He found he enjoyed having a relationship that demanded a little more from him. He liked rolling over in bed and finding Renee next to him. He liked her using the other sink and how they worked together to cook dinner and then clean up after. He appreciated that she understood how he worked and wasn’t mad when he disappeared for a few hours to work on his book. If he had to explain the combination of attraction and familiarity, he would say they fit together.
Funny how when he’d first moved to Happily Inc he’d barely been able to nod at people when he went to town and now he was enjoying having a woman spend the night. The mind’s ability to heal was an amazing thing.
He went into his closet and pulled on sweatpants and a T-shirt, then made his way to the kitchen. Renee was hovering over the coffee maker, as if willing it to brew more quickly.
“Rough night?” he asked, his voice teasing.
She glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled. “A good night, but not a lot of sleep.”
She looked well-loved. Her hair was mussed, her skin glowing. She had on some short robe thing and a pair of slipper socks that looked like bright green mice.
When the coffee maker’s steady stream of brew turned into a hissing, gurgling splutter, she gave a sigh of satisfaction, then turned to reach for a mug.
At that exact moment, Koda crossed her path. She spun, nearly ran into him and then jumped back as if any kind of contact with the gentle dog would be fatal. Jasper felt his happy mood evaporate.
What was up with her and the dog? She wasn’t a mean person. She was caring and kind and thoughtful so why was she so apprehensive when it came to Koda?
He waited until they both had their coffee and were seated at the kitchen island.
“Tell me what happened with the dog.”
He spoke softly and deliberately made his tone coaxing. He wanted information, not a fight. There was something she wasn’t sharing with him and he wanted to know what it was.
Renee cradled her mug in both hands. “Nothing. I’m fine. He just, ah, startled me.”
“Were you bitten as a kid? Did someone you know get attacked? There aren’t any scars, so I don’t think a dog came after you. What was it?”
“You don’t want to know.”
So there was something. “I do. Renee, please. You can trust me.”
“Oh, I doubt that.” She set down her coffee and shook her head, as if she were arguing with herself. “It’s not that I don’t like animals. It’s all animals, by the way, not just your dog, and personally I’ve always wanted a cat. There’s just something about their fur and the way they purr. But I can’t and I really don’t want to tell you the reason. It will change everything.”
She looked at him as she spoke and he saw the truth in her eyes. At least the truth she believed. He touched her arm. “Nothing will change. You have my word.”
Her mouth twisted. “You say that now.” She drew in a breath. “Fine. You want to know what my problem is? It’s my mother.”
Jasper hadn’t been expecting that and had no idea how to respond. “Okay,” he said slowly. “What did she do?”
“It’s not what she did, it’s who she is. My mother is... She’s kind of...” She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them and groaned. “My mother has a psychic ability to communicate with animals. No, that’s wrong. It’s not a two-way communication. She looks at them and knows what they’re thinking, which wouldn’t be horrible. The part that makes everything complicated is once she gets whatever information they want to share, she’s compelled to blurt it out.”
Jasper stared at her and waited for the punch line. The “No, really, here’s what it is,” only Renee stopped talking and stared at him—as if that were it. She was done talking.
He wasn’t sure how to react. Annoyance flared—he was trying to be serious, trying to help her or at least understand. Her response was dismissive and...
She looked at him. “I’m not kidding.”
“Your mother talks to animals?”
“No. She can hear what they’re thinking. It’s a thing. It was cute when I was a kid but then it became a problem, as you can imagine. As I got older, I started to worry that I had it, too, and it’s not anything I want in my life.”
She glanced at Koda and then away. “So far there hasn’t been an indication and my mom swears she had her talent or whatever you want to call it from the time she was born, so I should be safe, but I worry. I don’t want to hear some squeaky voice in my head.”
It was like being back in group therapy at the VA, he thought grimly, listening to the really bad ones try to explain what was happening to them. Or talk to someone who wasn’t there. Only with those wounded in war, he’d been understanding and patient. With Renee he leaned a whole lot more toward pissed and disappointed.
“You are afraid you’re going to start talking to animals, too?” He tried to sound like he was listening instead of fighting anger and he was pretty sure he failed miserably. “Dammit, Renee, I’m serious.”
“So am I.” She slid off the stool and glared at him. “I didn’t want to tell you and you insisted it would be fine, yet here we are. You think I’m lying. Or if you do believe me, you’re now worried that I’m taking a train to Crazytown.” Frustration sharpened her tone. “I’m serious, too, Jasper. This is real.”
She turned and ran for the bedroom. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he gave her a few minutes to get herself together. By the time he followed her, she was already dressed and was throwing her things into her tote bag.
“We have to talk,” he said, wondering when it had all gone wrong. He liked her. He liked being with her, and now this?
