Checking his watch, he saw that if he left now, they could stop for coffee on the way and maybe spend a little more time together.
Staring at his brother, who was zoning out on the couch with his iPad, he asked, “Hey Noah, Joanna and I are going out. Do you need anything?”
“Hmmm… Nah.”
Noah’s preoccupied answer was what he’d hoped to hear. “I’ll be gone all afternoon. Try not to get into trouble without me.”
Noah just nodded.
The weather had been getting steadily warmer and sunnier. But even so, May in New England was unpredictable. Dante grabbed a light jacket and jogged down two sets of stairs to his Camaro. He tossed the jacket into the back seat and roared off to Mallory’s town house.
When he got there, her front door was open, but the screen was closed. He would have panicked if both doors were standing wide open. Apparently, she had been watching for him. As soon as he pulled into her driveway and shut off the engine, she appeared on her doorstep. She had on a pair of skinny jeans and a pretty green sweater that made her eyes even brighter.
With her purse hanging from her shoulder, she locked the front door and walked confidently to his car. “Hey, handsome,” she called out.
She made him smile whenever he saw her. Not just because she was beautiful, but because she genuinely seemed to like him and think he was plenty good enough for her. He wondered why he’d ever felt inferior to her before. She wasn’t the “perfect” girl he had thought she was in high school. They were just two people, now adults, with a bit of shared history and at least one oddity in common. That was enough for a start. More than what a lot of people started with.
She fell into the seat beside him and leaned over to give him a peck on the lips.
“You seem cheerful today,” he commented.
“I am. I’m a little nervous about this appointment, but I get to see you, so it won’t be a total waste.”
“A waste? Is that what you expect hypnosis will be?”
“Well, no. I’m just trying not to get my hopes up. If he can cure me, that would be fantastic, but it seems like a long shot—to both of us.”
He frowned as he backed out of her driveway.
“I guess we won’t know unless we try,” she continued.
The wordwepleased him and made him nervous at the same time. He was involving himself in her treatment. It wasn’t as if that had happened by accident. He had deliberately inserted himself into her life against advice to the contrary. Had he done the right thing? What if the hypnotherapist uncovered the fact that she was actually half monkey on her father’s side or something… His suggestion could backfire.
But she hadn’t even talked about using hypnotherapy to get to the root of the shape-shifting. She just wanted to know why she was seeing dead people and if she could make it stop. A totally human therapist could wrap his mind around that much. Probably not shape-shifting.
“So, how is the project coming?” he asked, hoping to change the subject in his own mind to something more pleasant.
“I’m not sure. I cruised past the gallery, thinking she’d only sell stuff she herself liked, but our tastes must be wildly different. There was nothing I liked at all.”
“She’s probably not concerned with liking the stuff so much as she is with selling it. I wouldn’t worry about what you see there. Just show her what you can do. If she thinks there’s a market for it, she’ll let you know.”
“Or if there isn’t, she’ll tell me that too.”
“Come on now. People are going to love your stuff. I thought what you showed me was brilliant.” He turned toward her and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring grin. She seemed to relax as she smiled back.
“I think you’re prejudiced, but I’m glad someone’s on my side.”
“Does it feel like anyone is against you?”
“Not personally. It’s just the way the world works. Whoever has money seems to have the most value. An artist can be wildly talented and die penniless. It seems like all creativity is subjective, and an artist is at the mercy of whims.”
“It’s a gamble, for sure. So is life.”
She was quiet. Had he said something wrong? They rode in silence for a while.
When he suggested they stop for coffee, she checked the time and said, “No. I just want to get there. The Southeast Expressway could make us late. I don’t want to miss this.”
“You sound excited. I’m glad you’re open to the whole hypnosis thing. I didn’t know if you would be.”
