Chapter Twelve

Moon

It still felt strange being back inside the Rainbow Canvas, but with every day that passed it was easier to be back. Adding small touches, like changing up the art hanging on the walls and rearranging the supplies helped. It made the place feel new. Updated and upgraded rather than just put back together. I could stand inside and almost not see the remnants of that night.

Baby steps.

Customers were coming back, but Friday nights were still slower than usual. Maybe I should consider calling them off for a few weeks. Until people felt comfortable coming back here to have fun while they made art, staying open was just a waste of money.

The wooden chimes over the door tinkled and I looked up from the inventory sheets on the counter as a young girl walked in. Girl wasn’t quite accurate though. She was young but twenty-something young in a tiny, dark blue denim skirt and a white tank top that showed more of her hot pink bra than it covered.

“Welcome to the Rainbow Canvas. If there’s anything I can help you with, just let me know.” It was my standard greeting and her little sneer told me she didn’t appreciate the effort.

“Is it true you had a shooting in here?” Big blue eyes did their best to appear innocent and non-threatening but her moves were far too practiced.

“It is. Looks like gang violence is everywhere these days.” The girl leaned in, hanging on to my every word. “The police have no idea who did it or why,” I snorted for added effect. “Probably already forgot about it.”

“That is so terrible,” she replied but even that sounded forced and not even a little sincere.

“It was at the time, but life goes on.” I knew when I was being pumped for information. I grew up in a house full of servants who felt nothing wrong with doing the job when my parents couldn’t or wouldn’t and they were more skilled than her. “So did you come for art classes or supplies, or to see where it all went down?”

I could tell that my tone had caught her by surprise but this was a business, not a tourist attraction.

“Is that okay?” She hunched her shoulders forward and shoved her hands into her pocket, in an effort to look more innocent, I guess.

“Sure. But if you’re not a customer then I have other things to do.” She seemed surprised but not offended when I went back to inventory slips that really didn’t need to be dealt with today, but busy work made me feel like I was doing something. Anything.

She walked around the shop carefully. A little too carefully. I kept an eye on her, watching as she looked at everything then fingered several of the mid-grade brushes. But her gaze wasn’t on the brushes or the palettes in front of her, but on the ceiling. More specifically, she was looking at the corners and light fixtures, for what, I had no clue but she was definitely searching for something.

She piqued my interest enough to make up my mind to do more than keep an eye on her. I pulled my phone from my skirt.

I have an interesting visitor. I sent Cross the quick, vague text message because he seemed so stressed lately that I knew he’d want to know this, even if I was reluctant to pass on any information.

Yeah, who?

I smiled. He was a man of few words. Young girl, twenty-ish with dark hair and blonde highlights. Skimpy clothes and not a skilled interrogator.

His response came within seconds. Be right there.

I should have known the man with so much on his mind wouldn’t let this sit for long. My house, not the shop. I had to be careful on the off chance that someone was watching, because clearly they knew Jana, and possibly Rocky too, liked to hang out here.

“Thanks for letting me look around. You have a super cute shop!” With a wave and a blinding smile, she was gone.

My shoulders sank in relief the moment I saw her cross the street and walk out of my sight. That girl was some kind of trouble, I could just tell. A girl who tried that hard to be sexy usually ended up with men who had warped views of femininity and sexuality. It wasn’t my problem but I committed her face to memory just in case it became my problem.

A tap at the back door interrupted my fifteen minutes of alone time. I knew it had to be Cross because Jana was the only other person who knew about the back entrance. A quick peek through the back door and I gave Cross the high sign to give me a few. I hurried to close up my shop, putting a sign in the front window telling customers I would “Be back later.”

“Hey,” Cross said the minute I stepped outside.

“Hey,” I said back, unsure how to respond to him after our…encounter. And he stood there all expressionless like we hadn’t had the most incredible sex of my life the last time we saw each other. Well, if he could do it then I could too. We walked the short distance to my house, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened between us.

“So like I said, she had thick, dark hair with blonde highlights and she looked young, college age maybe. Her questions were pointed, about the shooting. And she kept looking around the place.”

I could feel the tension coiling in his body. “Looking around at what?”

I shrugged, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Where was the sexy but gruff man who’d rocked my world and why had this cold automaton showed up in his place? That was when I realized that the man next to me, this version of Cross, this was him. “I don’t know. She touched the paintbrushes, palettes and mixers but her eyes were on the ceiling.”

He fell silent and I waited until he gathered his thoughts. “Would you recognize her if you saw her again?”

“Of course, she was five feet in front of me the entire time.”

“Is this her?” Cross shoved the phone in my face and showed me a photo of the woman who’d come into my shop, only she was missing her tacky blond highlights.

“Yeah, it sure is.”

“Thanks.” Apparently that really was it and I nodded my acceptance. I had no expectations of Cross other than basic human decency but it still hurt to be so soundly rejected.

“No problem,” I replied because I would never in a million years make a fool out of myself over a man. Not ever again. I tried that once and I didn’t like how it ended.

Before we even entered my house, he waved his phone at me in a sort of goodbye and turned back to his bike parked behind the shop.

***

I was just about to rinse the kale when the alarm on my phone sounded and I groaned. It was time to pick up Beau from school and get him to yet another appointment with Dr. Yang. His asthma attacks had increased in frequency lately, but not in intensity. Even though the episodes scared me numb, I had to believe he wouldn’t have this horrible illness forever.

