Page 5 of Earl

“Give me one good reason why you are so against this dating app.”

“It smacks of desperation.” She pointed out. “I am far from being that.” Taking the bottle from him, she turned towards the stove.

“You should hire a maid.”

“Why?”

“Darling, you are making a ton of money, and the place could stand a proper cleaning.” He grinned when she glared at him over her shoulder.

“For your information, I have someone coming in twice a week. I hate people in my space and when I am working, I do not need to hear the vacuum humming or the machine going.”

“You are just too set in your ways.” Breaking off a banana, he peeled it and broke it in half. Leaning forward to pop the half into her mouth.

“And you are not?”

“I guess I am. I spend little time in my apartment because I am always traveling. It wouldn’t be prudent for me to hire a full-time help. But you don’t have that excuse.”

“It’s not an excuse, it’s a reason.” She explained patiently. Very soon, the scent of curry and other seasoning filled the air with an enticing aroma. Tossing in the shrimp, she turned down the knob, allowing it to simmer.

“I hate being distracted.”

“Wine? And if it’s more of that vinegar you served before, I am going to go mad.”

“Check the wine cooler. You are such a snob.”

“I am most certainly not. But my taste buds and appreciation for the finer things have been heightened.” He went searching in the wine cooler and produced a bottle of Cabernet.

“Ah, much better.” Reaching for two glasses, he grappled with the cork and poured the wine. “We have come a very long way since Sanctuary.” He handed her the glass and sat across from her.

“That place was anything but a sanctuary.” Cathy sipped her wine slowly. She kept telling herself that she was over the past, especially her childhood, but every now and again it would come popping back up. Unlike Justin, her mother had dumped her at the group home and never looked back.

Apparently, she had been a teenager who got knocked up by some stranger and he refused to acknowledge the pregnancy or take responsibility for it. She had heard all of this from the woman who had given birth to her.

Cathy had been twenty-five and just starting out in her career when she decided to do some research into where she came from.

She had found Linda Holbrook at a seedy neighborhood in the downtown area, living with a man who looked like her pimp. Apparently, her mother was a no-good whore who had done the sensible thing and had her tubes tied so she did not have to deal with another unwanted baby. She had been none too pleased to see her only child.

Cathy’s world had collapsed again because secretly, she had been hoping that the woman would have been happy to see her and would have had some logical explanation for leaving her in that place.

She had called Justin who had been on a break from his modeling assignments and was in the country. He had come running and drove her car back to his place where he fed her some French takeout and put her to bed.

He had been on his way out on a date and had cancelled it without even thinking about it. Sliding into bed with her, he had held her while she cried.

Thinking about it now, she gazed at him in love and appreciation.

“You are always there for me.”

“I always will be.” He seemed to know where her thoughts had taken her and reaching for her hand, he linked their fingers. “She is dead, darling.”

“I know,” she shrugged.

“And you were pretty decent to bury her.”

“She was going to be dumped in some hole.”

“Which was what she deserved after leaving you like that.” His mouth went grim. “And what she said to you that afternoon.”

Her eyes glittered with tears. “It doesn’t matter.”

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