Page 43 of Her Cadillac Cowboy
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
When Sara’s office door opened, Josh was sprawled on the floor of the reception area. He leaned his back against the wall and studied a drawing Will had made. The boy sat cross-legged with his back against the reception desk, chattering away.
“... had her shoulders all hunched up and stuck her neck out like this. Ol’ Beadle-axe looked like a Christmas turkey done up to preach hellfire to the devil. I swear them skinny eyes a hers was about to blast me t’bits where I stood. An’ if she hadn’t a been sucking on so many lemons, she coulda flamed me with one breath.”
Sara stopped cold in the doorway, her mouth open and eyes wide.
Josh cast her a sidewise glance and bent his head to hide a smile.She has only herself to blame if the sunny side of Will hits her as a surprise.She was too judgmental by half. Past time she learned that people weren’t always what your first impressions wanted folks to be.
“That’s enough, Will.” Sara’s tone was stern but devoid of the usual rancor she gave Will.
Will stopped.
Good move, kid. Show her that you’ll listen to reason, not anger.
The twinkle in the boy’s gray-green eyes winked out, and the dimple next to the mouth that seemed too big for his thin angular face disappeared
“May I show her this, Will?”
The boy shrugged. Josh handed the paper to Sara.
She issued a very unladylike snort at the sight of a thin, purse-lipped dragon adorned with a frumpy flowered dress and breathing flame-shaped words. Steam emerged from both ears and a stapler topped her scaly tail. “I’d say you’ve got your subject’s personality down to a T.”
Josh kept one eye on Will, who ducked his head and shrugged.No snarky backtalk. We just might be making some progress.Or at least World War III didn’t seem to be in the offing.
“Yeah,” Josh spoke around the bite of beef that he’d taken while Sara studied the page. “I can remember quite a few times when Beadle breathed fire at me as a teenager. One time in particular had something to do with putting spiders in her coffee cup. You remember that, don’t you, Sara?”
She shuddered. “I remember all right. I was helping out at the office that day, and you, Steve, and Donny came in to see if I wanted to go to a movie. Miss Beadle asked me to get her a cup of coffee. When I saw the spiders in the bottom of the cup, I screamed so loud they heard me on the back lot where they were building the warehouse.”
Josh leaned toward Will. “Sara was so scared, she dropped the cup, and it shattered into a hundred pieces. The spiders went in ten different directions, and Beadle blistered the three of us with threats of hellfire and the law.”
“I was not scared. I’m just allergic to spiders. That’s all.”
“Uh huh.” Josh nodded, an unholy gleam in his eye. “That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
“You don’t know everything there is to know about me, Josh.”
He swallowed his barbecue. “That’s true. You’ve still got a secret or two worth knowing.” He looked her up and down as he spoke, then he looked at Will. “Remember, Will, you can’t know enough about a woman you’re interested in.”
Sara blushed. Will shrugged and continued to eat. Josh pursued his own dinner with gusto.
Sara handed the picture back to Will and turned toward her office. Her stomach chose that moment to growl.
“Did you want something, Sara?” His question halted her in her tracks.
She looked back over her shoulder. “No, I just came out to see what the racket was all about.” It was a lie, and Josh knew it. They’d been very quiet. She probably hadn’t even known they were there until the smell of food caused her stomach to betray her
“We’re sorry to have disturbed you. Right, Will?”
The boy didn’t answer.
Sara started walking again. She reached the door and turned the knob.
“Would you like some barbecue, Ms. Carson?”
She shifted her stance and took them both in. “Thanks for the offer, Will, but I couldn’t.”
The boy shrugged. “Okay.”
