Page 40 of Cat Sloan is Swirling

Elena laughed. “And that’s why you are my friend. Who else can you be weird with and it be okay?”

Cat joined her laughter. “But it’s not weird.”

“Okay,” Elena said. “Now, what did you bring for the bookcase?”

Cat shyly looked into Elena’s eyes. “If reading to each other isn’t weird then this might be.” Cat reached into the bag and brought out a framed picture.

“Oh, Cat!” Elena exclaimed. “I love it!”

Cat released the breath she was holding. Jessica had taken a picture of them last week when Elena was in the bookstore. They were standing in the reading nook and Elena had put her arm around Cat’s shoulder when Jessica told them to smile. Cat printed the picture and put it in a frame thinking it could take up some of the empty space in the bookcase.

Elena gazed at the picture and then looked down at Cat. “Am I that much taller than you?”

Cat leaned over and gazed at the picture. She was a few inches shorter than Elena, but what she remembered about that day was the feel of Elena’s hand on her shoulder. It felt nice to be touched by someone she cared about and knew cared about her. “Yeah, you are.”

Elena looked down at her and smiled. “I remember that day. I just came from CeCe’s salon.”

“Yeah, you had her highlight your hair. It looks beautiful,” Cat said, gently touching the ends that didn’t quite reach Elena’s shoulders.

Elena smiled at Cat, looked back at the picture, and continued. “I was happy she took the picture and wondered why we hadn’t done that before. Nicolas took selfies of us nearly every day while he worked on the room. We should do that!”

“What? Take a picture in the sapphic study?”

“Yes, come on.” Elena grabbed Cat’s hand and pulled her into the room.

“What about the tacos?”

“It’ll only take a minute.” Elena had her phone in her hand before Cat knew what was happening. “Let’s stand in front of the shelf that has books on it.” She chuckled.

Cat smiled as Elena held her arm out and put her hand on Cat’s shoulder. “Smile!”

“I am smiling,” Cat said, trying not to move her lips.

Elena took several photos then turned to Cat. “Let’s put our picture right here.”

Cat watched Elena place the framed picture on an empty shelf across from the love seat. “I’ll see it every time I walk into the room.”

“It looks perfect there,” Cat said, but her eyes were on Elena and the delight that covered her face.

“One more, with our picture in the background,” Elena said, turning to Cat with a big smile.

Cat turned around and waited for Elena to step beside her. “Uh, you can’t see the picture.”

“But we look good.” Elena grinned. “Smile for me, Cat.”

Cat giggled and smiled again as Elena took several more pictures.

“Thank you,” Elena said, beaming another smile at Cat. “Let’s have those tacos.”

Cat followed Elena back into the kitchen and couldn’t believe how excited Elena was over the picture. She didn’t tell Elena that she had one framed for herself and it was on a table in her living room with her other favorite pictures of her family.

11

“I’m going to The Bottom Shelf to replenish the stock,” Cat told Jessica.

“That place has been very popular lately,” Jessica commented.

“I know,” Cat said. “Is there something going on we don’t know about?”

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