“Thanks so much for coming over.”
“She just needed a little Suzie love,” she said, grinning. After bending to give the cat one more affectionate scratch behind her ears, she stood up and punched my arm. “See you later, gator.”
As soon as I heard the door close behind Suzie, I looked at Derek. “How long before you have to leave?”
“Long enough,” he said, grabbing hold of my arms and backing me toward the couch.
I laughed. “What are you doing?”
“I should think it would be obvious.” He yanked off my sweater in one brash move. I shook my hair back and watched him watching me, his dark eyes glittering with intent.
“You’re awfully dressed up,” I said, fingering his tie. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll wrinkle your suit?”
“No.”
My knees hit the couch and I fell backward. He followed. I pressed my hand to his chest. “What if I told you I’m not in the mood?”
“I’d have to call you a liar.”
Chapter 16
Earlier that day, I’d made the margarita mix and chopped up all the ingredients for the tacos. Good thing, because Derek had put a wrench in my schedule, so to speak. I wasn’t complaining. On the contrary, I felt like bragging, but I’d never been that kind of girl. No, our afternoon interlude would be my little secret. I hoped so, anyway. Knowing Robin and her big mouth, the whole world was likely to hear the full details if I wasn’t careful. I made a mental note to avoid eye contact with her.
The only thing that had dampened my pleasure was that just before Derek left for his evening out, we heard from Inspector Lee that Galina had been questioned and released. Despite my protests, Lee stood firm. Galina had an alibi for the actual time of death, and her story had checked out. But they would be watching her, Lee assured me. I reminded her that Robin was back in town, and if Galina was free, then Robin was in danger. Lee again insisted they’d keep an eye on her.
Her word should’ve been enough to ease my worries, but it wasn’t. I would be sure to warn Robin to be on guard.
The doorbell rang and I ran to the front to answer it. Robin and Shiva smiled as I pulled the door open. Then Robin’s eyebrows shot up in surprise-and a touch of admiration, I’d like to think.
“Somebody got lucky,” she murmured.
“Shut up,” I whispered, then quickly smiled at Shiva as they both walked inside.
As Robin passed me she winked, and we both knew that she knew and wanted me to know she knew. Twisted, but that’s a best friend for you.
Shiva stepped into my studio and gazed around the room. “Brooklyn, this is wonderful. A truly professional space. You have come so far since your days as Abraham’s pupil.”
Pleased, I gave her another big smile. I really had worked hard to get where I was now. Nice that someone noticed. “Thank you, Shiva. I’ll give you a quick tour in a minute, if you’d like.”
“Yes, I would like that very much.” She walked around the worktable, trailing her hand along the smooth wood counter as she took in everything. “Abraham was so proud of you.”
“Oh, that’s sweet,” I said, beaming. “I really appreciate hearing that.”
“Mom,” Robin said as she slipped off her coat, “let’s get a margarita and relax.”
“Of course.” Shiva stared at the shelves as she circled the table.
“Mom?”
“What?” She blinked, then smiled. “Yes. Margaritas. Goodness, what are we waiting for?”
“Let me hang up your coats,” I said. “Then we can go to the kitchen.”
“I love this room,” Shiva said as I opened the closet door and hung up their coats. “So much creativity. I can feel your energy in here. What are in those cupboards up there? Oh, is this Rajiv’s Kama Sutra? Oh, my.”
I turned in time to see that she’d lifted the white cloth to peek underneath. Wincing, I said, “I’m sorry it’s in pieces, but that’s the best way to clean and resew it. It’ll be as good as new when I’m finished; I promise.”
She nodded but seemed not to have heard me as she stared at the book.
I’d always tried to avoid having my book-loving clients observe my work or witness their property in this broken condition. It was stressful seeing their favorite book taken apart and strewn out over my table. I liked to compare it to seeing a loved one in surgery, although I supposed that was a slight exaggeration. Still, the point was that, intellectually, you might understand what was happening, but in reality, you just didn’t want to have to see it with your own eyes.
Shiva continued to gape in rapt fascination. She touched the red leather cover tentatively, felt the padding, then started to reach for one of the pages.
“Mom,” Robin said, jerking her head toward my living area, “Margaritaville is this way.”
“All right, dear.” She joined us and laughed gaily. “I don’t believe I’ve had a margarita in at least three or four years. I think my mouth is watering.”
“How did you ever last that long?” I asked.
She laughed again. “I have no idea.”
“Oh, here’s Pookie,” Robin said as she entered the living room. “Hello, my feline friend.”
Pookie wrapped her body around Robin’s legs and purred in happiness. Apparently, I remained the one human being in the world Pookie had no use for at all.
“She likes you a lot,” I said with a sigh.
“That’s because I love her,” Robin crooned, and lifted the cat onto her shoulder. “She took good care of me.”
“Robin, what are you doing?” Shiva said. “You don’t like cats.”
“I do now,” Robin said, her voice muffled by Pookie’s fur in her face.
“My goodness, you never wanted a cat,” Shiva said, looking confused. “I think I’ll take that drink now.”
I couldn’t blame Shiva for her reaction. It was sort of a shock to me, too. Robin had turned into a cat person in her short time living here with me and Derek and Pookie.
While Robin was staying here, Pookie had seemed to recognize that she was in pain. The cat had comforted her, curling up on the couch next to her and sleeping in the guest room with her. I loved the cat for her natural empathy, even if she barely acknowledged to me.
“Do you think you’ll get a cat now?” I asked her as I took the pitcher of margaritas out of the fridge and filled three salt-rimmed glasses.
“I’ve been thinking about it,” she said, grinning at the irony. It used to be that whenever one of us broke up with a boyfriend, we would tease each other about buying a cat to keep us company. Now it seemed at least one of us was seriously considering the idea.
There was a knock at the door. “That should be Suzie and Vinnie. Be right back.”
“Hello, Brooklyn,” Vinnie said when I opened the door. They walked in with armfuls of bags that they dumped on the kitchen bar.
I looked inside the bags. “What’s all this?”
“Wine and some Thai food leftovers for you,” Vinnie whispered, pointing out the appropriate bags. “And Suzie made guacamole for tonight.”
“Ooh, yummy,” I said, grinning from ear to ear at the thought of those leftovers.
“And I brought you a poultice for your bad hip.”
Robin frowned. “You have a bad hip?”
“No.”
“She was limping earlier,” Suzie said.
“Really?” Robin said, her lips quivering as she tried not to guffaw.
I ignored her and turned to my neighbors. “Do you both want margaritas?”
Suzie grinned. “Does a polar bear shi-”
“Shush, Suzie, you are not to be uncouth,” Vinnie said. “Brooklyn has company.”
