The Maverick Part 13

"What did you put on my foot?"

He grinned. "Good-smelling stuff. Like it?"

"Griff, my foot is beginning to lather."

He frowned, then picked up the small bottle he'd used and squinted at the writing on it. Handing it to her, he said, "What does that say?"

She read it and started laughing. "Didn't you read it?"

"I don't have my contacts in."

"I didn't know you wore contacts."

"I do. Otherwise I'm blind as one of those bats you've been talking about. What does it say?"

"Shampoo." She howled with laughter.

Griff wasn't amused. She could tell by the air he turned blue. "I'm sorry. Now I feel like a d.a.m.ned fool."

"I think it's a hoot. It's rea.s.suring to know you're not perfect."

"Honey, trust me, I'm a long way from perfect."

She put her arms around his neck and drew him close. "Couldn't prove it by me."

Chapter Thirteen.

It was after midnight before Ca.s.s finally made it home and fell into bed. Knowing there were still dozens of last minute things to do the next day, she postponed her Sunday surprise activity with Griff until Monday. He didn't seem to mind. In fact he showed up at Chili Witches Sunday morning with huge boxes of breakfast tacos and doughnuts for everybody.

"Wasn't it sweet of Griff to bring these?" Ca.s.s said to her mother as she offered her a taco.

"Very nice of him." Gloria gave Griff a polite smile.

Ben McKee and his brother-in-law, Rick, came in a pickup to return the stored office furniture to its place. Griff pitched in and helped tote the desk, file cabinets and other items to the cafe's office. With everybody helping, the office was restored quickly and the computer and other electronic equipment plugged up and ready to go.

By one o'clock, the dishes sparkled, the pantry was stocked, the cooler was full and everything was prepared for Monday. The kitchen staff left, Gloria and Min went home for a nap, Rick took off in the pickup and Ben rode home with Sunny. Griff and Ca.s.s were left alone to lock up.

"Want to come upstairs and watch the game?" she asked.

"Which game?"

"Whichever one is on. Sunday afternoon is sports or old movies."

"Sure, but I have to get something from the car first. I brought you a present."

"A present. What?"

"It's a surprise." He trotted to his rental car and took out a red gift bag.

When he handed it to her, Ca.s.s peeked inside, then smiled. "Ma.s.sage lotion. There must be a quart here."

"Be Prepared is my motto. Let's go upstairs and I'll ma.s.sage your tootsies properly." He gave her a devilish grin.

The foot ma.s.sage didn't happen. They ended up on Ca.s.s's sectional watching the Yankees, with Griff's head in her lap. In about twenty seconds flat, he was sound asleep.

When it became apparent he was down for the count, she gently retrieved the remote clutched in his hand and switched to an old musical comedy.

When Ca.s.s awoke sometime later, she was surprised to find herself with her head against Griff's shoulder and the Yankees in the last of the ninth.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep," she said, stretching.

"You were tired. I hate to see you work so hard, and it seems as if your talents are wasted running a cafe. Have you considered doing something else?"

"Well, I've considered running for city council."

"Sounds like a great idea. Do it."

Ca.s.s sighed. "Even a campaign would take a tremendous amount of time, and if I got elected, I'd hate to dump most of the responsibility for the business on Sunny. I just couldn't do that to her, especially now when she and Ben are getting married, and she'll have a family to think about."

"Have you ever considered selling the business?" Griff asked.

"Bite your tongue, buster. Sunny and I grew up in Chili Witches, and Mom and Aunt Min worked too hard growing this business to ever sell it. When their folks died, the two of them sold the family farm and put everything they had into buying this property and starting the cafe. They started small and worked like dogs to get it off the ground. For years they plowed the majority of their profits back into the business. Sunny and I owe it to them to keep it going. It's wonderful that now they can retire and enjoy traveling six months of the year. They're going to Ireland next. Isn't that wonderful?"

"You're a good daughter." He kissed her forehead.

"I try."

"Seems to me this property, being in such a prime location, should be worth a great deal. I would antic.i.p.ate you could sell it, invest the proceeds properly and have a higher income for your family than you realize now. And without all the work."

Ca.s.s felt herself stiffen. "Money isn't the only issue here. A sense of history is just as important. Maybe more so. Why, even our bar is an antique, well over a hundred years old."

Griff flashed his dimples. "Yeah, I remember. From the bawdy house, right?"

"That's right. And a very famous famous bawdy house to boot. It's even mentioned in some of the historical society's publications. I've been thinking about getting a plaque." bawdy house to boot. It's even mentioned in some of the historical society's publications. I've been thinking about getting a plaque."

"Fine idea."

"Glad you think so. Now, the subject of selling Chili Witches is closed. If you're going to watch another ball game, I'm going to have to have fortification. Want to order a pizza?"

