Page 6 of The Seven Rings
“You can give your knack a break tonight. How about I pick up something from the village?” Trey asked.
“Wouldn’t hurt my feelings a bit,” Cleo told him. “More time to paint, once I decide between a moody watercolor or a dramatic oil.”
“How do you decide?” Owen wondered.
“Whim.” She slanted him a look out of her amber eyes. “I do enjoy living on a whim.”
“I’m glad you’re taking the summer to paint for yourself.” Sonya leaned back with her coffee. “And you’re going to have a big bang of a show at Bay Arts this fall.”
“We’ll see about that, but it makes me happy. When fall comes, I’ll be ready to go back to earning my living and illustrating. Oh, I forgot to tell you, I got the sweetest note from Burt Springer after I sent a copy of his granddaughter’s favorite kids’ book signed by me and the author.”
“He’s a sweet man. I really like working with him again. I don’t live or work on a whim, but freelancing is taking me to many new places. A year ago, I couldn’t have imagined running my own graphic design company.”
“And kicking ass at it.”
She grinned at Trey. “Yes, I am. I couldn’t have imagined it, or imagined living in a big, gorgeous, haunted Victorian on the coast of Maine. Having a favorite cousin,” she added with a lift of her coffee mug to Owen. “Or being with you, a third-generation lawyer who’ll pick up dinner and tell me I kick ass.”
Sonya shook back her hair and sighed. “Nothing Dobbs can do changes any of that. And she’s not going to stop us. Cleo’s said it before, and it’s true. We bring the light and the life to the manor. We’re going to keep right on doing that.”
“Middle of the year’s not too soon to start planning a big, bust-out holiday party at the manor.”
Sonya pointed at Cleo. “No, it is not.”
“Man, they’re going to have us hauling around furniture again.” Owen rose. “I’m going to take off, but I’ll deal with the dishes first. Molly probably had a rough night, too.”
Cleo rose with him, then took his face with its night’s worth of stubble in her hands. Kissed him enthusiastically.
“You’re more a savory sort of man, Owen, but you got just enough sweetness in there. The sun may be up, but me? I’m going back to bed.”
“After a full breakfast and, what was it? Two cups of coffee?”
“Nothing stops Cleo from sleeping when she’s ready to sleep,” Sonya told Owen.
“Unlike my friend here, who, though it’s still shy of six in the morning, will go to work.”
“Things to do, people to please.”
From the tablet came Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash’s “Time’s a Wastin’.”
“That one ain’t about work.” On impulse, Owen grabbed Cleo, dipped her, and kissed her, also enthusiastically.
“Well, if that’s what you’ve got in mind.”
“I’ve always got that in mind, but Jones and I also have things to do and people to please.”
“Add me to that list.” Trey got up. “I’ll give Owen a hand before Mookie and I take off. I’ll grab a shower and change at my place. I’ll be back with dinner. Any requests?”
“Surprise us,” Sonya told him.
“Done.”
Now she cupped his face, looked into those deep blue eyes. “I could’ve gotten through it without you, because that’s what I need to do. But I’m really glad I didn’t have to.”
She wrapped her arms around him and held on a moment. “Really glad.” She pressed her lips to his. “I’m going to go up, pull myself together, and get to work.”
“You’ll call if you need me.”
“I will.”
