protective of him.”Of you.
“He won’t be ready when you leave.”
“You could bring him over.” He stretched out and scratched Chandler’s ears. The little chap squeaked and squirmed.
Tweedy roamed between the two of them, sniffing, inspecting, making sure her surrogates were safe. Blue used the opportunity to stretch his legs and head outside.
“You know, it occurs to me you know more about me than I do you,” he said after a moment.
“You’re famous. I’m a nobody.”
He raised his head. There was more than self-deprecation in her reply. “That’s a rather harsh view, Gemma. How does anobodytake in an orphan daughter and rescue animals?”
“I did what anyone would do.” Retrieving Phoebe and Monica, Gemma settled against the barn wall and cuddled the puppies in her lap. “Imani’s parents were good friends. We went to high school together. They were the all-American type. Smart, good-looking, athletic. She was black and he was white. They dated all through high school and got married the summer after we graduated.”
“There were no racial issues?”
“Some but not enough to stop those two. Plus both parents were successful, leaders in the community, and they helped to make it work. Althea and Ethan had scholarships to great colleges. Althea went to Howard, Ethan to George Washington, where he played basketball. Imani was a surprise honeymoon baby.”
“Had to be rough on young students and one playing a sport.”
