Part 20 (1/2)
”I'm thinking yes.” Lily took a sip of her coffee.
”Three tries. I already told him we couldn't play twenty questions, but now I can clarify that.”
”Dear Zeus, yes. At this point, you don't want something going wrong on a technicality.”
”Sure don't.” Anica sighed and did a modified neck roll to loosen up the tight muscles of her neck.
”Poor baby.” Lily reached over and patted her arm.
”I'm just trying to figure out what the heck he did that took him from one hour to three hours.”
”Hm.” Lily drank more coffee. ”It must have been a big-a.s.s act of kindness to get him that much time. He saved the mother cat and kittens and only got fifty minutes more.”
”He's been giving Orion some of his dinner.”
”Yeah, that's worth about three minutes each. It has to be something bigger.” Lily gazed at her. ”Was he doing acts of kindness in bed that first time?”
Anica wasn't sure she could discuss oral s.e.x in the confines of Wicked Brew, with customers and her two employees milling about. ”I . . . uh, I'm not really comfortable talking about-”
”I'm just sayin' that if he got another two hours while he was doing you, I'm going to be consumed with jealousy.”
Anica shook her head. ”He was good, but compared to saving the mother cat and her kittens . . . not another two hours' worth of good.”
”I still think I'm jealous, considering that I'm currently alone with only a vibrator to keep me company.”
”TMI, Lily.”
”Oh, I keep forgetting that you're the prudish sister. Pretend I never mentioned the vibrator. We were discussing Jasper, who obviously is better than any old vibrator. So how does he do it?”
”Lily.”
”I mean acts of kindness, Anica. How does he do acts of kindness when he's so limited by his circ.u.mstances?”
”I don't know.”
Lily tapped the side of her cup with a manicured finger. ”Let's look at the facts. This is like one of those locked-room mysteries. He was in the apartment all day, by himself except for Orion, correct?”
”Correct. And Orion sleeps all day. I don't see how Jasper could accomplish any acts of kindness for a sleeping cat.”
”And no visitors, right?”
”No visitors,” Anica said. ”n.o.body has a key except you, and thank you, by the way, for putting that protection spell in place yesterday morning. I was so upset when I came home after seeing Dorcas and Ambrose that I didn't notice at first.”
”No problem. It was perfect timing. I was in the magic mood after jerking Jasper's chain a little.”
”What?”
Lily waved a hand. ”No biggie. I just worked a little spell to convince him that if he messed with you, he'd have to deal with me.”
”What in the world did you-” Then she stopped herself. ”You know what? I don't even want to know. But thank you for sticking up for me.” Lily's sisterly concern settled like a warm blanket around Anica's tense shoulders.
”Sure. No problem. But this mystery of Jasper getting extra time somehow is going to drive me crazy if I don't figure it out.” Lily stared out the window at people hurrying along the windy sidewalk. ”The computer,” she said at last, glancing back at Anica. ”It's his only way of reaching the outside world. Could he accomplish acts of kindness on the computer?”
”Maybe. It wouldn't be easy, but it's the only thing that makes sense. I just hope he's able to figure out that whatever he did, whether it was on the computer or not, is what he needs to keep doing to gain more time.”
”He's a smart man. I'm betting he'll come up with the answer.” Lily popped the last of the brownie into her mouth.
”So what's up with you?”
”Nothing compared to your life, sis.” Lily rolled her cup between her palms. ”There's this guy . . .”
”The customer at the Bubbling Cauldron.”
”Yeah. His name's Griffin. Griffin Taylor. He's a divorce lawyer.”
”Mm.” Anica wasn't going to say it, but she had a hard time imagining a serious professional guy being interested in Lily. Lily tended to attract the professional gamblers, the musicians, the nightclub owners. People like her, in other words. ”So what do you like about this Griffin guy?”
”He's hot.”
Anica laughed. ”I'm sure. You wouldn't look twice at him otherwise.”
”But he's hot in a cool way. Not obvious, you know? Low-key. I like the way he jokes around with the other lawyers who come in for happy hour. He has a nice smile, a great laugh.”
Anica could read the signs. Lily was crus.h.i.+ng on this divorce lawyer with the great smile. ”Have you had any conversations with him?”
Lily gazed into her coffee. ”Not so much. I've tried to catch his eye, get him interested, but he just . . . isn't. He's polite and everything, but there's no flirting on his part. Only on mine.”
”That must be rough, particularly if you're really attracted to him.” Anica was thinking it would be especially rough on Lily, who usually got any guy she went after.
Lily shrugged. ”I'll get over it.” Then she looked up and gave Anica a high-wattage smile. ”When do you want another dance lesson?”
Anica thought of her complicated life. ”Well, I'm not sure if I-”
”Yeah, I know. It's a busy time, a strange time. That's okay. Never mind.”
Anica picked up on the disappointment Lily quickly tried to hide. For the first time Anica wondered if Lily might need her more than she'd let on. She might be lonely. ”The shop's closed on Sat.u.r.day. How about Sat.u.r.day afternoon?”
”You're sure?” Lily looked cautiously hopeful.
”Yep, I'm sure.”
”This deal with Jasper could bust wide open, and then you might not want to.”
”If that happens we'll talk about it,” Anica said. ”But for now let's plan on Sat.u.r.day afternoon.”
”Cool. I've been practicing some more moves I want to show you. We'll have margaritas again.”