Finding Isadora (18 page)

“
You’re the best. Love you.”

After hanging up, I took Pogo for a brisk walk, popped into the gym for a workout, then showered and dressed in shorts and a sleeveless top. I made a couple of batches of chocolate walnut squares, one for me and one for Mr. Schultz. He loved home baking and I took him some kind of sweet treat each week.

It wasn’t even noon and I’d run out of things to do. Normally I’d have gone to the library and browsed magazines, done some balcony gardening, or called Janice or another friend, but I wasn’t in the mood for any of those things. I was worried about the arson charge, Richard, the future of our relationship. My values and priorities; whether I was being a good enough citizen. And then there was Gabriel.

Was it childish to run home when I was feeling unsettled?

I dialed my parents’ number. Jimmy Lee answered. “Hey, Izzie, heard you and Grace had a pretty serious talk last night. How’s my girl today?”

The answer to that question would take a very long time. Besides, I didn
’t really want to discuss my worries, I just wanted to mellow out in my parents’ company. “I’m okay, Jimmy Lee. Wondering how things are going on your case, and with that little girl. If you’re not doing anything, how about I come over?”

“
Great. The more the merrier. See you soon.”

The more the merrier? Oh, of course, Alyssa would be there. I
’d have preferred to have my parents to myself, but I was curious to meet the girl they’d taken in.

My parents
’ apartment was just a couple of miles from mine, so I snapped my fingers at Pogo. “Want to go see my folks?” Grace and Jimmy Lee’s cats wouldn’t be impressed, but Pogo would love the walk and was usually happy to doze on an old blanket in the kitchen.

I packaged up some of my freshly made squares and Pogo and I were off. We walked down to the seawall, then along the paved path onto the Burrard Bridge.
The bridge afforded a fantastic view, and we stopped at the mid-point to watch a sailboat put out to sea, kayakers in brightly colored life jackets, and a couple of teams of dragon boat rowers getting in their practice.

Over the bridge, we shunned the sidewalks and hiked along by the ocean, through Vanier Park, past the kite flyers, and down to Kits Beach where the fine weather had brought sunbathers out en masse. There was nothing like the rear view of a chubby man in an orange thong bikini. Much more appealing were the fit young people playing beach volleyball. Assessing them with a keen eye, I thought Richard
’s physique would have stood up quite nicely, even in this athletic company.

Fit and attractive, yes. So why didn
’t I find him hot? Well, I didn’t find any of the volleyball players hot either. In fact, in my life, the only person I’d ever thought was hot was Gabriel.

I shoved that troubling perception out of my mind and tugged Pogo away from the beachside park and up into Kitsilano. At a Korean grocery I stopped to buy kim chee, the pickled vegetables my family loved. Huge, bright oranges attracted my eye and I tossed a half dozen of the heaviest into a bag.

Grace and Jimmy Lee’s apartment building stood in a block of mostly similar ones. Built in the fifties or sixties, each was a simple rectangular box four or five stories high. My parents’ had a tacky blue-green façade, small rooms, and a tiny balcony per apartment. They’d chosen it because the rent was cheap and they liked the neighborhood. I was afraid the building—the entire block—would soon be demolished in favor of expensive townhouses or condos, but when I mentioned the possibility to my parents they merely shrugged and said they’d cross that bridge when they came to it.

They were fatalists and I was a planner. Sometimes it really was difficult to believe I was their child, but Grace wouldn
’t lie to me.

I used my key to open the front door of the building, then Pogo and I took the
painfully slow elevator to the third floor, where I knocked on the door of the apartment. Time and again my parents had told me to walk right in, but after twice catching them naked together, I now stuck with the formality of knocking and waiting for someone to call “come in.”

Today it was Jimmy Lee
’s voice. Juggling groceries and leash, I let myself in. Grace was just hanging up the phone and said, “Leave the door open, hon.”

“
But the cats will get out.”

“
Gabriel’s right behind you.”

I jumped like a startled doe, and spun around. Grace laughed.
“I mean, that was him downstairs. He’s on his way up.”

Gabriel. I
’d come to my parents for peace and instead they were giving me the person most designed to disturb me. Feeling betrayed, I grumbled, “What’s he doing here?”

She studied me, her eyes narrowed.
“What’s up with the two of you?”

“
What?” My voice squeaked. “What do you mean? Nothing’s
up
.”

“
There’s a weird vibe between you. A tension, energy, it’s—”

Before she could speculate further, I jumped in, knowing my cheeks were flushed by now.
“He and Richard aren’t on the best of terms. It makes things awkward.”

“
Hmm.” Before she could go on, a timer went off in the kitchen and she hurried away.

I breathed a sigh of relief, then squared my shoulders as I turned to my father. Was he going to pick up where Grace had left off? To distract him, I thrust the groceries into his arms, saying,
“I got kim chee.”

“
Great. Thanks, Izzie.” He gave me a hug, his beard tickling my cheek. “You were asking why Gabe’s here. We gotta talk about the case.”

And they couldn
’t do that at Gabriel’s office, like normal people? “Then I should go.”

“
Don’t be silly. You should hear what’s going on.”

I did want to know. And my thumping heart told me that, for some reason that didn
’t bear thinking about, I wanted to see Gabriel. A quick glance downward confirmed that today I was respectably covered, and even wearing a bra.

“
Let me take those into the kitchen and get Pogo settled.” I grabbed the bags back from Jimmy Lee and scuttled into the kitchen, hoping to get myself under control before I faced Richard’s father.

Grace was pulling a couple of loaves of multigrain bread, studded with nuts and seeds, out of the oven.
“Did I hear you say kim chee?” she asked over her shoulder.

