Kelly McClymer-Must Love Black (12 page)

Laurie went back to her computer keyboard. “I’ll let Geoff know. You can meet him in the garage. Be careful not to be seen.”

“Great. We’ll make sure to put on our invisibility cloaks. Don’t want to scare the patrons.”

Laurie smiled absently at my sarcasm, tapped her ear, and said, “Good morning. Chrysalis Cliff.” After a pause, when I realized she hadn’t lost her mind but answered a phone call, I turned away. “Of course, we’d be delighted. Personal attention and service are our hallmarks here at Chrysalis Cliff.”

Right, I thought. Except when it came to two ten-year-old girls who needed attention from their dad.

CHAPTER TEN

A man of his responsibilities and station in life would never be interested in a governess, Miss Putnam. I hope you are not nursing tender feelings. I would so hate to see you hurt.

—Lady Deborah to Miss Adelaide Putnam,
Manor of Dark Dreams,
p. 78

As we climbed into Geoff’s truck a few hours later, Triste and Rienne asked his opinion on the best pet to get. Geoff suggested checking out what needed rescuing at the local animal shelter.

It was perfect—practical, sweet, kind. The Pertweaths could surely afford a purebred, but Geoff’s suggestion made the pet idea much better. I remembered a trip my sixth-grade class had taken to a crowded animal shelter—for career day, of course. I had already crossed anything to do with animals off my list, so I wasn’t remotely interested in being a vet, never mind a volunteer who cleaned out animal cages. Some of the kids liked it. Sarah had thought it was the coolest,
most bubble-gum-pink thing we’d ever done on a school trip. Typical. But as soon as she heard she would need perfect grades to get into vet school, she totally tuned out.

“There are plenty of animals in need of rescue,” Geoff pointed out.

“Yeah. We wouldn’t need to call the pointless police if we knew we were adopting a pet and saving an innocent life.” Triste, I was learning, was always ready to save the world.

“The pointless police?” Geoff asked, his eyes on the road.

“Pippa’s phrase. It means the people who make silly rules and then think they need to be enforced because they’ve been made. Isn’t it perfect?” Triste’s approval made me feel a warm glow inside.

But not nearly as warm as the look Geoff sent me, and the admiring smile as he said, “Perfect.”

“Pippa’s smart for a nanny,” Triste added happily.

I laughed. “Gee, thanks.”

“We should at least look at the shelter.” Rienne got us back on track. “Even if we don’t find a pet there, we’ll get ideas about what kind of pet we want.”

There was one advantage to a shelter: It wouldn’t have horses. I’d tried to persuade the twins that Lady Buena Verde would send back any animal that was bigger than she was or that would require a stable to be built, but I knew they still thought a horse would be good for transportation. I was advocating for something small and very easy to care for. Hamster sounded good. Gerbil maybe. After all, if Triste and Rienne got bored with taking care of the pet, as nanny, the pet responsibilities would fall to me. Triste and Rienne were pretty responsible as
kids go, but they were kids, and used to having other people take care of less pleasant tasks like doing dishes and laundry. The maid came in every day, the cook sent our food up, all prepared and ready to eat. We sent the dirty dishes down for someone else to wash, and the dirty clothes, too.

The shelter was as quiet as a library when we first went in. To my surprise, Laurie’s brother, David, stood behind the front desk. He recognized us right away. “Hey, escaped from the spa? Or did you take a wrong turn and need directions?”

I laughed. “Yes to the first, no to the second. We need a pet. I heard you have some here.”

“Sure do, and I’d be happy to show you around.”

I was surprised at how easily flirting came to me. Maybe it was because Geoff was standing there glowering at us. Like he wasn’t dating the guy’s sister. Awkward, much?

David led us into the back, where the quiet became punctuated with the sounds of animals of every kind. Mostly dogs and cats, of course. There was a really cute litter of kittens that looked like a cross between Siamese and Persian. Bright blue eyes and a tendency to climb into any available pocket.

