Where Dreams Begin (18 page)

“It must have been, and yet when I went out to get my paper early this morning, Luke was already gone.”

Catherine was deliciously sore, but she wouldn’t confide such a trifling consequence of Luke’s tireless loving. “We had a great time together. There was no need for him to hang around until noon.”

Joyce sat back and toyed with her beautifully manicured nails. “Perhaps not, but it says something about a man when he splits at dawn.”

“I’d say it’s what happened before he left that counts.”

“That’s obvious from the width of your smile, but be careful. Don’t let him take advantage of your good nature.”

“Hasn’t it crossed your mind that I might be taking advantage of his?”

Joyce nearly bolted from her chair. “You wouldn’t!”

“No, but when I doubt there’s much hope of a future with Luke, maybe I’m the one who’s leading him on rather than the other way around.”

“Do you want a future with him?”

Catherine dipped her head. Her passion for Sam had never waned, and she had no reason to believe it would ever fade with someone as affectionate as Luke. That wasn’t the issue, however.

“After a couple of dates, most people can tell if there’s any potential for more than a casual friendship. It’s definitely there with Luke. From what I’ve seen, he’s a man of character and depth, but I’d like a baby or two, and he might not.”

“Did he actually say so?”

“No, and it’s not a line of questioning I care to pursue just yet. We haven’t known each other long, and it’s much too soon to begin talking about marriage and children.”

“You don’t have to say, ‘Let’s get married and have a couple of kids.’ You can always just ask if it’s something he’d like to do someday with the right woman.”

Catherine nodded, but she hadn’t told Joyce how Luke had lost his daughter, nor did she intend to share his confidence with others. “Thanks, I’ll try and work it into our conversation soon. Now tell me about your night. How was the gallery opening?”

Joyce reached up to fluff her curls. “I’m so glad you asked. It was very nice, but there was such a huge crowd that it was difficult to get close enough to appreciate the artwork. Then I rounded a corner, and there was Shane Shephard, sipping a Perrier.”

“You’re kidding, Shane was there?”

“He sure was. He was dressed in a black silk shirt, black slacks and loafers, and he looked even better than he does in shorts. Someone had mistaken him for one of the artists, and he was laughing as he explained he’d merely provided the profusion of plants.

“Then he glanced my way and responded with a startled expression. He came right over to me and said if I’d been the Joyce who had called him, he was sorry he hadn’t gotten right back to me immediately. It seems he’d had several jobs that had kept him so busy he’d let his messages pile up, but he’d planned to answer all of them on Monday.”

“What did you say?”

Joyce shrugged. “My initial reaction was to deny I’d called him, but because he had my telephone number, he would have caught me in an obvious lie.”

“Please tell me you went with the truth.”

Joyce giggled. “Part of it, at least. I said what we’d rehearsed, that I wanted to begin incorporating plants into my decorating jobs.”

Catherine took a sip of iced tea and swore she could still taste Luke. It was such a distracting thought, she sat up and jarred Smoky out of his sleep. He leapt off her lap and went strutting away toward the camellias.

“He bought the story, didn’t he?” she finally had the presence of mind to inquire.

“Of course, although there was a hint of suspicion in his eyes. Did I mention he has the most beautiful blue eyes?”

“Yes, you did. Now go on. What else happened?”

“He complained the place was too crowded to talk and asked if I’d like to go down the street to get a cup of coffee. This time I said yes, and we sat at a tiny corner table at Starbucks for hours. They make a delicious Chai iced tea, by the way.”

“I’ll remember that, but I know you wouldn’t have stayed for hours if you hadn’t liked what you heard.”

“No, I wouldn’t. Cut your losses and escape the losers I always say. But while Shane may be young, he’s one of the most focused individuals I’ve ever met. His dad died when he was in his teens, and he took over the operation of his family’s nursery business before he’d graduated from high school.

“He earned a college degree in business by attending classes at night, and his firm is doing so well that his younger brother and sister, a set of twins, are at the University of California at Santa Cruz, also majoring in business. He believes a concern for the environment, as well as our own well-being, just naturally increases everyone’s desire to fill their homes and offices with healthy plants.”

