Page 31 of Sanctuary

“You don’t have kids, do you?”

She laughed at the abject panic on Gabe’s face. “Wow, you really don’t like them.”

“Whoa, hold on. I didn’t say that. I’m just not a big fan, especially when they’re young and don’t really do anything useful.”

Lori took a quick sip of her drink to prolong Gabe’s agony. “You judge a child by how useful they are to you?”

“Oh my God, no! That’s not what I meant at all. I?—”

Lori put her hand on Gabe’s wrist. “Relax. I’m just messing with you. I much prefer animals to children.”

Gabe let out a huge breath then took a long pull on her beer. “I wanted one of these to help with my nervousness. Now I need a whole case to help me cope with your teasing.”

“If we’re going to be friends, you’ll need to get used to my sense of humor,” she said and released Gabe’s wrist.

Gabe tipped her beer bottle to Lori’s glass. “Here’s to an interesting friendship.”

Lori drank to the toast then said, “And a potential business relationship.”

“You make it sound a lot more formal than a friend just helping a friend out.”

“What you’re offering is far more than that, Gabe. And I have to put certain things in place because it’s for the Sanctuary.”

“Oh, okay. Of course.” Gabe nodded.

Lori noted Gabe’s slight surprise but pressed on. “So should we talk about how this might work, and what you’ll need from me first?” Lori opened her purse and took out her tablet. She started a new notes document and wrote Rust Bucket Project at the top of the screen.

Gabe pointed to the title. “You don’t have much love for this car, do you?”

You have no idea. “I’ve never been a car person. As long as they’re reliable and get me where I need to go, I don’t really think about them. And this one has been taking up too much space in that building for way too long.” And it had been taking up too much space in her heart and mind too. That damn vehicle had caused countless arguments, and she’d shed way too many tears for it. Thinking about it wasn’t what she really wanted to be doing, but like her mom had said, the car was a symbol now, and dealing with it was part of her moving on.

But Gabe didn’t need to know that to get this project off the ground.

“I bet when we’ve finished restoring it, you won’t want to part with it,” Gabe said. “I can imagine you behind the wheel—like a reverse Cruella de Ville, saving puppies instead of… Well, you know.”

The metaphor made Lori smile, and she liked that Gabe saw her as chic and glamorous. But she was also very wrong. “I’ll take that bet. What’s the wager?”

“If I’m right, and you’re even a little bit tempted to keep the Brewster, you tell me your tattoo story.”

Lori resisted the extreme temptation to bargain for Gabe to strip naked and explain each and every one of her eighteen tattoos. “When I win, because I won’t be even the tiniest bit tantalized to hang on to it, I’ll figure out what I want from you.”

“And you promise to be honest?”

“I promise, as long as you promise the same.” She swallowed the bitter reminder of that part of her wedding vows and immediately decided to book an extra session with her therapist for next week.

“I do.” Gabe held out her hand. “Deal.”

They shook hands as the waiter arrived with their food. Lori pushed her tablet to the side and whistled at the sight of Gabe’s giant burger. “That is a lot of meat.”

When Gabe picked it up, it didn’t look as big in her hands, and Lori stopped that train of thought before it even left the station of her mind.

“These muscles take a lot of fueling.” Gabe took a huge bite and escaping mayo dribbled down her chin.

She wiped it away with her napkin before Lori could do anything she’d regret, after Lori had sneaked a glance at the way Gabe’s biceps stretched the arms of her shirt to their limit. “I can relate,” she said, gently patting her Buddha belly.

“You’re perfect. What’re you talking about?” Gabe said after she’d swallowed her food.

Lori’s cheeks flushed, and she concentrated on counting the sesame seeds on her burger bun for the next minute.

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