“Whoa, there, no shoplifting,” David said, plucking a kitten from my purse, where it had wormed its way under the flap.

The girls were not suckers for cuteness. They wandered past the cages lining both sides of the room, ticking off practical attributes and amount-of-care estimates like two little businesswomen.

David left us to go handle another customer, so Geoff and I stood side by side and watched the girls with tolerant amusement, something I knew all too well from the receiving
end—people who wear a lot of black tend to get that kind of treatment from family and friends.

“Nanny gig working out for you?” Geoff petted the head of a puppy in a nearby cage.

“Those other nannies were just wimps.”

He looked at me, a little longer than he needed to, and the sounds of the animals faded away to a faint buzz as the blood rushed to my head. “Yeah, they were. The girls are lucky to have you.”

“I’m lucky to be here,” I countered, hoping I didn’t have a deer-in-headlights look going on, but afraid I did. “They’re interesting kids.”

“That they are,” he agreed. “But you bring that out in them. They even talk to me now when I drive them to music lessons.”

“They do?”

“Yep.”

“What do they say?” I had a feeling I knew. They were trying to match me up with Geoff. The scary thing was trying to imagine what they would consider my good points. Had they told Geoff I was interested in black butterflies? Would that be a good thing, or way too weird for a guy who was into girls like Laurie?

“What you’d expect,” he answered unhelpfully. “Practical stuff, except when they decide to read tarot cards or my palm.”

Just then the girls came running over. “We’ve found her. The pet for us. She’s perfect.”

“Great!” I was glad for two reasons: One, I could get
a graceful exit from the uncomfortable conversation with Geoff, and two, the pet situation would be settled in time for my next report to Mr. P. But my happiness didn’t last very long—just until I saw what was chewing on the wire of the cage the twins pointed to.

Who could have predicted that they’d fall in love with a goat? Not me, or I wouldn’t have brought them within ten miles of the animal shelter. I’d rather have taken them down to the beach to adopt a clam. Geoff laughed out loud, but he seemed to be all for it.

Misty Gale was her name, according to the sign next to her cage. The twins, their practical little eyes glowing, were already warding off my objections with words like “useful,” “purposeful,” “eats grass,” “goat cheese for breakfast.”

I tried to protest. “It’s too big. She can’t live in our domain. And Lady Buena Verde will have a fit.”

“I’ll make a pen for it outside the garage. The patrons will never even see it.” Geoff supported the twins, and I was outvoted three to one. I wished Laurie had been able to come with us. She’d have found a way to stop the madness. But Triste and Rienne already had their hearts set on the goat, and I couldn’t be the bad guy on this one.

So we brought Misty Gale home with us. Fun.

Lady Buena Verde was not pleased, which we found out within ten minutes of Laurie catching sight of the truck pulling up, the goat standing tethered in the bed. I looked forward to a confrontation at the next family dinner. Mr. P wouldn’t be able to focus on his laptop that night. And I doubted he’d be able to resist his daughters’ happiness.

At least Misty Gale could eat grass and wouldn’t require a stall mucker. If she did, I had every intention of making sure Geoff helped. After all, he had encouraged the twins to go for the goat. He’d seemed to think my horror was funny.

Once the twins were asleep that night, I decided to break a rule or two. I crept downstairs feeling a bit like a criminal, pausing to listen before turning corners and ready to retreat at any sound of voices or footsteps. But luck had returned to my life. I made it outside without even so much as a glimpse of Havens. The windows of Mr. Pertweath’s office blazed with light—the man worked insane hours. I didn’t think he would be able to see me, though, since outside it was completely dark.

There’s something about a pool at night—especially a pool with a waterfall—that makes the darkness magical. Just in case Laurie or Lady Buena Verde had some kind of psychic alarm system to tell them when I wasn’t where I was supposed to be, I lowered myself into the water with excruciating stealth, managing to avoid any splash that might alert someone that the pool was being used illicitly. The heated water cut the slight evening chill as I watched the ripples of my entry cross to the far side, glittering.