Luckily the appointment was uneventful, which I was learning as the mother of a child with a chronic illness was as good as it got. Other than an hour wait to get into the examining room, the appointment went as expected. No better but no worse.

On the way home I asked, “How are you feeling today?”

“I hate the nebulizer.”

“Remember what we said about hate, honey.” I didn’t want him to grow up throwing around such loaded words when he didn’t have to. This world was filled with too much negativity as it was.

Beau sighed heavily and pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Fine. I detest the nebulizer and I don’t like the other treatments either. I just want to be like everyone else, Mom.”

“What a boring place this world would be if we were all the same.” It was a sentiment I wished my parents had told me instead of drilling conformity into me until I turned into the rebellious daughter they couldn’t control. Until they gave me the message they didn’t want me.

“You know what I mean, Mom.”

“I do,” I admitted on a weary sigh because I did know, and I understood more than he could understand at his tender age. “And I wish I could make it all go away, believe me I do. But for now all we can do is cope with the cards we have.”

He frowned at me from the passenger seat, a tiny smile twitching on the right side of his mouth. “You said that wrong.”

“Did I?” He gave an exaggerated nod but all I cared about was that his smile grew bigger and bigger. “What would you say about pizza for dinner?” Even though he didn’t have a traditional diet, Beau was no different from any other kid who’d jump for joy at the mention of pizza.

“Okay.” It was reluctant acceptance but I knew that wouldn’t last long. “Key Largo’s?”

“Where else?” I’d never ever set foot inside a tropical themed pizza parlor until moving to Nevada, but Key Largo Pizza Haven never did anything halfway. The goddesses must have been shining down on me because we found a spot inside the parking lot, not that it would make the wait any shorter but if Beau suffered another attack I’d have to carry him and for that, distance mattered.

The place smelled amazing, like it always did because for some reason coconut oil and pizza sauce worked together.

“Cross!” Beau darted between four tables, narrowly missing a pitcher of beer.

“Beau,” I called, always worried when he ran when he should walk, anxious that exertion would bring on an attack. If only I had the secret to putting a level head on such young shoulders.

Then I spotted the reason for his excitement. Cross sitting by himself in a booth, a large pizza on the table in front of him. He looked good, even with the bruising. “Hey kiddo, how’s it going?” I heard him say as I came up behind Beau.

“Okay,” Beau said, pushing his glasses up again. “Did you get picked on too?” Beau pointed to his still healing busted lip and Cross grinned.

“People try to pick on me, but I don’t let them, Beau.” Cross turned to face Beau so they were eye to eye. “How are you, really? Your mom said you were having trouble breathing again.”

Cross looked up at me with a look I couldn’t decipher. “Hey, Moon.” Was it pleasure at seeing me? Total disinterest? Why couldn’t I read this man? Why wouldn’t he let me?

“Hey, yourself, Cross.”

I turned my attention to my son, and froze, waiting for Beau to clam up as he usually did whenever anyone mentioned his illness. But he surprised me, opening up easily. “I don’t like the nebulizer.”

I quickly changed the subject. “What do you want on your pizza, Beau? The usual?”

He didn’t take his eyes off Cross, just giving me an enthusiastic nod, so I left Beau at the table while I went to place our order. I figured he would be fine for a few minutes since Cross appeared more amused by him than annoyed. Though I wondered about that flash of pain in his eyes I sometimes saw when he looked at my son.

It didn’t take long to place the order but who knew how long the wait would be, so I took a moment and grabbed some vegetables from the salad bar. And I might have taken a small moment for me, away from Cross and his delicious scent before returning to the table, where Beau was talking about his favorite thing in the world. Sports.

“The Golden Knights are going to take the Stanley Cup this year,” he said with an air of authority that had Cross covering his mouth.

“But what about those Sharks?” Cross asked.

Beau nodded and I knew exactly where this conversation was heading. Stats. “Yeah, but the Knights are—”

“—Eat some vegetables while we wait for our pizza.” I slid the plate over and he carefully looked at the options before grabbing a baby carrot. “Sorry,” I mouthed to Cross.

His mouth curled into an irresistible smile. “Don’t be.”

“I have a booster seat if you want one,” the woman at the table beside us offered.

I smiled gratefully, Beau never used them even though he was a touch small for his age. “Thanks, but it’s not necessary.”

“What?” Cross looked at Beau who stood beside the empty chair warily. “How are you gonna stare your food in the face before you tear into it? You gotta show that pizza who’s the boss.”

Beau still looked wary but Cross picked up a slice of his meaty pizza and gave it a mean look before biting into it aggressively. “Aargh! See?”

And just like that Beau’s hesitation vanished and he laughed hysterically. “Okay. Thank you, miss.”

“Oh, aren’t you sweet,” the woman said, immediately stepping forward to place the booster on the seat beside Cross. “Enjoy your pizza young man.”

He climbed up into the seat and waved at the retreating woman. “I can’t wait to be this tall.”

Cross chuckled. “Enjoy being a short stack while you can.” He winked at Beau who tried a wink back as if he accepted the older guy’s wisdom, and then picked up a carrot stick.

“Okay,” he said simply.

And me? Well I had to send a wish out to the heavens above that it was just lust I felt heating up my insides and not something else.