Daniel fixed breakfast while Nic sat at the kitchen’s breakfast bar. She was sketching him while he worked, and he admitted to himself that having her attention on him was a turn-on. Unfortunately, they’d decided that he would drive back to Alexandria immediately after breakfast, so there wasn’t time to do anything about it... but when he got back... He grinned, and she caught it.
“What are you smiling about?”
He winked at her as he plopped the scrambled eggs onto plates. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and he laughed. “C’mon. Time to eat. What’s your schedule for today?”
“Bentley and I,” the dog looked up when he heard his name and they laughed. Nic started again, “Bentley and I have a pretty busy day. We’re heading down to Liv’s to check on my van.”
“Liv’s?”
Nic explained. “Liv owns the River Garage. She’s been spending time with Stevie, Karyn, and me this summer. She’s getting to be a good friend.”
She glanced at the kitchen clock. “I figure that we’ll do that as soon as you leave. Then we’ll walk from there over to the school site and meet with the landscape architect. After that, we’ll swing by the storefront and check on how that’s going. That should get us to lunch time, so we’ll stop and pick up a sandwich for me at the Cafe.”
“And after that, you’ll stay here until I get back?”
“After that we’ll stay here and wait for you.” Nic confirmed, to his relief. “I haven’t heard from the detectives yet, so I might have to adjust things, although, the appointment with the landscape architect has to be non-negotiable. She’s been kind enough to fit this project into a very busy schedule and I want this done before winter. Any delay and there’s a strong possibility it won’t happen until spring. My goal is to have the whole project finished as quickly as possible.”
Daniel gathered up the dishes, rinsed them, and put them in the dishwasher, while Nic watched.
“You do know that the guaranteed way to a woman’s heart is to cook AND do the dishes?”
“That’s my plan.” He winked as he said it and closed the dishwasher.
*****
Half an hour later, Nic was waving goodbye as Daniel pulled out onto Tumpline Road. She had Bentley on his leash. She’d been worried that Bentley would stress when Daniel left him, but he seemed unconcerned. At that moment the dog looked up and gave her a big doggy grin.
“Let’s go check on my van. Are you ready?” Together, they made their way down the condo sidewalk and turned toward the little garage and convenience store.
As she saw them, Liv stepped away from the car she was working on. Bentley settled with a sigh on the cool concrete floor of the garage. “Nice dog.”
“This is Bentley. He’s visiting me for a few days.”
“I’ve ordered the parts for the sliding door... twice.” Liv rolled her expressive eyes. “I hope this isn’t going to inconvenience you?”
Liv had been one of the wonderful discoveries since moving into Warfield’s Landing. She’d gotten her engineering degree and worked for a few years. Recently, she’d moved back to town and bought the business from her surrogate father, Charles, after he had a health scare. She was the mechanic, while Charles and his buddies ran the convenience store.
“Nope. No inconvenience at all.”
The two women spent a few minutes talking about the ongoing renovation projects.
After their chat, Nic woke Bentley who’d been snoring at her feet and the two of them headed back into town for the meeting with the landscape architect.
As they walked, Nic’s phone rang. “Hello?”
“Hi Nic, this is Detective Griffith.”
“Hi, Detective.”
“My partner and I would like a chance to talk with you today.”
“That would be fine, but my van is at the shop so I don’t have transportation.”
“No problem, we’ll come out to you, but I need directions.”
Nic told the woman how to get to the condos. “I’ll be back at my apartment around lunch time.”
“That works with our schedule here. We’ll meet you at your apartment.”
Nic looked down at the patiently waiting dog. “Looks like we’re going to have company. I think you’ll like them. Now we need to get on to our meeting.”
With a shrug, the large dog hauled himself back to his feet and they resumed their walk down the main thoroughfare of Warfield’s Landing.
*****
Nic and Bentley were once more on the road. Nic had finished her meeting with the landscape architect and the project would be completed at the same time as the school and storefront renovations. While he waited for Nic, Bentley had enjoyed his time exploring the empty lot beside the river.
Now they were walking back to the condo, with a stop at the cafe to grab a sandwich for Nic’s lunch.