The whole confession was heartbreaking, but her last words kicked me in the gut. I knew exactly how she felt. The longing for someone to care about you and knowing it might never happen. When I was little and still hadn’t figured out how much Aunty Mommy hated me, I’d tried to win her love. If I just did everything she said, if I got good grades, if I did all my chores, if I behaved and kept my room clean, then I might make her proud and earn her love.
By the time I was eight, I knew better, but until then the agony of her punishments wrapped me in a cocoon of constant suffering. I blamed myself for failing. I wasn’t good enough. I had to be better.
“How about we have lunch tomorrow, and after that, we’ll see,” I said.
She nodded, still looking like a kicked puppy. “Of course. Where would you like to meet?”
“How about The Yard? It’s got a couple dozen really good food trucks and great seating.” Not to mention a bar. We might both need drinks to get through this.
“Sure. That sounds delightful.”
I was pretty sure that compared to blue fin tuna and white truffles, it sounded like dog vomit, but I appreciated her attempt at enthusiasm. Hopefully she’d be pleasantly surprised by the offerings.
“Meet there at noon?” I asked.
“I’ll be there.”
We awkwardly stood there a moment. “Well, I’m on my way to meet someone. I’d better go, or I’ll be late.”
“Of course. I didn’t mean to keep you.” She hesitated like she wanted to say more, but then turned away and headed for her Porsche.
I waved as she drove out, glancing down at Ajax, who’d flopped down in my shadow, panting happily. “That was excruciating. I need fortification before this meeting. Let’s get some ice cream.”
He followed me to the car and hopped across my seat into the passenger seat.
“I swear you have springs in your butt. That, or you levitate.”
I slid into my seat and rubbed his ears. As always, he rolled onto his back presenting me with his agonizingly itchy tummy. I obeyed his silent command, chuckling as he squirmed and moaned with delight. After a couple minutes, I started the car and drove out, still scratching him with my free hand.
I opted for two scoops, one of caramel macchiato, the other of chocolate espresso. I also drove through a coffee place and picked up a high octane mocha and a puppuccino for Ajax.
“You can’t have any licks of ice cream,” I told him firmly. “It isn’t good for you, so you can just stop with the dying-of-hunger eyes. Remember Iknowwhat you’ve eaten today. I’m not buying thewoe is me act.”
He made a sad sound and curled up on the seat, muzzle propped on his front paws as he continued to cast forlorn looks at me.
I shook my head and held the cone out for him. He swiped his tongue across the ice cream a couple of times before I withdrew the offering.
“No more. I may be a softie, but not so much that I’ll let you get sick on my watch. I want to keep you around for as long as possible.”
He gave a hefty sigh and wriggled around so that he could lay his head on my thigh. His eyes drifted shut.
I couldn’t help my smile as I sped down the road. I might not know if I was in love with Damon, but I was head-over-heels for Ajax. My furry boyfriend.
ChapterThree
I hadto drive out past my inherited estate to get to my appointment. I was headed to a little town about ten miles east of Sweetwater. I drove along the river for a short while, and then up into the hills, dotted here and again with groves of oaks and tinted blue-green with bursts of yellow from the invading star-thistle. Flame-colored poppies grew along the fence lines, burning like fire against the dried, gold grass.
I rolled my windows down to allow the warm summery scents to wrap around me. Ajax sat up and propped his front feet on the window sill to sniff the air, his thick hair ruffling in the wind.
It wasn’t long before I topped a hill and began the descent into Sutton. It was a picturesque little town of about fifteen thousand people, nestled in a lush green valley. They grew grapes here, and a number of other crops. The town itself was quirky and quite a tourist destination. It claimed to be centered on the intersection of two ley lines, with a vortex circling around the entire town. A lot of shops were therefore devoted to new-agey sorts of things, crystals and herbs, Native American artwork and jewelry, candles, perfumes, oils, bookstores, yarn shops, herb and tea shops, craft shops, and so on, plus the usual wine shops, bakeries, cafes, bistros, and not to mention a haunted luxury hotel and spa.
The latter sat in the middle of the town on the opposite side of the central green from the courthouse. The Hotel Varonne had been built in the gold rush by an eccentric family from France of the same name. The spa had been added when hot springs were discovered just before World War I. Walnut trees and oaks surrounded the spacious grounds, and a meditation labyrinth wound through a flower and herb garden.
The downtown spiraled out from the green, the narrow streets curving and twisting like Medusa’s hair. It wasn’t the most efficient design, nor all that easy to navigate, and generally whenever I visited, I parked outside the downtown maze and walked.
Today I pulled into the lot between the old-fashioned ice-cream parlor and Fuller’s Pharmacy and General Store. I got out and stretched. Ajax hopped down beside me and shook out his fur. As warm as it was, I couldn’t leave him in the car, even with all the windows down.
I checked the address for the store where I was meeting my potential client and swung into a swift walk. I had twenty minutes until the meeting, and would be there in ten. I stopped for a couple bottles of water from a sidewalk coffee kiosk. I had a collapsible bowl for Ajax in my purse.
