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I got up from my chair full of restless energy. “But how do I get her to believe I’m that person after fucking up so badly?” I asked with frustration.
“That’s where patience comes in, but since you’re in a hurry, you might have to speed things up a little.”
“How…? I can’t even get her to listen to me.”
Violet rolled her eyes and gave a long deep sigh. “I’m sorry, but aren’t you a military engineer of some sort?”
“Yeah.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be inventive and get rid of obstacles?”
I leaned back. “That’s hardly the same thing.”
Her light brown eyes narrowed. “So you want me to believe that you can go to war and come home with some sort of medal, but you’re not strategic, brave, or determined enough to get Cia alone for an hour?”
I tensed my jaw. “Military tactics don’t really work with civilians. I can’t just capture her and interrogate her to make her tell me how she feels and get her to listen to me.”
Violet got up to stand in front of me. She was a head smaller but felt like she was towering over me with an immense force. “You can’t or you won’t?”
“You are crazier than I thought, if you’re seriously suggesting I kidnap Cia. That would make me a criminal.”
She gave me a wry smile. “Ahh, and what a pair of criminals you would be.”
I gaped at her when she clapped her hands. “I’m afraid this is all I have to offer you, because we’re closing up for today.”
At first I didn’t catch the hint in her voice, but then it dawned on me – that if Cia was off for the day too, she might have time to talk to me. I wasn’t even going to consider kidnapping her; that was just insane.
I hurried to Cia’s pavilion, where she was packing up her things. “Do you need help?” I offered but she just lifted her head and then quickly looked down again.
“No thanks.”
“I could use some help,” Violet called out behind me. “Would you mind carrying this table to my car?”
My eyes shot to Cia once again. I would much rather be helping her and getting close to her.
“All right,” I said and took the table from Violet, who surprised me by holding out her car keys.
“It’s the classic station wagon with a bumper sticker that saysThey told me I’m crazy, but my unicorn says I’m just fine.”
I took the keys she held out for me and started walking in the direction she had pointed to. How the hell was I going to get Cia to talk with me?
The answer came when I saw Violet’s car…
