CHAPTER 37 #2
Cat: Remember how I told you, when Blue was stolen, that I should have thought to make you steal your own art sooner? I mean, look at what it’s done for the brand! You’re notorious.
Me: Unfortunately.
Cat: I think you all should steal them back. Work together. Clearly Nash is skilled at it.
Me: So you think I shouldn’t be mad at Nash and Bee, and team up with them?
Cat: No matter what he did, look what it’s done. You’ve improved more in the last week than you have in the last decade. He didn’t do it to hurt you on purpose, he didn’t even know you. They’re worried sick about you. They care. It’s obvious. You’re already a team.
Me: Yeah. I guess.
Cat: Nash has been texting me for the past hour. He’s afraid you’ve run away. He’s pleading with me to tell him where you are.
Cat: I’m melting over here. He’s using every angle he can think of to coerce me.
I shook my head, scoffing out loud.
Me: How often do you chat?
Cat: Just here and there. I like to check in without suffocating you.
Cat: I couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome for you. I love this!
Me: Of course you do.
Cat: They care, Sybil. I told Nash you let me in on what happened. I told him you were okay and just getting some air. He’s just worried about you being out there alone and upset in the dark, as any decent man would be.
I didn’t reply, dropping my phone into my lap and taking a sip of my cocktail. My phone dinged. I looked down mid-sip.
Cat: I was worried, too! So, I’m sorry, but I shared your location with him a bit ago.
I choked on my drink.
Using my sleeve to dab my mouth, I looked up to scan my surroundings. I spotted him right away, as though my eyes were heat-seeking missiles. He wasn’t trying to hide himself from me, standing across the patio, watching me from outside the gate.
He stood leaning against a tree, hands in pockets, looking handsome and so, so very worried. I knew what worried looked like, and he embodied it.
I pressed my lips together, annoyed but also not. His stubborn fighting spirit was admirable—still unwilling to let me fall, even now. Lifting my finger, I beckoned him toward me.
He pushed off the tree, looking down at the ground as he approached. He’d changed into jeans and wore a dark wool jacket and a hat on his head.
As he neared, Bill looked up and saw him. His ears perked, eyed lighting up. He got down from his chair to greet him, somehow knowing, or maybe wanting, Nash to sit down. Nash sat with a sigh but didn’t speak. He seemed rightfully sullen.
I finished the last of my drink, setting the glass down between us with a clatter. Bill re-situated himself on the ground at our feet, head on his paws.
“How do I get one of those?” Nash asked, motioning to my empty glass.
I pointed to the device on the table. He picked it up, scrolling through before selecting something and paying for it with his phone. He seemed intrigued by the explanation on the screen, the same one the server had told me.
With a nod and a smirk, he set the device down, and crossed his fingers in his lap.
“I’m sorry for following you like a stalker. I want you to have your space, but I was worried about you out here alone.”
“So I’m told,” I said flatly.
He grinned. “I’m not trying to crowd you. I would have kept my distance if you hadn’t wanted me to come over.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
“I have Bill to protect me,” I challenged.
He chuckled. “Not sure he’d save you if a stranger approached. He didn’t save you from me, though he should have.”
A small laugh bubbled up. It was funny, but true. I sat deeper in my seat, feeling at ease and content here in this place, just the three of us.
“Sybil, I—” he began, but paused, rubbing his hands together before continuing with resolve, “I love you. And I know that seems fast, or crazy, but I’m sure of it.
I never meant for this to happen like this.
I was going to tell you tonight about Blue and come clean so we could be free of the secrets and just be together. ”
Blinking a few times, I was still stuck on the ‘I love you’ part of his confession. He’d mentioned love earlier, but not like this. I opened my mouth to say something, but he stopped me.
“Don’t reply to that—not right now. Just think about it.”
My heart was screaming, and it took a moment for my brain to catch up. My gut fluttered.
“I need you to know that I love you, Sybil. I want you to understand how serious I am. I couldn’t let you leave us without saying it.” He shifted in his chair, looking uneasy. “But I don’t want you to leave. Just the thought—”
“—I’m not leaving,” I assured him firmly, making my position clear. “Only if you want me to,” I added. I also didn’t want to sound like a crazed squatter.