“
And oranges and squares.”

“
Terrific. That’ll round things out nicely. Jimmy Lee made this bread and I’m going to grill vegetables.” She dumped the bread onto a rack and turned to me. “Everything’s all right? With you and Richard and Gabriel?”

“
Of course. Just, you know, a little awkward. So, you invited Gabriel for lunch?”

“
Sure. Work’s always more pleasant over food.”

Though my parents never had money to spare, they
’d always been generous about feeding people. They believed just about anything went better with food. “But you can’t discuss the case with Gabriel while Alyssa’s here.” I found Pogo’s old blanket in the bottom of a cupboard and spread it for him, settling him in the least busy corner of the small kitchen. “Where is she anyhow? I’m dying to meet her.”

Grace had started to slice zucchini and green pepper.
“She’s playing with a little girl who lives on the ground floor. Ming-Na’s mom took them both over to the community center for a Tai Chi class.”

“
Have you told Gabriel?”

“
About Tai Chi?”

“
Grace!”

Her knife stilled and she glanced at me,
her eyes twinkling. “No, we haven’t told him about Alyssa.”

“
He has to know.”

“
We’ll see where the conversation goes over lunch.” She reached out and gripped my chin firmly. “Don’t you spill the beans. This is our business.”

“
Fine.” Annoyed, I stalked out of the kitchen.

And straight into Gabriel. Our bodies touched for the briefest moment before we both leaped backwards, but the contact shot a bolt of heat through me.

We stared at each other. His hair was unbound and slightly damp, moisture from the ends darkening the faded gray Sierra Club T-shirt he wore with jeans. The plainest of clothes, but as usual he looked thoroughly masculine and sexy. “Isadora,” he said flatly. “Didn’t know you’d be here.”

“
Me either. I mean, you.” I took a breath and tried again, parroting his words. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Grace hurried out of the kitchen.
“Gabriel, it’s good to see you.” She hugged him as warmly as she’d hugged me.

He hugged her back, seeming to feel none of the awkwardness that characterized our own relationship. When had the two of them progressed to hugging? And had they progressed beyond it to something more intimate? I darted a glance at Jimmy Lee but he was smiling benignly. Not that he
’d be likely to care if his common-law wife and his lawyer got it on. I would never, ever, understand my parents’ lack of possessiveness or jealousy.

Pogo trotted out from the kitchen and scampered over to sit at Gabriel
’s feet, his head tilted inquiringly to one side. Gabriel bent down. “And who’s this? I didn’t meet you the other night.”

“
Pogo. He’s with me.”

My dog sniffed Gabriel
’s hand, gave it a lick, then bounced up onto all three feet, his tail wagging furiously.

“
Pogo?” Gabriel echoed, squatting to stroke his back. “Making one leg do for two?”

“
That’s the idea.”

Grace and Jimmy Lee had gone to the kitchen to make the final lunch preparations. I said to Gabriel,
“You like animals?”

“
Sure. What’s not to like?”

“
Richard never had a pet when he was growing up.”

His hand stilled on Pogo
’s back. “Had a gerbil once,” he said, a faraway expression in his eyes.

I frowned. Richard had never mentioned that.

A moment later Gabriel shook his head, gave Pogo another quick stroke, then rose to his feet. “But Diane’s allergic to cats and dogs.” Slanting me a sideways look, he said wryly, “Can’t blame that one on me.”

Richard hadn
’t mentioned his mother’s allergies either. “No,” I murmured. In Richard’s stories, his mother was always the good parent and Gabriel the rotten one.

Suddenly it hit me. Tomorrow, Richard would likely call Gabriel and drop his bombshell. A wave of dizziness swept over me.

“Isadora?” He gripped my shoulders. “Are you all right? You look like you saw a ghost.”

I raised a shaking hand to my face.
“I, uh, I’m fine. I guess someone walked over my grave.”

Here we were, talking in trite phrases, when Gabriel
’s life was about to … what? Be turned on its head? Or was Richard right, and Gabriel wouldn’t care if Richard wasn’t his son?

I gazed into his face, saw the concern in his eyes, saw the moment it turned to something else. I became utterly aware of his hands, warm and firm on my shoulders, overlapping the thin cotton of my sleeveless top and touching my bare skin. Knowing I should move didn
’t make it happen. My feet were locked in place.

Apparently, Gabriel
’s were too, despite the fact Pogo was dancing around, giving attention-seeking whuffles and whines.

If he
’d been any other man, I would have thought he intended to kiss me. If he was any other man, I’d have wanted him to.

No!
No, of course I wouldn’t. I jumped backward and his hands dropped away. “I’m fine. Honestly.”

“
Good.” He bent to Pogo again, and I couldn’t see his face, just glossy strands of black hair. Did that hair feel as soft as it looked?

I took a long, steadying breath, then went to greet the cats and apologize to them for Pogo
’s presence. Soothing their anxiety settled my own nerves. So what if I had a physical reaction to Gabriel? No big deal; it was chemistry, plain and simple. Nothing would ever come of it.

When we all settled at the table, I even managed to look at him and ask,
“What’s happening with Jimmy Lee’s case?”

“
The cops and Crown Counsel seem convinced he’s guilty, and I’m operating on the assumption someone’s trying to frame him.” He turned to my dad. “Come up with any names for me to investigate?”

“
Fuck, man, you’re on the wrong track. No-one would do that.”

“
Jimmy Lee,” Grace said impatiently, “you’re being naive.”

“
I like to think the best of people.”

“
So do I. But let’s face it, some people do rotten things.”

“
Okay, Grace, then you tell me. Who’d try to frame me and send me to prison for years and years?” My father glared at her.