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Nate glanced at it and returned for a longer look, his eyes going wide in shock. “Is that…?”
“I think so!” Mandy walked to the fireplace and peered closely at the lower right corner of the oil landscape. “It is!” Turning to Zoe, she signed, “This is one of my grandmother’s paintings!”
“What?”
“Yeah, she used to sell her work through the gallery here in Cedarton. I didn’t know they still had one of hers.”
“It was one of the first things I bought when I moved in. I loved the color and depth.” Zoe stared at it as if seeing it for the first time. “What a small world. I can’t believe your grandmother painted this.”
“She’s amazing but she spends most of her time promoting the work of other artists rather than her own.” Mandy grinned. “She’s really going to be happy when I tell her you have one of her landscapes.”
A battered old cat stretched on the padded chair beneath the window and Nate realized it had been curled up there, ignoring them.
“Oh, goodness! He’s so sweet!” Mandy raced to him and went to her knees to scratch the tomcat behind the ears. It immediately fell over to give her better access. It made his daughter laugh. To Zoe, she signed, “What’s your cat’s name?”
Zoe smiled. “Maximus. He was picked up by the city and lived at the shelter for months, healing from multiple injuries. No one wanted him because he was older and not very pretty. He didn’t have a name, so I gave him one. He fought his way back to a new life.” She crouched beside Mandy. “He’s a survivor. I like that about him.”
“Maximus. Like the guy inGladiator?” Zoe nodded. “That fits.”
Zoe ran her palm over the cat’s body and gave a small snap of her fingers. He stood and stretched again. The huge black and grey cat jumped to the floor and nuzzled his owner’s legs.
Standing, Zoe walked into her little kitchen, tapped a three-step stool, and the cat climbed up to sit and wait. She petted him lovingly and placed her hand on his chest, giving a soft smile.
“She’s feeling if he’s purring,” Mandy told Nate softly as she moved to stand beside him. “I’m so angry she lost her hearing, Dad.”
“I know, honey.”
Nate was choked up watching Zoe experience her cat’s purr in the only way she could. Throughout his life, he’d often felt overwhelming sadness for his mom and younger sister in such moments.
The three women didn’t allow deafness to stop them from living but it was thelittlethings they missed that made him furious.
Life sucked sometimes.
Zoe moved efficiently around her kitchen and he noted the single dish, cup, and silverware in the dish drainer as well as a tiny coffee pot. She kept everything low and he knew she wouldn’t be able to reach it otherwise.
Her body was compact, efficient, and healthy. He wanted to see what she had under all the layers she wore in what he believed was a sort of shield against the attention of men.
Nate didn’t want to see everything…yet.
Zoe wasn’t the kind of woman to date casually and that was alright. There was nothingcasualabout his feelings for her. Nate wanted to see enough to let his imagination run wild but leave her the privacy and sense of safety she needed until she was ready.
Opening a can of food, Zoe spooned it onto a saucer that had cat paws around the edge. She smiled as Maximus started to eat.
“Mandy, we have hours of daylight left. We could take Zoe four-wheeling or something for a little while out by the house.” He glanced down. “What do you think?”
Without answering him, his daughter walked into the kitchen and got Zoe’s attention. “You should put on some ratty clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty in. Once we look over my project, I’ll take you out and show you where I got my samples.”
His child was brilliant.
Tilting her head, Zoe signed, “You want me to hang out with you?” Mandy nodded. “Honey, isn’t there anything else you’d rather do on your weekend?”
“Nope. I love hanging out with you.” She shrugged. “You’re one of the smartest and nicest people I know. You talk to me like a person with a good brain, not a little kid. You get how my head works better than almost anybody.”
Reaching out, Zoe smoothed Mandy’s blonde hair away from her face. Then she signed, “I’d love to hang out with you guys.”
All Nate could do was smile.
She rinsed the cat food tin and threw it in a recycling bin. After she washed and dried her hands, she signed, “I’ll bring my car.”
