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“Sounds good to me.” Dave looked up from his work and winked. “Lost Angel sure needs the money.”
“I know it does,” Catherine answered, “but that doesn’t mean we ought to have product endorsements all over Toby’s lawn. They’ll only distract from the beauty of the mural.”
“You are so damn cute,” Toby said. “Do you ever stop worrying long enough to have fun?”
“I saw her first!” Dave shouted. “When she’s ready for fun, I’m her man.”
The kids found that exchange hilarious, but Catherine certainly didn’t. She’d been sure Pam would have told Dave that she and Luke were dating, but apparently, Dave hadn’t a clue. It was even more disappointing that Luke hadn’t confided in Dave. She looked down at the patchy lawn to focus her thoughts and then up at the ornately decorated Victorian home.
“I expect painting the mural to be lots of fun,” she interjected, “but we need to buy the supplies. Now where’s that store, Toby?”
“Hang on, sweetheart, it’s only a couple of blocks away. I’ll give you the address.”
She wasn’t his sweetheart and never would be, but she bit her tongue rather than provide another belly laugh for the teens.
Luke forced himself to concentrate on the center’s budget until well past eleven o’clock, but he couldn’t put off seeing Catherine a minute longer. He crossed the street to Toby’s house, then had to mask his disappointment when Dave reported that she’d gone shopping with Toby.
“They should be back any minute,” Dave explained. He wiped his forehead on his sleeve and then gestured with his clippers. “I hope you don’t mind if I split my time between here and the center. I’m sure I can get everything done, and we really ought to dress up the yard here to frame our mural.”
Luke jammed his hands in his hip pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Go ahead and help out all you can here. If you’re needed at the center, we’ll know where to find you. Besides, Mrs. Brooks will probably appreciate your help with supervision.”
The kids were back at Lost Angel searching the clothes lockers, so Dave and Luke had the front yard to themselves, but Dave still took the precaution of lowering his voice. “I’ll do all I can to help Cathy, and I’m sure you know how I’d like to be repaid.”
Luke instantly grasped Dave’s meaning, and he had to swallow hard to find his voice. “It would be better to keep your relationship strictly professional,” he advised.
Dave responded with a derisive snort. “That will be a challenge with Toby drooling all over Cathy.”
Luke had already known he’d have to keep an eye on Toby. “I’ll have the contract ready for his signature this afternoon, and I’ll speak to him then. I don’t want anyone spoiling the mural project for Mrs. Brooks, least of all him.”
“Yeah, I understand what you mean, but I really like Cathy, and I think she likes me too. I’m getting myself together, and I’ll go back out into the real world soon. The economy may have changed, but I can still be a success, and Cathy provides a hell of an incentive. I just don’t need any competition from a guy who looks like a rock star.”
Luke couldn’t encourage Dave in what he sincerely hoped was a losing proposition. Neither could he admit how close he and Catherine had become when Dave would angrily demand to know what his intentions were.
Unfortunately, intentions required a belief in the future, and Luke had lost all hope for anything more than what he could see or touch in a single day. That meant he had no intentions other than to make love to Catherine as often as he possibly could. That dark realization forced him into a bitter silence, and all he could offer Dave was a perfunctory nod.
Chapter Fourteen
Luke was seated on the Victorian’s porch when Catherine drove up and parked on the adjacent side street. As he and Dave approached her Volvo, Dave was grinning happily, but Luke wore a preoccupied frown. By the time she’d left her car to open the rear door, however, his expression had cleared.
Her initial glimpse of him had signaled something was amiss, but she hoped it had absolutely nothing to do with her and greeted both men with a smile. “Toby had already calculated how much paint we needed. I was very careful about what we bought. Rather than have custom colors mixed, we’re going to do it ourselves. That way we can return any unopened cans of paint.”
“You needn’t worry so much about the cost,” Luke assured her. “The mural itself will generate new donations.”
Catherine leaned close to whisper, “If not the expense, then what is worrying you?”
With a quick warning frown, Luke shook off her question before Dave took note of their exchange.
Dave had already pulled the canvas tarps out of the Volvo and hefted them over his shoulder. “You want these on the porch?”
“Toby wants to store everything in his garage for the time being,” Catherine directed.
Before the three of them had rounded the house, Toby drove his Chevy truck into the driveway. He jumped out of the cab and swung open the garage doors. He had been working on a giant cat sculpted from scrap metal and the head loomed eight feet above them.
“I love it!” Catherine cried. “Do you find many buyers for such heroic cats?”
“You’d be surprised by how many people want them. Let’s stack the paint cans and supplies along the wall, and the kids can tote them out front when they’re needed.”
When they’d finished unloading the Chevy, Toby yanked over a battered wooden stool and sat down to speak with Luke. “Do you have any objection to Rafael mixing the colors? He has the best eye for subtle shadings I’ve ever seen.”