“He discussed the nursery business all evening?”

Joyce shook her head emphatically. “No, that was merely the beginning. We talked about all sorts of things, politics, world problems, where we wanted to be in five years. He’s such an open man, it was easy to confide in him.”

She hesitated briefly and with a small sigh grew thoughtful. “He said he hoped to marry soon and have at least two children. When I admitted I was afraid I might have missed my chance to have a family, he assured me that I hadn’t. He seemed so sincere, but it will take awhile to discover if that’s merely a pose, or the way he truly is.”

“What does your intuition tell you?” Catherine inquired.

“That he’s real, but that doesn’t mean he’ll fall madly in love with me.”

“It doesn’t mean that he won’t either. Did he ask to see you again?”

“Yes, he walked me to my car, kissed me good night, and I mean really kissed me, and said he’d like to take me to dinner tonight. I usually make a man wait a few days, but I didn’t even consider it with Shane. I just blurted out, ‘Yes!’, and thank God, he didn’t appear too startled.”

“He must have enjoyed talking with you and expected you to accept his invitation.”

“I suppose. Now all I have to do is hold myself together until tonight. Maybe I should suggest we go to China Town. When are you seeing Luke again?”

“I’ll see him Monday morning at Lost Angel. We hope to get the kids involved in painting a mural, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Wonderful, but didn’t he want to make plans for another date?”

“Frankly, I think he was too tired to plan more than driving home, but you needn’t worry. We’ll go out again.”

Joyce studied her friend’s confident smile. “I hope you’re right, but I’ve found if a man really likes me, he’ll ask me out again when he brings me home. It’s always the guys who say they’ll call, who vanish without a trace.”

“Luke can’t disappear. I know where he works,” Catherine insisted, but it was yet another reminder of how unsettling it was to be with someone who preferred not to plan. It was a way to avoid disappointment that was true, but it seriously hampered delicious anticipation.

First thing Monday morning, Catherine called her gynecologist and requested a new prescription for birth control pills. She’d recently seen her, and the conscientious physician agreed to call her pharmacy so that she would be able to pick up the prescription that same day. While Catherine would have to wait until after her next period to begin taking the pills, she was relieved just to have put her plan in place.

When she arrived at Lost Angel, Dave was in Luke’s office, and from the volume of their voices, she doubted it was wise to disturb them and hung back.

“Go on,” Pam encouraged with a bracelet jingling wave. “Luke will be glad to see you.”

Catherine hoped he would be, but rather than intrude, she settled for a quick peek in the door. “I just wanted to let you know I’m here, but I’ll come back later.”

Luke stood. “No, come on in. This concerns you as well. It seems after taking the weekend to check out the neighborhood, Dave chose Toby McClure’s Victorian.”

She was enormously pleased and beamed her approval. “You like it too?”

Dave took a step toward her. “I sure do. It has three stories, it’s right across the street, and Toby’s eager to do it.”

“Too eager,” Luke interjected.

“He moved in about a year ago, after some relative died and left him the place,” Dave said. “He makes huge metal creatures out in his garage, and I believe he’s even sold a few. If he were inclined to hit on the girls, he would have done it a long time ago. It’ll take some effort to rig scaffolding, but it’ll be worth it.”

Luke appeared decidedly skeptical. “Let me think about it a while longer. In the meantime, keep looking.”

“Fine, but what do you say to starting the art contest? That way, when a site is chosen, we’ll be all set to begin.”

Luke glanced from Dave to Catherine. “As long as all you request are preliminary sketches. I don’t want the kids disappointed if we can’t pull this off.”

“We’ll find a way,” Catherine insisted.

“Do you have any idea how to paint a mural?” Luke shot back at her.

She wondered if he was being curt for Dave’s benefit, but she didn’t appreciate his tone. “As a matter of fact, I do. We just need to work out our design on a grid and then enlarge the grid on the building. Then the drawing is transferred to the larger grid and painted in.”