“What are we going to talk about?” she asked, her voice thick with emotion. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I knew better and I did it anyway. Well, fine. Now you know. You can believe me or not.” She faced him. “If you have any feelings for me at all, do me one favor. Don’t say anything. I don’t want my life here messed up like it’s been messed up everywhere else, okay? Just keep your mouth shut and everything will be fine.”
He wanted to point out it wasn’t fine now and that they still had to talk and he honest to God had no idea what to say.
Part of him wanted to demand she take it back and explain why she would play such a stupid joke on him, but the rest of him knew it was worse than that. The rest of him knew she believed what she was saying. And if that was true, where did it leave them?
“I’m going to go,” she said.
She grabbed her things and walked out. Jasper told himself to go after her, but he couldn’t. Or he didn’t want to, and in the end, weren’t those the same?
* * *
AS SHE DROVE down the mountain, Renee chastised herself. She’d been stupid. No, she’d been what was stupid times a zillion to the millionth squared. She’d made a fool of herself in front a man she really liked and now she had nothing. No guy, no sex and the very real possibility that her life was about to blow up in her face.
She let herself into her apartment and dumped her clothes, then got undressed and stepped into the shower. When the water was flowing over her, she gave in to tears as she worried that she’d screwed up everything.
What had she been thinking when she told him? That he would be fine with it? That he would laugh and say “Hey, that’s cool. What do you want for breakfast?” It didn’t work like that—it never had. What if Jasper told people? What if she lost her job? What if once again she had to pick up the pieces and start over? Because it had happened again and again and again.
At six, her friends had loved that her mom knew what their pets were thinking but in high school it had meant being a freak. Later... Well, she didn’t want to think about that.
She washed her hair and rinsed the tears from her face, then stepped out to start her day. Her stomach was in knots and her heart was heavy to the point of weighing her d
own.
The potential for disaster was going to follow her for weeks. She would never know if or when Jasper was going to repeat what she’d told him and then what? She loved Happily Inc. Pallas was talking about making her a partner. Everything could be lost if word of the crazy got out.
She got ready for work then drove to Weddings Out of the Box. At least there she could distract herself with various tasks. The weddings this weekend were low-key affairs that wouldn’t require much more than the usual attention, so she would get ahead on the upcoming weddings. There was always plenty to do.
She spent her morning doing her best to get lost in her job. It was impossible to do, but she made the effort and went entire minutes without worrying. She didn’t hear from Jasper, but then why would she? No doubt the man was changing his cell number and considering getting a security system at his house.
A little before eleven, just when she was thinking she should stop drinking so much coffee and eat something, she heard footsteps in the hallway followed by a shockingly familiar voice calling, “Renee? Are you here? Do I have the right place?”
Her mouth went dry, her heart physically stopped beating and her life flashed before her eyes. No. No! But there was no denying the identity of the visitor when her door was pushed open and her mother stepped into her office.
“There you are,” Verity Grothen said with a smile. “Hello, sweetie, and surprise!”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“MOM!” RENEE CAME to her feet and circled the desk. “What are you doing here?”
They hugged. Verity was exactly Renee’s height with slightly darker red hair and blue eyes. She’d always been an attractive woman but after Renee’s father had left, she’d never allowed another man in her life.
“I thought I was coming to San Diego in a few weeks.”
“You were, but I needed to talk to you so I thought I’d pop by and surprise you.”
Renee did her best not to panic. Her mother was in town. Her mother was in town! No and no! This was bad and it was going to get worse and there was literally nothing she could do to make things better. Even more upsetting, mentally screaming about it wouldn’t accomplish anything because now she had to deal with the reality of it.
For months, there had been nothing, but in the space of a few hours, she’d told Jasper about her mother and now Verity was here—as if conjured.
“Is this your office?” her mother asked, looking around. “It’s very nice.”
The space was maybe ten by ten, with a desk, a file cabinet and two chairs. Hardly anything luxurious, but then Renee always had her client meetings in one of the two conference rooms and she and Pallas spoke wherever they happened to be and this was a mess!
“Thanks,” she said, trying to focus. “Sorry, Mom. You threw me with your unexpected arrival. Let’s go to the break room. It’s more comfortable. On the way, I’ll give you a tour.”
“That would be so nice.” Verity linked arms with her. “I want to see everything.”
Renee let go of the fear and worry and told herself to simply enjoy being with her mom. Whatever else had happened, she knew her mother loved her and would always be there for her. The other stuff wasn’t anyone’s fault.
“As I’ve told you, we have theme weddings here. This weekend is a Star Trek wedding, complete with costumes.” They walked downstairs.
Renee took her by the bride’s room and then down the hallway into where the ceremony would take place. Instead of an arch, or an altar or anything signifying a church of some kind, there was a replica of the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.
“Oh, my. Is that where they’re getting married?”
“It is. Both families worked on it, then had it delivered here. It’s mobile so when the ceremony is over, we’ll wheel it out to the reception area. We bring in another captain’s chair and a small table and that will be where the bride and groom eat. They have some really fun things planned.”
“It’s quite elaborate.”
