Once Upon a Pet Show (A Redpoint One Romance) (16 page)

They arrived in front of a small business
front, decorated with gold and brown symmetrical shapes around the
door and windows. Across the top of the storefront, illuminated
letters spelled out "Sophie's Place" in cursive writing. "Hold that
thought."

The inside of the restaurant buzzed with
conversation. As usual, most of the tables were taken. In another
hour, locals would fill every single one, and there would be a
small line at the entrance waiting for a table. Already, the scent
of homemade sauces and bread filled the air, spilling out onto the
wide walkway running along the business center. Such a pleasant
contrast to the smells and stinks permeating the station
lately.

A young woman in a simple black dress with her
hair pinned up smiled at them from the hostess desk. "Damien! We
haven't seen you in a while."

"Good evening, Zarita. I've been busy with the
station. Have an open booth for two in a quiet corner?"

Zarita's eyes widened as she took in Vallory
and the way he held her hand. Let her look. It wasn't as if he
hadn't brought a date here before, even if it had been a while. She
picked up two menus and motioned for them. "Follow me. I have the
perfect corner."

Damien nodded his approval as Zarita stopped
at a back corner. Far enough from the kitchen door, divisions
between the other booths, intimate lighting from candles on the
table with muted light coming from the wall sconces.
"Perfect."

Zarita gave him a smile, setting the menus on
the table on each side. "Thank you. Can I get you a
drink?"

A moment later, Zarita hurried off with their
orders. Damien sat back on his cushioned bench seat to watch
Vallory as she perused the menu. The flashes of the moving pictures
in the menu illuminated her face and hair with different
colors.

Lovely. He even loved how she concentrated,
with a small worry line appearing between her eyebrows. When Zarita
returned with the drinks she looked up and stared at him. Shocked
he'd been watching her? She shouldn't be. She was infinitely
watchable.

Damien didn't bother even glancing at the
menu, knowing exactly what he wanted. Most regulars did when they
came here. Besides, it gave him more time to focus on what he
really wanted, and that was the woman sitting across from him. A
flare of annoyance that she wasn't sitting next to him hit him as
she finished giving her order.

Zarita disappeared again, and Damien leaned
against the table.

She swallowed hard, appearing unable to look
away. "Um. How was your day?"

He smiled. Time to back down, then. He could
do that. For now. "Busy day, but it wouldn't have gone into
overtime except for Velda calling."

She was easy to talk to. Once they both
relaxed again, he found himself going through the day, including
the visit by the Naughty Knitter's Club in the morning.

"I still think it's a silly name," Vallory
said as the food started arriving via a serving bot. "They aren't
naughty, just mischievous."

"Trust me, they get into more trouble than can
be described as 'mischievous,'" Damien said. "That little group is
infamous on this station."

"How much trouble can three ladies get into?"
Vallory insisted.

He had to disabuse her of that notion.
Innocent older ladies? He wanted to laugh at the notion.

By halfway through her meal he had her
giggling at what they'd done to Rachel and Ignacio. The rummage
sale finds. The infamous playground fundraiser.

"Okay, okay, I give," Vallory finally said,
her fork hovering over her plate. "Stop so I can eat."

And eat she did. A healthy appetite on her.
The plate would usually go back to the kitchen half-eaten with his
past dates. Not with Vallory. She polished it all off without any
hesitation. As if not a bit concerned he was judging her by how
much she ate with how thin she might be. He tired of
that.

It also left him comfortable to eat his full
plate. The food of Sophie's Place was not to be dismissed. Simple
food, but with spices to set it off. His roasted chicken breast
came with a large purple Vorstogen baked potato with all the
fixings and a side salad. He enjoyed every bite.

As the serving bot cleared the table, Vallory
sat back in her bench, giving a sigh of contentment. "That was
delicious."

"There's a reason the locals love this
place."

Vallory smiled at him, illuminating the booth
in a way candles and soft lights could not. "A perfect end to the
day."

"And perhaps a return tomorrow to celebrate a
trophy?" Damien asked before taking a sip of water.

She tensed and averted her eyes. Oh, no, not
this again. Because he was asking her to join him for another
dinner or because the mention of the judging happening at the Pet
Show? He had a feeling it was the latter. At least, he hoped it
was. They had only a short time together now, and he'd decided to
take advantage of it no matter the consequences to himself
after.

"Well, we'll see what the judges say
tomorrow." She shrugged her shoulders. "What will be will
be."

Damien leaned on the table on his forearms.
"The daubpups are adorable, and unlike anything else at the show. A
new pet that no one has ever seen on the market, too. Why wouldn't
they win?"

Another shrug, and she still wasn't meeting
his eyes. "Well, I missed the judges coming by the enclosure this
morning. It doesn't matter anyway."

Missed? No exhibitor dared miss the judge
rounds.

"Hey, I thought we saw you back
here."

Damien pressed his lips into a thin line and
turned his head to nod at Arthur. Bad timing for his boss to come
by to say hello. So close to getting an answer, too. "You and Tish
out for a night on the town?"

Tish laughed, hugging Arthur's side as they
stood at the end of their table. "Not quite that rambunctious. I
didn't have much of a chance to go out for simple dinners on Earth.
Arthur is making up for the lack."

"That, and a great many other things," Arthur
growled at her before kissing the top of her head.

Tish ate it up, hugging him even harder, even
as her attention shifted to Vallory. "Sorry to interrupt. We just
wanted to say hello. We didn't realize you had company."

Ah, then that was the reason. With Vallory on
the bench on the front-side of the booth, anyone coming into the
restaurant would only see Damien and assume he was dining alone.
Not much of a stretch, considering that often he did. When he
brought the kids from soccer league with him, they usually took
over one of the long tables running down the center of the
restaurant, not the tinier booths.

