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She had a sinking feeling such a tasteful request might have no impact whatsoever on Toby’s behavior. “I can handle Toby,” she said confidently. “It’s Dave I’m more worried about. You’re right, of course, a trucker would be sure to show up here. Who wouldn’t? What about an airline pilot who flew European routes?”
“That’s good,” Luke agreed, “or maybe an acrobat with Cirque de Soleil. Perhaps a rock musician on tour?”
“Right, as long as I’m going to lie, it might as well be a whopper,” she murmured to herself, but her pensive frown warned him his efforts at humor were misguided at best.
“I know you don’t want to hurt Dave’s feelings and this is my fault. I’m sorry, but I’m not just being a selfish bastard here, Catherine. I’ve a damn good reason for keeping my private life out of the center.”
“Yes, I understand, but for how long? Weeks, months, years?” She bit her lip, but the complaint had tumbled from her mouth before she could catch it.
Her emotion-laced question caught him off guard, and he shrugged wearily. “Right now, I can’t think past this afternoon.” He didn’t mean to mislead her, but neither could he do the courageous thing, the right thing, and send her away. At least not when Toby and Dave would be so eager to console her, he couldn’t.
He cleared his throat and pressed on as though her problem were easily solved. “If you like, I’ll tell Dave you’re seeing someone. There’s no reason to go into imaginative detail when it’s plain you don’t want to lie.”
Catherine felt sick to her stomach, and it wasn’t because she was worried about lying to Dave, but to Luke. “It would still be a lie, though, wouldn’t it?” she cautioned. “It would be meant to spare his feelings, but when Pam knows, why haven’t you told Dave the truth?”
In hope of ushering her smoothly out of his office, Luke rose to his feet. “I’m providing Dave not only with a job and a place to live, but psychological counseling as well. That means I listen to his problems and guide him toward solutions, but I don’t confide in him. Does that make sense to you?”
“Of course, it’s the same as a doctor-patient relationship,” she replied. At least she understood that much. She rose and took a step toward the open doorway. “I really don’t know what to do until that contract arrives and we can begin work.”
She appeared so uncharacteristically befuddled that he couldn’t resist the impulse to give her a hug. The instant she was tucked neatly into his arms, however, it wasn’t nearly enough. He breathed in her delicious vanilla scent and then regretfully released her.
“Why don’t you go on home? When you come in tomorrow, we should be all set.”
“All right, I’ll go. See you in the morning.” Catherine was now sorry she’d left her car parked beside Toby’s house, but because she would walk right by the hall, she decided to make a quick check of the center’s library.
Violet was kneeling on one of the new throw rugs placed in front of the bookshelves. She smiled happily as Catherine walked up. “I’ve got Ford fooled into believing I’ve quit reading, but I’ve just been reading here rather than taking books home.”
Violet looked very pleased with herself for being so clever, but Catherine wasn’t impressed. She sat on the adjacent rug and began to straighten the books in one of the new bookcases.
“I suppose that’s one way to deal with the problem, but it isn’t the best.”
Violet shrugged her thin shoulders. “I think it’s a pretty good way,” she argued. “If Ford doesn’t know what I’m doing, then he can’t throw a fit over it.”
“True, but there must be a limit to how much a woman can sanely hide.” Catherine feared she was close to discovering her own limitations in that regard. “Have you seen Rafael’s drawing for the mural? One of his angels looks an awful lot like you.”
Violet caught Catherine’s wrist with a frantic grip. “Oh no, he can’t use me. Ford would know I’ve been over here, then.”
Violet’s eyes were filled with stark terror, moving Catherine to cover the girl’s small hand with her own. “Perhaps he won’t notice.”
“Oh, he’ll notice, all right. That man can almost see through walls. I better go.” She quickly released her hold on Catherine, turned down the page in the book she’d been reading and shoved it back into the bottom shelf.
“Tell Rafael not to use me. He just can’t.”
Catherine watched Violet sprint from the hall and thought if any of the girls deserved a guardian angel, it was Violet. She was uncertain what to tell Rafael. After all, Violet made a stunning angel, and he might not want to paint someone else in her place.
“Damn, if that isn’t another prickly problem I don’t need,” Catherine moaned to herself, but by the time she had the bookshelves looking as neat as any library’s, she still lacked a viable solution.
Later that afternoon, Luke carried the contract over to Toby’s along with a pen to make certain the artist would have no excuse not to sign. Toby was at work in his garage welding hubcap eyes on his huge cat. When he spotted Luke at the doorway, he climbed down off the ladder, extinguished his torch and raised his protective visor.
As he stripped off his gloves, he looked Luke up and down with a disdainful glance. “You don’t like me very much, do you?”
“I don’t like you at all, but we don’t have to be best friends for the mural project to go well.”
“Right, my sentiments exactly. An artist has to learn to deal with all types of humanity, and I can deal with you.” Toby used the toe of his boot to yank his stool close and sat down. “I intend to read every word of that contract, so I hope you don’t mind hanging around for a while.”
“Not at all.” Luke handed it over with the pen still clipped to the front. “My signature is already on it. It’s a straightforward agreement. You’re granting us permission to paint a mural on your house, but we’ll own the mural and all rights to reproduce it by whatever means currently in existence or might be invented.”
“Okay,” Toby offered agreeably, but he still reviewed the multi-page document thoroughly. “Looks like all you want is the exclusive right to reproduce the mural.”
