“Yeah, I think so.” A girlish shrug and another smile. “We’ll see, right? Hey, you want a ride? We can talk to him together.”
“Now?” Becca squeaked like a cornered mouse. “No, no, thanks.”
“Okay.” Gaia was too distracted to notice. “Well, thanks for coming by. I appreciate the visits, and, you know, everything you’ve done. Maybe that crazy Elizabeth is right.” She flashed a wide grin. “Maybe you really do have some magic powers after all.”
“Miss, are you feeling ill?”
The orderly hovered. Becca had stepped back as Gaia had headed out the door. She’d only closed her eyes for a moment, but the hospital staff was alert.
“I’m fine.” Becca stood up straight. “It’s just…personal stuff. Men.” She was trying for brave, Clara knew, and loved her all the more for it.
“Tell me about it.” The woman in scrubs turned toward the glass double doors. Gaia could be seen on the sidewalk, craning her head eagerly toward the street. “They go for the fragile type, don’t they? She has that poor Tiger wrapped around her finger.”
Becca’s smile wobbled, only to give out entirely as she made her own slow way toward the exit. Clara couldn’t blame her. As grateful as she was that her person found out about Tiger’s duplicity before anything had happened between them, she still understood her disappointment. It might not be exactly the same as waiting at a promising mouse hole all night, only to realize it was really a crack in a baseboard, but it was similar. One got one’s hopes up, and it hurt to reconcile with reality.
Clara kept her eyes on Becca as she ambled through the hospital lobby. Of course, Becca was dispirited, but she was moving so slowly her cat began to worry. Was she remembering her questions, the ones she hadn’t asked? Or, no…as Clara caught her looking out through the lobby’s glass doors, she understood. Becca was waiting for Gaia to be picked up, hoping to avoid an awkward meeting with the faithless Tiger.
“She could have him if she wanted.” An unexpected voice in her ear caused Clara to jump. Although she couldn’t see Laurel, she would recognize her sister’s distinctive yowl anywhere.“He was seriously interested in her. I could tell.”
“She doesn’t want him if he really wants to get back with Gaia.” Clara turned toward the where a glint of blue betrayed her sister’s presence.“Even if he doesn’t, he’s nasty to lead Gaia on.”
“She was sad.” A faint disturbance in the air signaled the flick of a tail.“He wanted to make her feel better.”
Clara wisely held her tongue. Besides, Becca had stepped closer to the windows that looked out on the entrance. If her person was braving the visual confirmation of her crush reuniting with Gaia, she was going to stand there with her, whether she could comfort her or not. She could feel the shuddering breath Becca drew as she watched Gaia raise an arm in greeting. A tan beater—a Toyota, easily twenty years old—pulled up, its fender held in place with a bungee cord. But it wasn’t the reappearance of the battered old car that made Becca gasp.
The young man who had jumped out of the driver’s seat wasn’t the tall, pale bike messenger Becca had come to know. This man wore a leather jacket with his jeans, and the blond tips of his black hair stood out as he reached for Gaia’s bag.
Chapter 36
“Gaia, wait!” Becca broke into a run, plowing through the knot of people waiting for the revolving door. “Gaia!”
But even the haste that won her several hard stares and one loud complaint wasn’t enough. By the time she was through, the car had driven off, with Gaia settled in the passenger seat. Becca pulled her phone from her pocket and stared at its blank screen in disbelief.
“Guard!” Becca whirled around and then raced back inside, looking for a uniform. An official. Anyone.
“That girl your friend?” A graying man stroked what looked like a day’s growth of beard.
“Yes, and she just—that driver…she thinks it’s her ride share, but he may be dangerous.” She punched a code into her phone. “Come on!”
“She got in the car willingly?” the man asked, his voice thoughtful.
“Yeah, but…” Glancing up from her device, Becca looked once more out the window and then, turning back, she took in the slight, elderly man on crutches beside her. Purple bruising ran from the edge of his tonsure of graying hair down to his whiskery chin, but the dark eyes that peered into hers were clear, their gaze piercing.
“I’m sorry,” she said with a sigh of resignation. “That was rude of me to push through like that. Pointless, too.”
He shrugged and a smile brightened his features.“You were scared. I’m used to it. Nobody sees us old folks. ’Specially not girls like that. I wouldn’t worry too much about that one, though. Like I said, she got into that car with her eyes wide open.”
“I really am sorry.” Beck paused to take in the man before her. It wasn’t just the beard that gave him a slightly scruffy appearance. His khakis, which dragged as if sized for a taller man, were stained, and that cheery smile revealed several missing teeth. “Do you need some assistance?” Her voice, as she asked, became soft, like she was afraid of offending.
“Me? Nah.” He waved her off with hands chapped rough. “I’m doing better than anyone expected. Charmed, I am. One vet helps another.” He chuckled at some private joke.
“Mr. Harris?” a worried male voice called across the lobby. “There you are. Come on, Bill, we’ve been waiting.” A tall orderly in lime green scrubs was loping toward them.
“My valet,” the ragged man said with a wink to Becca.
“Bill Harris.” The orderly took the older man’s upper arm. “You’re due in PT. You weren’t trying to walk out again, were you?”
“Just keeping an eye on the young lady here.” That smile again. “Sentry duty.”
“More like an old sailor’s tricks.” The orderly looked over at Becca, his wide face creased with concern. “He wasn’t bothering you, was he, miss?”
“No, not at all.” She shook off the suggestion as comprehension dawned. “Wait—Bill Harris, are you the man who was hurt in the hit-and-run? They said a veteran…”
“At your service, miss.” A dip of the tonsured head. “Only it may be a while before I’m cleared for duty again. Gotta watch out for those waves.”
“Mr. Harris?” The orderly tugged gently, turning the man. “Don’t you remember we talked about this? You’re not in the Navy anymore.”
“We’re still at war, son.” The bruised face gone serious. “And this young lady, she’s on the front lines. You remember what I told you, missy,” he said as he was led away. “Eyes wide open!”
***
“What was that about?” Becca mused as the two slowly ambled off. “Maybe he thought I was USO? I mean, I’ve heard of the WAVEs but…” Although she wasn’t addressing Clara, the calico took her question seriously. Becca was mostly concerned with Gaia and with the identity of the man who had driven her off, the little cat knew. But the stranger who had accosted her person was of more interest to the little cat.
“I wish I understood.” Clara looked up to see Becca chewing on her lower lip, a sure sign that she was deep in thought. When she once again consulted her phone, Clara breathed a sigh of relief. Surely, her person was going to call for aid or a consult. As much as her cats were not fans of Becca’s coven, there was a place for other humans in their person’s life. But when Becca simply stood there, staring at the device, she realized something else was going on.
“Is it possible?” Becca’s voice was too quiet for any but her cat to hear. But lacking Laurel’s particular skill, the shadowed feline could do nothing but wait.
The hospital lobby, however, was not a safe place for a small creature. Although Becca was standing by the door, Clara soon realized that she needed to take cover. The same craft that enabled her to virtually disappear could all too easily cause even the most careful pet lover to trip over the little feline. So after the third near collision, Clara scooted over to a bench that ran along the window. She might not be able to hear everything that Becca said from here, but she could keep an eye on her and keep herself safe.