“D’you ever work in oils?” he asked as they stepped off.
“Sometimes.” Her key was out and poised. “And acrylics. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, just a thought.” He let her open her door; the kitchen light had been left on so she could clearly see into the apartment. He glanced past her shoulder. Everything appeared in order.
“Good night, Autumn. See you around.”
“Thanks for dinner,” she murmured. “I appreciate your asking me. I needed the outing.”
Although he’d promised he wouldn’t ask to come in, he realized he wanted to. He wanted to sit and talk with her longer. He wanted to touch her, only just to place his palm against her cheek, to feel its warmth.
But he supposed he’d count himself lucky to have had her company at dinner.
“Good night,” he murmured again.
“Good night,” Autumn returned as she slowly snapped the door closed.
The phone rang insistently as Autumn closed the door behind her. Her sister, she knew. She didn’t have to guess.
“Where were you?” Spring sounded breathless with concern and curiosity.
“Out to dinner,” Autumn answered with pride. “With Brent Hyatt, the man I told you about. Remember, we met him the same day we first looked at this apartment?”
“Oh…him. Well, what’s he like?”
“Nice,” Autumn said without elaboration and changed the subject. She had no intention of indulging Spring’s perpetual curiosity or raising her speculations over someone who merely fit into the category of an acquaintance.
That she found Brent more attractive every time they met had nothing to do with it, or that he appealed to her on more than one level. She didn’t think he was the kind of man who normally lacked female company, or, for that matter, any companionship at all. What would he need her for? She’d seldom seen him completely alone. The few glimpses she had of him from across the street, he’d been in company with other men in business suits or Timmy, and once, with that real estate person.
He’d mentioned the other woman, Laureen Shore, as a business associate during his dinner conversation. Autumn suspected Laureen occupied a big chunk of Brent’s attention and wondered about their friendship. She even recalled how Laureen had wrapped her arm through Brent’s rather intimately that first time they all met. In her mind, the action seemed far more personal than casual.
Did Laureen mean more to Brent than mere business? Why hadn’t he phoned her when he wanted company for dinner?
Maybe he had. Just maybe the other woman hadn’t been available tonight.
Giving it up, Autumn ended her conversation with her sister. After changing into a sleep shirt, she stood beside her south window studying the dark city skyline. She wouldn’t admit to being lonely.
But even if she was, just the tiniest bit, she could do something about it. Inviting company to visit didn’t frighten her. She’d call her friend Kim and invite her for lunch. It wasn’t too late to reach her.
She picked up the phone.
On Friday, just before noon, Autumn waited for Kim outside her building, feeling very brave as she strolled the street. Telling herself she needed the exercise, she couldn’t admit to feeling so excited to have a friend to visit in her new home that she could hardly wait for her arrival.
She turned around at the corner to retrace her steps. A familiar woman drove past her and parked in front of Brent’s building.
“Oh, hello,” the blond woman said, flashing Autumn a curious glance as she exited her car. “We’ve run into each other again. I’m Laureen Shore, remember?”
“Ah, yes, I do remember.” Autumn let herself be drawn into the exchange. They stood on the sidewalk across from the law offices. “You were with Brent the day we viewed my building.”
“I see you really took that apartment,” Laureen said, her mouth pursed. “It was fated to sell quickly, but I wasn’t sure you were serious.”
“Why, yes, why wouldn’t I be?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Laureen shrugged, eyeing Autumn as though she didn’t quite fit the usual description of a female. “A woman alone down here… Too quiet, I’d guess, especially at night. I’d think there wouldn’t be enough action for the younger singles crowd.”
“I don’t mind that. I don’t really run with a—a crowd. I prefer quiet, actually.” Autumn spotted her friend’s car and swiftly excused herself, meeting Kim in the side parking lot.
A second later, she noticed Laureen talking with Brent in his doorway. What had Laureen said of her? She knew the other woman had made some remark because Brent suddenly glanced her way in a curious manner.
The distance was too far, she couldn’t see what speculation might lie in his gaze. Shrugging it aside, she led Kim into her building.
But she did wonder.
Chapter Four
A thud sounded against her door late on a Saturday afternoon. Busy preparing a new sheet of paper, she raised her gaze but didn’t immediately respond.
What was it, just another oddity of the old building? She’d seen no one all week and had grown less startled at every little sound she couldn’t identify over the past month. But another knock convinced her someone really stood at her door.
She left her worktable and picked up an old towel to wipe her hands, calling, “Who’s there?”
“Me. Timmy.”
She peeked through the peephole to assure it was Brent and Timmy.
“Well, hello there.” She glanced at the boy before raising her gaze to the father. They hadn’t spoken since he took her to dinner over a week ago. She’d avoided him.
Now she wondered why she had, she was that glad to see him.
Actually, she’d avoided going out at all for days. It felt lonely, out and about on her own. She hadn’t seen another living soul she knew from her old circle since Kim had come to lunch.
She told herself that learning to live alone was good for her. It built character, surely, and she’d never let herself complain to Spring, or her sister would rush home to make sure she wasn’t dying of anything.
Smiling over that, she just knew her sister was having the time of her life in New York. Spring loved a lot of hustle and bustle.
Autumn filled her days with quiet painting and her evenings with music and books. And if she was lonely, she turned on the radio, listening to whatever talk show she could find.
A whimper brought her gaze back to the child’s earnest face, then caught her attention with what he held in his arms. A very small puppy. Silver and dark hair curled close along its tiny body, its stumpy tail wagged a joyful greeting while soulful dark eyes shone at her and floppy ears came forward.
“It’s for you.” Timmy thrust the wiggling animal forward. Instinctively, she held out her hands.
She blinked rapidly, her uncertainty shielding her from the need to return Brent’s too steady gaze. “I beg your pardon?”
“I have her brother,” Timmy said. “She’s a girl dog.”
“But…” Timmy withdrew his hands from the dog. She had no choice but to accept the creature into her own cupped ones. It nestled against her skin and immediately licked her arm, its tongue warm and gently textured.
“Daddy said you need a puppy.”
“He did?”