By the time Willow locked up the gallery, she was too tired to engage with Josie. No telling how that could go. She went quietly up the stairs to her apartment. Her questions about George and Baxter and Josie could wait until morning. But, as she got ready for bed, she felt aggravated. Why had George shown up like that tonight? And then gone off with Josie and not come back? What about Baxter? Had George come by to inform her that he didn’t want the cat? Had he possibly given the cat to Josie? Willow hoped not. Josie could barely take care of herself. She did not need a cat.
Willow knew that these obsessive thoughts were not conducive to a good night’s rest. So, in an effort to relax and quiet her mind, she tuned her radio to a classical station, turned the volume down low, and drifted off to sleep.
nineteen
By the next morning, Willow was determined to put all troublesome thoughts concerning George and Baxter behind her. In fact, she was ready to put George Emerson behind her. Her distraction was to spend the day in her studio. And since it was supposed to hit triple digits today, the basement-level studio sounded like the perfect place to be. Plus, with the interest some of her pottery had received last night, including two sales, she felt inspired to work with clay today. She was just using a wire to cut a large vase from the wheel when she heard someone calling her name.
“Down here,” she yelled, pausing to see who it was.
George appeared out of the shadows with a sheepish expression. “Sorry to interrupt you while you’re working,” he told her. “But Leslie told me you were down here.”
“Hello, George.” She kept her voice cool as she continued to remove the vase then carefully set it on a drying board. She turned to look at him. “What can I do for you?”
“First of all, you can accept my sincere apology,” he said.
“Apology for what?” She wiped her hands on a rag and waited.
“For a couple of things.” He sighed. “First of all, for the way I behaved on the hot-air-balloon ride. I realize now that you thought I would enjoy it, but—”
“Oh, George, it was thoughtless of me. I can see that now. I should’ve known that you don’t like surprises. I just felt that once you were on it, you would see how much fun it could be. But I had no idea you had a fear of heights.”
“Yes, well, I’ve heard that we should face our fears in order to get past them.”
“Maybe so, but it should be your choice. Not forced upon you.” She smiled. “And you’re right, I am like a camel’s nose. I’m too pushy. I need to back off. I understand that. So if you accept my apology, I’ll accept yours.”
He nodded. “Accepted. But I have another one to make. I treated you abominably yesterday when you brought Baxter to me. I’m sorry.”
“To be fair, that was similar to the balloon ride. I am a camel’s nose. I pushed too hard and sprung it on you without warning.”
“It’s true that you caught me off guard by not asking first. But it’s also true that if you’d asked me first—if you’d given me the option to adopt a cat—I would’ve firmly told youno thank you. Because I did not want a cat. Not in the least.”
“Well then. I’m happy to take him off your hands. I think he is a wonderful cat and I’m glad to—”
“But Idowant him.” George looked worried. “You’re right. Baxter is a wonderful cat. And he is quite comfortably at home with me. We are well suited to each other.”
“Oh.”
“That’s why I need to apologize. Not only was I horriblyrude to you, Willow, but it turned out you were right. I sincerely thank you for bringing me Baxter.”
Willow felt her resolve to distance herself from George melting. “So you really do like him? He looked like such a fabulous cat. I honestly wanted to keep him.”
“I can understand that. But I feel that he’s very happy with me. I’m such a homebody now that I’m retired. And you’re always on the go or working in the gallery. I think Baxter could be lonely with your lifestyle.”
She nodded. “You’re probably right.” She pointed to the stools at her work bench. “Want to sit? I just made a pot of coffee, if you’re interested.”
While he sat down, she washed her hands then returned with two mugs of aromatic coffee. “So I heard that Collin and Josie got into it at the gallery last night. And I heard that you intervened. Is that right?”
“Yes. I was worried it was about to get ugly. So I put on my teacher hat and asked Josie to show me her apartment.”
“Thank you very much.”
“As it turned out, Josie and I had a rather nice little visit.”
“Really?” Willow had a hard time imagining that.
“It seems I’m destined to become her mentor.” George shook his head with a puzzled expression.
“What on earth?” She set down her coffee mug with a clunk.