"Sure," he said. "Tell me you don't like anchovies."

"I don't like anchovies. They're like eating salty eyelashes. No, I take that back. The only way I can tolerate anchovies is in Caesar salad dressing or other stuff where they're mashed up and disguised. And actually, I prefer my Caesar salad without anchovies if given the choice. Did you know that anchovies weren't part of the original recipe?"

"On pizza?"

"In Caesar salad."

"No, I didn't. Should I take notes?"

She laughed and hit him with a pillow. "I'll order the works, no anchovies. Do you want onions?"

"Are you having onions?"

"Sure."

"Then I'll have some, too."

After she phoned in the order, Ca.s.s picked up the TV listings to scan, and Griff rested his chin on her shoulder to read. "There's a Dodgers game starting in a few minutes."

"My father would disown me if I watched it. He still hasn't forgiven the Dodgers for moving from Brooklyn to California. Why don't we watch a movie?"

She glanced over the film listings. "Oh, look. Ghost. Ghost. I loved that movie. Whoopi Goldberg won an Oscar for her part. She was hilarious. Have you ever seen it?" I loved that movie. Whoopi Goldberg won an Oscar for her part. She was hilarious. Have you ever seen it?"

"Not that I recall. What's it about?"

"It's about a ghost. You'll see."

The timing was perfect. The pizza arrived just before the movie started, and they curled up to watch. Ca.s.s got teary-eyed at the tender parts and laughed at the funny parts the way she always did. Griff seemed to enjoy it-or at least he didn't complain or groan at inappropriate times the way some men were p.r.o.ne to do.

When it was over, she sniffed, and Griff frowned. "Are you crying?"

"Just a little. I adore that movie."

"It was okay. I suppose I'm more into realism."

"I take it you don't believe in ghosts?" she said.

"I've never seen one. Have you?"

She hesitated. Should she tell him? Griff would think she was nuts. "My sister has," she said as a compromise. It was safer talking about Sunny's experiences than her own.

"Really?" He appeared surprised. "Sunny sees ghosts?"

"Not ghosts. One ghost she's seen several times. She claims she even talks to the Senator-our father, but she calls him the Senator."

"Hmm. What does he look like?"

"Tall, gray-haired, a lot like Uncle Wes."

"How old was he when he died?" Griff asked.

"Forty."

"Was his hair gray then?"

"No. The pictures I've seen of him show his hair was about like mine. Dark."

"Then why would it be gray now? I wouldn't think ghosts would age."

"Huh! I never thought about that. I'll ask Sunny. Please don't mention to her that we discussed this. I'm sure she would be embarra.s.sed. I don't think my mother even knows about it, and I shouldn't have told you."

He picked up Ca.s.s's hand and kissed it. "I won't mention it. Thanks for sharing the secret with me."

"Now it's your turn." She cuddled up against him, laying her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. "You have to tell me one of your secrets."

She could swear his heart speeded up a tad. Hmm. Had she hit a nerve?

"Must I?"

"That's the way the game is played."

"I stole five dollars from my mother's purse when I was about six. She never knew."

"Why?"

"I wanted to buy a baseball card from Joey Hedgecroft in my first grade cla.s.s. But I felt so guilty, I couldn't, so I hid the money in my room. Taped it to the underside of a drawer. I think I must have gotten the idea from a TV show."

Ca.s.s chuckled. "Is it still there?"

"Nope. I forgot about it, but I found it years later and sneaked the money back into my mother's purse."

"I swiped a nickel once. Someone had left a pile of change on a table in the cafe. I took a nickel to put in the gum ball machine. My mother caught me, and I tried to lie my way out of it. That made her even more furious, and she made me spit out the gum and wash dishes to earn enough to repay the waiter his nickel. That was the end of my thieving days. I almost died from humiliation. Sunny cried for me."

"And you were how old?" Griff asked.

"About four I think. It was a good lesson. I suspect the incident helped shape the huge value I place on honesty. I think Sunny learned the same thing by observing my experience."

"Crime does not pay."

"You got it. I have no respect for sneaks and liars."

"And lawyers."

She grinned. "In most cases they're the same thing. Present company excluded, of course."

MAYBE IT WAS THE onions on her breath that did it, but Griff soon left, with only a brief kiss at the door. Odd. Very odd. The man was a s.e.x machine. Maybe she shouldn't have told him about Sunny and the ghost. Now he probably thought the family was weird. He likely would have croaked if he knew Ca.s.s had seen the Senator, too. onions on her breath that did it, but Griff soon left, with only a brief kiss at the door. Odd. Very odd. The man was a s.e.x machine. Maybe she shouldn't have told him about Sunny and the ghost. Now he probably thought the family was weird. He likely would have croaked if he knew Ca.s.s had seen the Senator, too.

She called Sunny. "Are you alone?"