The Maverick Part 2

"I concede your point. Would you like some lunch?"

"I've already eaten, thanks, but I'll have a gla.s.s of iced tea and keep you company if you'd like."

His dimples flashed. "I'd like."

Ca.s.s signaled a waiter for tea.

"How's your knee today? Your sister said hers was fine and looked at me as if I had grown horns as long as those." He motioned to the rack of a longhorn on the wall.

She chuckled. "Got us mixed up, did you? A common occurrence. My knee is fine, too. I'm a fast healer."

He motioned to his bowl. "This really is very good. You ought to consider packaging and marketing it."

"We're looking into the possibility. Think they would buy it in... You know, I don't think you've mentioned where you're from."

"I grew up on Long Island. And I'm sure at least one person there would buy it. My mother. She's a Texas girl."

"Really? So you're not a total foreigner." Ca.s.s checked her watch. Karen would kill her if she didn't get there to help. "Griff, I'm sorry, but I can't stay longer. I have to get to my task." She stood.

He stood as well and peeled a twenty from the wad in his money clip, tossing it on the table. "I'll go with you. You could probably use an extra pair of hands, and I'm not bad at stuffing envelopes."

Chapter Three.

"See, I told you it would all come back to me," Griff said as he licked another envelope from his stack. He'd shed his coat and tie rolled up his s.h.i.+rtsleeves and dived in.

"I'm proud of you," Ca.s.s said. "How long since you've actually stuffed any mail?"

"In bulk? Must have been in college, or maybe in law school when I was working on some campaign or another."

"Where did you go to law school?"

"Harvard."

"Of course," Ca.s.s said. "Why did I even ask?"

"And you?"

"University of Texas, here in Austin. I was too poor for Harvard or Yale, and I got an excellent education here."

"I'm sure you did," Griff said. "UT Law has a fine reputation. Too bad you're not using your education."

Ca.s.s's hackles went up. "Oh, but I am. My education doesn't define me. It enriches me."

"Sorry. That was insensitive. You're right, of course."

"Are you being condescending?"

He smiled and held up his hands in surrender. "With a tough Texas woman? I wouldn't dare. I'm done with my stack. Are there more?"

"That's all," Ca.s.s said. "Karen will stamp them in the morning when she comes in, and deliver them to the post office."

Griff picked up one of the envelopes and looked at the return address. "Exactly what is POAC?"

"Didn't you read one of the letters?" Ca.s.s asked.

"Nope, I simply stuffed and licked."

She chuckled. "You could have spent the last two hours aiding and abetting a subversive organization. Lawyers are supposed to read the fine print."

"I trusted you wouldn't get us thrown in the slammer. Let's see. POAC. Please Order Another Chili. People on a Caper. Pick Out a Cuc.u.mber."

Ca.s.s laughed. "How about Preserve Old Austin's Charm? We p.r.o.nounce the acronym 'poe-ack.' We're sort of a watchdog group to help preserve the flavor of our town so that its charm doesn't get paved over by cookie cutter high-rises and such."

"Ah, like the taco place and the hotel."

"Exactly. We're not extremists opposed to progress and modernization, but we want to keep the old along with the new. Austin has made a half-dozen lists recently as one of the best places in the country to live, and we've had a big influx of people. Sometimes it seems as if, after they arrive, they want to start changing the very things that drew them here, to make Austin into Anywhere, USA."

"You sound very pa.s.sionate about this," Griff said.

"I am. I love this town. I love the bakeries and shoe shops and little taco joints that have been downtown for fifty or a hundred years."

"And the chili cafes?"

Ca.s.s gave a bark of laughter. "You bet. But Chili Witches wasn't always a cafe. It started out as a saloon and bawdy house."

He chuckled. "You're kidding."

"I kid you not. The madam's name was Selma Newton, and she was a real rounder. Upstairs, where my apartment is, used to be rooms where the soiled doves entertained the town swells."

"You live over the restaurant?"

"Temporarily. Until I can get this place fixed up," she said.

"Which place? Here?" he asked, looking around the living room of the run-down house where they'd come to work.

"Yes. When I'm finished it will be a charming cottage again, and in a prime location. The architecture is unique, and while they may not qualify as landmarks when this block is restored all the houses will be lovely. Can you believe they wanted to tear down these houses and put up another five-story apartment building? And you should have seen the design!"

"Bad, huh?"

"Atrocious!" Ca.s.s said, making a face.

"And POAC stopped it?"

"Not single-handedly. Several groups and individuals joined together, lobbied for the preservation of the neighborhood and bought the properties."

"And you bought this house?"

"I did. And the one next door, as well."

Griff lifted his eyebrows. "So don't mess with Texas women?"

Ca.s.s grinned. "You got it, Yankee. Now I'll get off my soapbox. Thanks for helping me this afternoon. May I drop you at your hotel?"