While Luke didn’t appear reassured, he gave in. “All right, I’ll make an announcement at noon. We have plenty of white paper, but you probably ought to walk down to the Ninety-Nine Cent Store for some colored pencils.”

“Will do,” she replied. “We want angels, but we could have as many different kinds as there are kids who care to submit a design.”

Dave moved toward the door. “If we go with Toby’s house, then he ought to be on our committee too.”

Luke raised his hand. “Didn’t I just tell you to keep looking?”

“That you did, and I’ll be on my way just as soon as I finish my chores. See you at noon, Cathy?”

“Yes, see you then.” Catherine waited for Dave to leave and then carefully closed the office door behind him.

She could appreciate Luke’s concerns, but that didn’t mean she would accept his surly attitude. She lowered her voice to a near whisper to avoid being overheard. “I didn’t argue when you said we had to keep what happens between us outside the center a secret, but you needn’t bark at me to keep Dave from becoming suspicious.”

“I didn’t bark,” Luke complained too loudly.

“All right, then you’re tired and forgot to eat, whatever the cause of your foul mood, you still need to be nice to me. Pretend I’m one of the other volunteers, like Alice Waggoner and Betty Murray who help Mabel. I’ve seen them here often.”

Exasperated, Luke shoved his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I was just hoping Dave would come up with a viable alternative rather than provide another vote for Toby’s house.”

She wished he weren’t so dead set against it. “I really do like the Victorian.”

“Well, I don’t. I don’t think much of Toby, and three stories of scaffolding will make accidents, and serious ones, inevitable. I’ll grant you the mural might be spectacular, but I don’t want to lose any of the kids in the process.”

“Neither do I. I want to go take another look at the house. Maybe we can lean out the windows to paint rather than use scaffolding.”

“Do you plan to paint, yourself?”

He appeared incredulous, and she much preferred the warmth passion lent his gaze. “No more than a brushstroke here and there. We want this to be the kids’ project, remember?”

“Only too well.”

She walked over to the window. Dave had trimmed the weeds creeping up through the asphalt, but it was still a desolate sight. “Is something else bothering you? I know I had a great weekend, and I’m sorry it didn’t leave you happier.”

Luke circled his desk and came up behind her. He slid his arms around her waist to pull her back against his chest and nuzzled her nape. “I had a wonderful weekend too, but this morning a letter arrived from my ex-wife’s attorney. They’re going back to court to ask for more money.”

She turned slowly in his arms. “Marsha’s actually done that?”

He nodded. “The judge will probably review our initial settlement and laugh in her face, but still, it’s another problem I don’t need.”

“No, of course not.” Catherine longed to kiss him, but waited for him to make the first move. When he did, the first brush of his lips was tender but so incredibly enticing that she could barely contain the enthusiasm of her response.

Luke finally had to set her back a step. He sent a playful glance toward the desk. “You better leave now,” he warned, “before things really get out of hand.”

For a second, she couldn’t recall where she was supposed to go. “Oh, yes, the Ninety-Nine Cent Store. I’m on my way.”

It took her a moment to realize nothing had actually improved, but that Luke was smiling as she walked away was all that really mattered. As she left the office, she was startled to find Dave waiting for her right outside.

“Do you have a minute to look at Toby’s house again?” he asked.

“Sure. We ought to take some before pictures of whatever site we choose. I’ll have to remember to bring my camera.”

“Good idea. You could photograph the entire process. If the mural is any good, it will generate some interest from the media, inspire some new volunteers, and even better, create a flood of donations.”

Catherine had been concentrating on the mural itself rather than the results from the community. She was now struck with the belated realization that reaping the benefits of the project would surely be Luke’s chief concern. She didn’t want to let him down, and that increased the pressure to achieve a good result enormously.

When they reached the corner, she was planning more logically and took note of the window placement. “It’s a beautiful house, isn’t it?” she said.

“If you look beyond its present faded glory to its potential, it surely is. I can already see the angels flying upward. The kids are going to love this.”

“I hope so, but I wish Luke were more inclined to agree.”

Dave laughed and rocked back on his heels. “If you put your mind to it, I’ll bet you could sweet talk him into accepting Toby’s house.”