“I don’t know Penny Hardy.”
“Really? You’re missing out,” he said, pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant. “Come on, I’ll show you while we wait for our food.”
Once they had ordered their food and drinks, he pulled out his cell phone and pulled up the website for the artist he had mentioned and held it out for her to see as he scrolled through a few of the photos there.
“Wow. That is gorgeous.”
“Yes. My pack has a ton of this kind of stuff lying around from the construction and mechanical work they do. I can pick it up cheap from them and use it in works of my own.”
“Won’t you have to get a studio and get it into a gallery and stuff like that? That sounds like it would take a lot of time.”
“No. I’m not interested in art shows and gallery displays. My stuff would be like hers, created for the outdoors. People would buy it for their gardens or business entrances. So, I wouldn’t be making a bunch of stuff to sit around and waiting for it to sell. I’d create a few sample pieces and then work on commission for people wanting to buy a piece past that.”
“It sounds amazing, and I’m not one to poop on anyone’s parade, but is there a market for it way out where we live?”
“No, not there, not much of one anyway—but here in the city, there are people who will buy it. I might not make the big bucks at first, but if it became popular, I could make enough to live comfortably. If not, I won’t quit my day job—well, in my case, my night job after this one runs out.”
“Well, I think it’s great. It sounds like you are enthusiastic about it. I hope it works out for you.”
“Me too. I plan on creating the sample pieces on the weekends when I’m off work so that I have them done when the time comes. If it never happens, I’ll at least have a few cool pieces to put in my front yard. Anyway, what about you?”
Kat took a sip of her drink.
“I don’t know. I guess I haven’t really thought about it much. I enjoy just doing my massage business. I think I would eventually like to have just my own little space to do massages rather than being mobile with it. It does get a bit old sometimes having to lug my gear from house to house and find a space to do my work. It would be nice just to have people come to me.”
“I can understand that,” he told her, but they were interrupted by the server bringing their food.”
The conversation fell into a sort of intermittent sharing between bites. Being with Travis wasn’t like most dates. She felt completely comfortable, like she didn’t need to pretend or be polite, which wasn’t to say that she didn’t want to make an impression. She just didn’t feel pressured to be perfect with him.
“What do you want to do after dinner?” he asked.
“I don’t know. What did you have in mind?”
“Honestly, I just wanted to get you home before you pass out on me again.”
There was no hint of a smile on his face, but she knew he was just ragging her a bit. She laughed and finished off the last bite of her navarin d'agneau. Travis had opted for the boudin noir aux pommes, but she had never been one for blood sausages. The duck had seemed like a better choice, and she was right. It was divine.
“How about a movie? I think we can still make the nine-forty if we finish up and go,” she said.
“Not very exciting for a first date, though,” he told her.
“Did you want to go hang gliding? Maybe some base jumping?” she joked.
“I’d love to, but maybe not tonight. Perhaps a movie is the answer, then. What do you want to see?”
“I have no idea. Let’s just see what’s on.”
Once again, they were completely in sync at the theater, suggesting the same movie at almost exactly the same time. It was a thriller set in the early nineteen hundreds, so it had the feel of an old mystery, though Kat was having a tough time focusing on it. Being so close to Travis was affecting her in a way she’d never experienced before.
He reached around her and pulled her close to him, her body leaning against his as much as was possible with the fixed arm between them. She wasn’t sure she could withstand much more closeness, though. By the end of the movie, she was only dimly aware of what was even happening on the screen. His scent was overwhelming, a mix of aftershave and the distinct smell a wolf gave off to other wolves.
She found herself inviting him in when he took her home, an offer that she halfway hoped he would decline for her own protection and halfway wanted him to accept. She knew from the moment he said yes and stepped inside of her house that tonight was the night she finally gave away what she’d held dear for so long.