"I was hoping you might show me around some of charming Austin this afternoon," Griff said as she locked up.

She glanced at her watch. "I have time for a drive through Zilker Park, but I have an appointment coming up."

"I noticed that there was an interesting production at the Paramount Theater this weekend. Would you like to go with me tomorrow night?"

"I'd love to go, but I work on Sat.u.r.days," Ca.s.s said. "We don't close until ten or ten-thirty. Sorry."

"I know it's short notice, but could you make it tonight if I can get tickets?"

"Good luck with that," Ca.s.s said. "I hear it's sold out."

He grinned. "Never underestimate my ability to get what I want."

She threw back her head and laughed. "I wouldn't dare."

GRIFF HAD TO CALL IN a couple of favors, and ended up paying a scalper an exorbitant price, but he got two tickets in the orchestra, fifth row center, for that night's performance at the theater on Congress Street. He'd have paid twice the amount. Not only was it a sop to his ego, but he wanted to impress Ca.s.s. He found that he genuinely liked her and enjoyed her company. She was the most interesting and engaging woman he'd met in a very long time. a couple of favors, and ended up paying a scalper an exorbitant price, but he got two tickets in the orchestra, fifth row center, for that night's performance at the theater on Congress Street. He'd have paid twice the amount. Not only was it a sop to his ego, but he wanted to impress Ca.s.s. He found that he genuinely liked her and enjoyed her company. She was the most interesting and engaging woman he'd met in a very long time.

As soon as the tickets were a.s.sured, he called the cell phone number she'd given him and told her the show was a go.

"Wonderful!" she said. "Now I have someplace to show off my new pedicure. My toes are absolutely ravis.h.i.+ng."

He laughed. "Your appointment was for a pedicure?"

"Along with a haircut. Do you think it was fate?"

"Undoubtedly. The performance starts at eight. Shall we have dinner beforehand or a late supper?"

"I'm not a late supper kind of gal," Ca.s.s said, "and I'm going to be pushed to get home and dress. Why don't you order something nice from room service, and I'll have a bite at home? We can have drinks at the theater. Shall I pick you up?"

"No, I have a car at my disposal. I'll pick you you up. Seven?" up. Seven?"

"Seven is great. Just come up the stairs off the parking lot behind the cafe. I'm apartment B. And Griff, remember that Austin is supercasual. People will be in everything from shorts and flip-flops to dress clothes. Feel free to go without a tie."

"My mother would disown me. She was from Dallas."

"Ahh," Ca.s.s said. "Enough said. Dallas has always been much more fas.h.i.+on conscious than Austin."

When he picked up Ca.s.s later, he would have debated Austinites' fas.h.i.+on sense. She looked stunning in a blue dress and a floaty, flowered jacket. The high heeled sandals she wore were little more than thin straps to show off her newly painted pink toenails, but he'd been around women enough to know that she hadn't gotten them at Wal-Mart.

"You look lovely," he told her. "I like your toes."

She laughed and wiggled them. "Terribly Pink."

"Yes, they are."

"The color is Terribly Pink."

"Ahh. Excuse my faux pas."

Downstairs, he helped her into the backseat of the chauffeured Town Car he'd hired for the evening.

"How very impressive," Ca.s.s said when they were settled.

"That was the idea," he said, winking. "This smells much better than most taxis. And it's more comfortable. I was hoping you would appreciate it."

"I do. I do." To the driver she said, "Hi, Brad. How are you? I haven't seen you in ages."

"I'm fine, thank you," he responded as he pulled away.

"How's Barbara?" she asked.

"Great. She's pregnant."

"How wonderful! This is your first, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. We're excited."

"You know our driver?" Griff asked.

"Sure. Brad's wife, Barbara, used to work at Chili Witches when they were in college and before they started their car and limo service. Austin has grown over the years, but basically we're still like a small town."

"You've convinced me."

"Actually, the theater's not far from here," Ca.s.s said. "Walking distance if I'd worn more sensible shoes."

"I'm glad you didn't. I rather like those. Jimmy Choo?"

"Prada," she said. "How on earth do you know about Jimmy Choo?"

"You caught me." He laughed. "I confess I watched a couple of episodes of s.e.x and the City s.e.x and the City to see what all the fuss was about. I discovered it wasn't a guy thing, but I do recall Jimmy Choo as being a coveted kind of shoe. I seem to remember Prada as being in the same category." to see what all the fuss was about. I discovered it wasn't a guy thing, but I do recall Jimmy Choo as being a coveted kind of shoe. I seem to remember Prada as being in the same category."

A few minutes later they were standing in front of the old theater on Congress, the wide street that led from the front of the capitol building to the river, then many miles to the south beyond that. The Paramount was, according to Ca.s.s, over a hundred years old and looked rather ordinary from the outside. Inside was another story.

"I can't believe this place," Griff said. "It looks like a European opera house."