Noticing Arthur also checking out Vallory,
Damien quickly went through the introductions, "Vallory, my boss
Arthur Getty, and Tish Douglas. Everyone, this is Vallory Schist,
one of the pet show exhibitors. She's here with a new type of
pet."

Tish grinned, reaching out to shake her hand.
"How wonderful! Have you met Ignacio, Rachel's
boyfriend?"

"She hasn't met Rachel, either," Damien
quickly said as Vallory gave him a blank look. "She's been busy
with the show and hotel evacuations."

Arthur finished shaking her hand, giving her a
rueful smile. "Sorry about that. We're trying to track down the
issue."

"I know. Damien has been working overtime on
it," Vallory said, nodding. Saying it as if she knew all about it.
As if proud of it?

"We've been so busy that I haven't had time to
go to the pet show yet, and I've heard so much about it." Tish
craned her neck to look up at the much taller Arthur. "Are you sure
you can't have tomorrow off so you can take me?"

"Sorry, love. I need to work with Zane. He has
a few ideas we need to look into."

Tish looked more than disappointed. If he had
to guess, it wouldn't be very long before an announcement came from
Arthur and Tish. It would be welcomed by the entire
department.

Would it also be welcomed by the
station?

Damien mentally shook off the question,
remembering how his bot had left him as he talked to Velda to go
straight for Vallory. "Tish, why don't you ask Rachel to go with
you? She's still off-duty, and she's attended the show every year
she's been here. With Ignacio there, I'm sure she's haunting the
place."

Tish's face cleared. "That's a great idea.
I'll call her tonight. Vallory, what building are you in? What sort
of pets should I look for?"

Damien groaned as Vallory launched into an
animated description of her daubpups. Tish's smile grew bigger as
she listened.

"Wow, you are going to have a pet-hit on your
hands. They sound adorable," Tish said. "Are all of them sold
now?"

Vallory quickly shook her head, her smile
disappearing. "They aren't for sale. Display only."

"Oh. Not that I need a pet with three bots
following me everywhere. It took a lot of talking to get them to
stay home tonight." Tish caught Damien's quiet stare and quickly
said. "I'll come by tomorrow to see them. Hopefully you will be
there and you can tell me all about them."

"I would love to." Vallory's smile returned.
"I have a meeting at ten in the morning, but it shouldn't last more
than an hour. Come before or after."

"Sorry to interrupt," Arthur said with a
knowing smile.

Yeah, let him laugh. He found the love of his
life and was moving forward on it. Damien's focal of interest would
soon disappear from the station forever.

The thought depressed him, making the meal sit
heavily in his stomach like a stone. The logical part of his mind
started its usual, "I told you so." Something he was in no mood to
hear.

But the clarity of mind brought back something
else that bothered him. He leaned forward against the table as
Arthur and Tish headed out of the restaurant. "Why aren't you
trying to win a prize?"

She plastered herself against the back of the
booth seat, as if pinned. "No reason. I just don't count on things
like that."

"Vallory, don't lie to me." At his words, she
clearly flinched. "It's clear you aren't trying. Why?"

"It's private." She bit at her lower lip. With
a sudden movement she turned and grabbed her over-sized purse. "I
need to go. Thank you for dinner."

He slipped out of the seat and slid into hers
before she could slide more than a few inches. Trapped, she glared
up at him. She pushed against him with her shoulder. "Let me
out."

His hand traveled down her arm to pull her
hand into his. Her glare didn't match the trembling in her hand.
"Tell me." She stayed stubbornly silent, pushing at his shoulder
again and trying to get her hand out of his. "Do you not trust
me?"

Her small struggles ceased. She stared up at
him, the conflict inside clearly displayed in her eyes.

"You do," he said softly, the knowledge
warming him from the inside out. "Then tell me."

"You can't tell anyone," she
whispered.

He nodded, hoping she would trust him with her
secret. Craving it. "This is only between you and I."

She swallowed hard, giving the part of the
room she could see a nervous quick searching glance. She leaned
forward on the table, setting her forearms on it, mimicking
Damien.

"I'm a Xenobiologist. I've worked for the last
several years on Etrucia." Vallory paused, looking out into the
room again.

"With the duabpups?" Damien prodded. Please,
no one else come over to say hello. He was so close.

She nodded, giving him her full attention
again. "There isn't a consensus that they are endangered, but I
know better. Their last habitat was just destroyed. Combination of
a ferocious storm hitting and industrial pollution. Long story. The
group I have is the only remaining verified group. I tried to get
into the endangered animal display here at the show, but it was
already full, and I was having trouble convincing people they
belonged there with no expert 'consensus.'"

"And so you bought a regular exhibitor space,"
he finished. Now it made sense.

She nodded vigorously, making her hair sway
with the movement. "Took the last of my money, too. Allowed me to
get here with a safe place for them while I go to meetings with
experts who may be able to help me find a new habitat. And putting
them on display may send the right person to me, that I might not
have thought of. It's worked, too."

He sat back against the padded back of the
bench. "You really aren't here for a prize."

She gave him a sad smile. "No, I'm not. And
I'm not selling them. They are too valuable. There are just too few
of them."

"Understandable." The last of the mystery
slipped into place. Of course she wouldn't act like one of the
other exhibitors in her building, because she wasn't one.
"Biologist. That fits you."

A true smile appeared this time. "Thank you. I
enjoy it. There's something so exciting about seeing something new
that no one else ever has. I start forgetting I'm out in the
field."