“It is. Not every wedding is this complicated. Some are easier. We’ll be having a Halloween wedding soon. That requires more props but less custom furniture.”
Verity smiled. “It’s lovely and you’re doing such good work here.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Of course I can. I know you.”
Renee showed her how they could hang different panels to simulate different places. “We have gorgeous wood panels, but we don’t use them much. They’re too valuable. Plus printed paper is easier to deal with and a whole lot cheaper to customize.”
They walked through the open courtyard where most of the receptions took place, then went back inside and headed for the break room. Renee poured her mother a cup of coffee and got herself some water. There had already been too much caffeine in her morning. After sitting at one of the small tables, Renee braced herself for whatever her mother had to tell her.
“So, you came a long way just to talk,” she said brightly.
“I know.” Verity worried her lower lip. “I needed to see you, and speaking over the phone just isn’t the same. I thought I’d stay a few days, if that’s all right.”
So not a quick visit, Renee thought, hoping her disappointment didn’t show. She wanted to suggest they both head back to San Diego, only there was no way she could simply take off, and making the suggestion would hurt her mother’s feelings.
“That sounds great,” she lied. “You’ll love my apartment. It’s small, but I can sleep on the sofa.”
“Oh, no. I wouldn’t want to get in the way. I’ve already booked a room at the Sweet Dreams Inn.” She smiled. “I have the Harry Potter room. I think it’s going to be very fun.” Her smile faded. “A hotel is better, sweetie. I don’t want to be a bother.”
And there it was—the sense of being a terrible daughter and horrible human being. “Mom, you’re not a bother. I want to spend time with you. Stay with me.”
“Thank you, but I’ll be at the hotel.” Verity looked at her and then away. She shifted in her seat.
Renee suddenly remembered there was a reason for the visit and from the looks of things, it wasn’t happy. She went cold all over. What if her mother was sick? What if it was something bad?
“Mom, tell me.”
Verity smiled. “It’s actually good news. Very exciting. I’ve been in talks for a while now and I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure...”
She picked up her coffee, then put it down. “It’s not that I haven’t loved being a hairdresser. You know my clients mean the world to me. But I’m not twenty-five anymore and the long days on my feet are getting to me so when I had this opportunity—”
“You’re not sick?”
“What? Of course not. Oh, darling, is that what you thought?” Her mother grabbed her hand and squeezed. “I’m perfectly fine. And I’m getting a show on Animal Planet.”
The world spun twice to the right, once to the left, then settled back in place. Renee told herself to keep breathing, that if she didn’t she would pass out, possibly hit her head and then who knew what might happen.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” she asked, her voice faint.
“I’m getting a show on Animal Planet.”
What? “Talking to animals?”
“You know that’s not what happens.”
“Yes, I do, but you know what I mean. Is that what you’re going to be doing? Listening to animals then blurting out their every thought?”
She tried to sound curious rather than horrified. A show? Animal Planet was a big deal. If Verity had a show then her ability wouldn’t be a secret anymore. It would be out there for all to see.
“It won’t be like a talk show or anything,” Verity told her. “I’ll be visiting families to help them with their pets. I’m also going to do some shelter work. If I can let prospective pet parents know what they�
��re dealing with, the adoptions will go more smoothly.”
Which totally made sense, for those who believed in the whole I-can-talk-to-animals thing.
“I’m very excited,” Verity continued. “This is a wonderful opportunity.”
“It is. You’re going to be a big success, Mom. I just know it.”
Because why not?
On the one hand, she was thrilled for her mother. Verity had always worked hard to provide for her only child. She deserved something wonderful in her life. On the other hand, why?
“You can see why I wanted to tell you in person,” her mother said. “Plus spend a little time with you. Once we start filming, I’m going to be so busy, we might not see each other for a while.”
“You were right to come here,” Renee told her, confident that at some point, she would even mean what she said.
Everyone was going to know. There was no hiding the truth now. It would come out and when it did, well, things would go badly because they always did. But Verity was her mother and she loved her and if only her stomach would stop writhing and she could have a moment to think...
“Renee? Who are you—” Pallas walked into the break room. “Oh, hi. Sorry. I heard voices, which was odd, but now I see you’re visiting with someone.” She paused, as if not sure what to do.
Renee smiled at her. “Pallas, this is my mom. Verity, Pallas is my boss.”
“So nice to meet you,” Verity said, shaking hands with her. “Renee has told me all about you. She does love working here.”
“Good to know,” Pallas said with a smile. “Because I want her to stay forever.”
They both laughed. Renee wondered if she should try fainting. Maybe a head injury wouldn’t be so bad.
“My mom’s in town for bit,” Renee said.
“That’s so nice. Take the day off and get her settled. I can deal with whatever needs taking care of.”
“Actually the weddings for this weekend are pretty much on track,” Renee admitted. “Mom, why don’t I help you get checked in to the hotel and show you around town?”
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