Enfolded, cuddling myself, I floated free, rocked gently by the waves I’d created. Heaven.

“Don’t you know you shouldn’t swim alone?”

Geoff. I tried to let the rocking peace hold me, keep me, but it was gone, replaced by the prickly chill of air on my stomach. Bikinis didn’t cover much, not even in the shadows.

I let my feet sink and spread my arms to keep my head
above the water. Geoff stood in the shadows. I thought there might be a smirking tilt to his mouth but I couldn’t be sure.

He lifted his shirt over his head with one swift movement and his body gleamed in the moonlight. Then he dove into the pool, sending a wave of water crashing against my equilibrium. I had to paddle harder and kick my feet to keep my head from going under.

When he came up, he was close, but not touching me. He shook the water from his hair. “You should have asked. I’d be your swim buddy.”

Maybe that was what I wanted, but it definitely wasn’t what I needed if I intended to stay out of trouble. I let myself sink under the surface, begging the complicated and frustrating world to fade away in the silence of the water. When I came up, I saw Geoff still there, treading water. I tried to picture Laurie, to slow the beat of my heart, but that only made it beat harder. The universe was perverse. I knew it, but never so clearly as in that moment. The thing I wanted most was floating inches from me and yet light-years away.

I felt exposed and vulnerable, and I didn’t like it. “Thanks for helping out the girls today. I can’t believe they picked a goat.”

His soft laugh rippled over the water toward me.

I kept talking. Maybe it was babbling, even, because I felt safer whispering to him about the twins. “I’ve made them promise to do the goat chores at least once a day, so you don’t get stuck doing everything.”

“I don’t mind.”

I wasn’t about to let that end the conversation. Then what
would we talk about? Or do? “Misty Gale is supposed to be their fun, so I think we need at least a daily dose, don’t you?”

“Whatever you say; you’re the nanny.”

“I am, but just for the summer.” I looked up at the stars. “You know, the girls really adore you.”
Me too,
I added silently, but that wasn’t going to come out of my mouth if I could help it. There was a splash but no answer. Geoff was gone. He wasn’t under the water; he wasn’t on the edge of the pool.

I’m not very good at letting mysteries go unsolved. Or, that was the excuse I used to search him out. I swam around, pausing often to listen and look. When the hand came out of the waterfall and waved at me, I nearly screamed.

Mad that he’d almost made me out myself for breaking the rules, I ducked under the waterfall and came into a quiet haven. Me. Geoff. Moonlight. It took me about one second to realize that while we were here no one could see us if they happened to walk by the pool, or even look out the window of Lady Buena Verde’s office.

“Glad you decided to join me,” he said.

“I thought you might be hurt.” The excuse sounded even more ridiculous aloud than it had in my head.

There was enough ambient light coming through the waterfall to see him, but not well enough to make me nervous again. There was something about the way he looked at me that made me uncomfortable. It was nice to be semiblind in here.

“How noble. You came to rescue me.” I could hear the sarcasm and was extra glad I couldn’t see his expression.

“Or I just wanted a little under-the-radar time away from
Laurie’s evil eye.” I brought up her name on purpose. The intimacy was suffocating and the waterfall—or my heart—pounded so loudly I felt exposed.

Geoff moved closer, pushing water against me. “She’s at my place, you’re safe.”

At his place? Could the situation be any clearer? “If she’s at your place, why are you here?” I didn’t want to ask why I was still here, I was too afraid of the answer to that one.

“She has this thing for that bachelor show.” He dove under the water and did a somersault that pushed me away to the other side of the waterfall nook. He surfaced, splashing. “I can’t stand that show.”

What was there to say to that one? I opted for trite commentary. “So she loves you for your TV, then?”

He moved closer again. “Story of my life.”

I pushed water so that it splashed against his chest. Maybe he’d get the message. “Yeah, well, I think Laurie’s the one to talk to about that.”