Catwalk
Page 26
“You’re about to start your dissertation research?” I shifted my gaze and found Tom watching me with a look I wanted to dive into. I had missed that look, and I knew I would miss it even more when he left. I swallowed the urge to knock the table aside and throw myself at him, and instead I said, “I know you told me, what, somewhere out west?”
Tommy laughed. “Right. West of Spain.” He explained that he had been planning to do his research in northern California and Nevada, but at the last minute a grant had come through, and he was off to Spain at the end of the week.
“Getting everything arranged at the last minute has been a bit of a nightmare,” he said, and raised his glass and waited for us to follow his lead. “Here’s to dads who know how to make travel arrangements.” I almost choked on my martini when he followed up with, “Especially for dogs.”
Tom patted my back. “Are you okay?”
“Wrong pipe,” I managed to squeak out.
When it was clear I’d survive, Tom said, “Tommy adopted a really neat little dog a few months ago. Probably part Aussie.” I dared to look at him, and knew immediately that he had figured out my error. The crinkles around his eyes deepened as he grinned at me. “He’s taking her along, of course. That’s why I moved the Indy trip up. Had to see about her travel documents.”
As we finished dinner and coffee—I was too stuffed for the key lime pie—we circled back to the situation at The Rapids of Aspen Grove. “Have you spoken to Goldie this afternoon?” asked Tom.
“What? No, just on the fly.” I realized as I thought back that she had run over in quite the rush when I got home. Apparently she had news but had shelved it in favor of my rendezvous.
“Seems Goldie has arranged a meeting between proponents of the TNR program and resident cat colony and some of the birders who oppose it,” said Tom.
“That’s great,” I said, puzzled. “She called you?”
“No. I stopped by, thinking you might be there.” He reached under the table and squeezed my hand, setting off a familiar tingle somewhere low and deep. Slow down there, missy, warned my ever-watchful guardian voice. You still have a few snarls to tease out of this relationship. Tom spoke again. “There’s more.”
“What?”
“Louise says she’s going to dissolve her husband’s development company and use whatever money is available to purchase the pond, woods, and wetlands,” he said. “She plans to establish a trust, allow limited access to researchers and artists. Big plans, from what I hear. Alberta’s involved, and they’ve hired Giselle to handle their online presence.”
“Wow. They have an online presence.” I grinned. “I guess they’re going to need digital images.”
Tommy seemed restless, so I told Tom, “Maybe Tommy has things he needs to do?” I expected him to say he’d see me the next day, or the day after.
Tom pulled his keys from his jacket pocket and handed them to Tommy. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, and Tommy said goodnight and was gone.
“What about the puppy?” I asked.
“She can come home at nine weeks,” he said. “Mid-December. Whichever one ‘she’ is.”
I knew he’d already chosen, even if he didn’t know it.
“It’s going to be a full house,” I said, and told him I was adopting Gypsy’s tabby daughter. “Well, you know, two houses.” Tell him you want to live together.
“About that …”
The server interrupted with the check. Tom told her to wait while he signed the slip and sent her on her way. Then he said he had something to ask me, and claimed to have asked me before, in the car, but I had ignored him. I thought back and remembered a time when I had missed what he was saying as my mind wandered.
He took my hands and started to speak, but I also started to speak, and when the laughter and kissing had stopped, all I could remember was that we had both come up with the same proposal. The devil, as they say, would be in the details.
the end
about the author
Sheila Webster Boneham writes fiction and nonfiction, much of it focused on animals, nature, and travel. Her first Animals in Focus mystery, Drop Dead on Recall, won the 2013 Maxwell Award for Best Fiction Book from the Dog Writers Association of American (DWAA) and was named a Top Ten Dog Book of 2012 by NBC Petside. Six of Sheila’s nonfiction books have been named best in their categories in the DWAA and the Cat Writers Association (CWA) annual competitions, and her book Rescue Matters! How to Find, Foster, and Rehome Companion Animals (Alpine, 2009) has been called a “must read” for anyone involved with animal rescue. Sheila has a PhD in folklore and MFA in creative writing, and frequently teaches writing classes and workshops. She enjoys talking to groups of all kinds about writing and animals. You can reach her through her website at www.sheilaboneham.com or her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sheilawrites.
Author photo by Portrait Innovations.