He shook his head, leaning toward me. “No, I don’t—not ever.
I’m serious, Sybil. Our home is your home for as long as you want it to be.
I invited you in, and now it’ll never be the same without you.
Bee agrees.” He grumbled, his eyes widening as a memory surfaced.
“She took my head off after you left, told me that if I didn’t find you, she’d move out and never talk to me again.
Nevermind her fault in all this with her stupid boy toy, as though she’s not to blame.
A single laugh burst out of me. “I didn’t know she was like that. So—” I couldn’t find the right word for it.
He let his gaze meet mine. “What, a man-eater? I warned you at some point.”
I nodded, letting out a breathy laugh.
“She likely kept it hidden to avoid scaring you away. That girl has broken more hearts than anyone I know. Do you know how many men show up at our house with flowers, trying their best to get a second date out of her, and failing? Every time.” He adjusted the hat on his head.
“It’s a full-time job for me. At least this Rat Man—or whatever—is making things interesting. He’s got her attention now.”
“Is this technically stalking, though?”
He looked hopeless with his head shaking. “Not to her, I guess.”
I laughed. “Cat thinks we should team up and steal the paintings back.”
One of his eyebrows rose. “Does she now?” He was rubbing his hands together again, nodding and puffing out his lower lip. “I mean, if you’re up for joining us and helping out.”
“Joining?” I questioned.
The server arrived, handing us both the same drink I had before. Nash ordered me a second, of course he did. That’s the sort of man he was. I appreciated it.
He took a sip of his, humming with admiration. “It’s good.”
I nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I’ve never had a prepared cocktail like this before, from a bar, or whatever. It’s fantastic,” I admitted.
He leaned back, a proud looking glint in his eye. “But yeah, joining us. Bee and I were going after the art regardless, but having you along—that could be fun.” He winked. “This is what we do, and it feels good to finally tell you about it.”
“So, you’re not just a boring antiquities dealer?” I teased.
“Art historian by day, thief by night,” he said with a proud lift to his chin. “And you’re PERL,” he whispered back.
I grinned.
“It’s amazing, you know that? Everything you’ve accomplished. I honestly thought it was an entire team of people, not a single girl and her therapist. Bee likened you to Taylor Swift, even.”
I barked a laugh at that. “No one beats Taylor.”
He looked unsure.
I brought the subject back to him. I wasn’t much for praise and recognition. “You mentioned finding lost art? What does that mean?”
He nodded. “Yes. Bee and I don’t steal art to sell it and make money like we’re bad guys.
People and organizations hire us off the books to steal back art that’s already been stolen, or lost. Technically, I guess you could say it’s entirely legal, except with Blue.
That was a personal project, one I now understand as it led me to you. ”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, thief.”
He chuckled, sweeping a hand over his jaw. “So—” he began, looking me in the eye, “—Does this mean you’re coming home?”
I loved the sound of that. I grinned. “May-be.”
He looked more relaxed, but still a little nervous, as though I might yet reject him.
I leaned forward, creating a conspiratorial atmosphere. I let him hang there in painful silence for a moment. “As long as Bee promises to get me a cool thief outfit, and I mean utility belt and everything. If she can do that, then yes,” I paused and leaned back again, “I’ll come home.”
He set his drink down, rising from his seat and kneeling before me. He took my face in his hands, pulling me forward. “I promise you, I will get you the best utility belt you’ve ever seen.”
I giggled, people looking in our direction. It was possible that they thought he was proposing; that’s what it looked like.
He searched my eyes before leaning in to kiss me. I let him. It wasn’t a shy kiss, but a deep one, his tongue parting my lips to dance with mine. It grew feverish, my body slackening into him.
Someone in the crowd sighed. I blushed.
He pulled back before I wanted him to. Maybe he assumed the public display was making me nervous. It wasn’t. He offered me his hand and pulled me up with him. I almost couldn’t stand, my legs felt like noodles. He slung an arm around me to offer support.
Bill’s leash was hooked over the chair, and he gathered it up for me. The three of us left; my body allowing me to feel the moment, and not overthink it. This was exactly how I wanted to rebuild the new version of myself. Nash and Betty were my foundation, and from that, only good could arise.