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“Are you ready to take on afternoons again?”
“I can.” Oh, dear. Not what she wanted to say.
“But deep down, you don’t want to.” Jesse supplied what Vi couldn’t bring herself to admit. No wonder people were afraid of him. She silently chalked one up for his mind-reading skills. Scrubbing his jaw, he gazed at her.
Her feet wiggled, making her insides do a shake, rattle, and roll number.
“I have an idea. If you hate it, I need you to say so,” Jesse said.
Vi bit her lip. He’d decided to let her go.
“What if you continue to do morning massages, but spend your afternoons teaching and training others to do massage?”
As Vi’s mind wrapped around his words, calm invaded her body. She quit toying with her braid and leaned forward. “How so?”
Jesse’s eyes gleamed. “We grow and develop a massage school on the premises. The teaching angle would bring in new members, and we’d get to cherry-pick the best MT candidates. The numbers look promising. We have the room, and Peeps would gain regional exposure.”
Vi’s brows knit as she considered his proposal. Future MTs could train at Peeps and then take their skills back to smaller towns. Contrary to cutting her loose, he was giving her a new direction. “I love the idea, Jess.”
“Okay. How about you investigate what courses you’ll need to become a licensed instructor and bring me a cost breakdown? We’ll discuss salary too. If you’re serious about taking it on, credentials matter.” He eyed her carefully. “How are your hands?”
Vi flexed her fingers. “They’re doing so much better, I forgot they hurt.” Oops. TMI.
“Good. It’s what I hoped would happen.” He chuckled. “If I could clone you … For now, keep your afternoon schedule divvied up between the other MTs and continue with mornings only. I have a new hire or two lined up to keep from being spread too thin. In a couple of weeks, I want you to present cost info and a working schematic.”
“I’ll have it ready.” This fresh spin on massage excited her. “Thanks, Jesse.”
In the deli, Rory’s lips twitched. Vi flipped her thick braid over her shoulder, punctuating the air with her hands. He drank in her enthusiasm about the meeting with Jesse. He’d set up this working date because he missed her, not because he had major house-related business to discuss. His breathing hitched as she wound her purple shawl around her shoulders. The day she fell into the cistern, they had let Thunder sniff the shawl, hoping Vi’s scent would lead them to her whereabouts.
The day Rory’s world narrowed into one desire—Vi.
He focused on her words. “How could Jesse have known? I didn’t know myself. A nameless dread circled whenever I considered a full massage schedule.” Her pretty face clouded. “You didn’t talk to him, did you?”
Rory held up his hands. “Nothing from me.”
The yeasty aroma of fresh bread drifted toward them. A group of women attired in workout gear chattered as they waited in the deli line.
Vi stared at him a moment longer, her bottom lip poking out. “Okay. Where’s this list I need to look at?” An orange appeared from her pocket, and her thumb pierced the stem end.
Rory handed her a folder. Vi absently held a piece of orange toward him as she perused the list, then scrunched her face. “So far, I can’t make heads or tails of it. Help?”
He took the slice and turned the paper sideways. “This column is what you need to pick out.” He pointed down the line and explained the construction terms. “Valiant carries a decent selection of everything on the list except for granite. Unfortunately, our one granite store is way too proud of its stock. You can get it for less and better variety in San Antonio.” He popped the orange offering in his mouth.
Vi’s eyes trained on him. “Granite. We’re talking kitchen and bathroom counters?” She nodded, proud of her newfound knowledge. “It’s an important item. I’m up for a trip to San Antonio. How about you?”
Rory blinked. “Today?” He did a quick mental review of his tasks. “Let me check with Paige.” It only took a minute to verify. Nothing that couldn’t wait until tomorrow. “Are you game for a day trip on such short notice?”
“I’ll need to stop by the house and take Cyrus for a walk before we go, but I’m done for the morning. When will we get back?”
“Couple hours over and back. An hour at the granite store.” An idea occurred to him. “We could have dinner on the Riverwalk.” He held his breath.
An emotion Rory couldn’t define lurked in the depths of Vi’s eyes. A country-western love song floated from the speakers upstairs, reminiscent of the music they’d danced to at the gala. When Vi had melted against his shoulder. She wore the same intoxicating perfume today. His senses bulged from overload. He hoped their togetherness affected her the way it did him.
“I’d love it.” He barely heard the soft words. She stacked the lists together and rallied. “We’d better get cracking if we want to get back at a decent hour. Meet you at Paige’s?”
They set a time, and Rory watched her retreat. Her curvy little figure raised the hair on his arms. Much as he appreciated her sweet physical attributes, his desire entailed a much deeper connection. He wanted to belong to this woman for the rest of his life.
Vi’s forlorn behavior after the gala suggested something else threatened future progress. Rory intended to find out what it was.
