Turn of the Pipes (A Redpoint One Romance) (14 page)

Instead, she said, "I have a ruined dress
thanks to you and your newt. I demand payment."

"Uh, I already told you…"

"Yes, yes, that you can't afford to replace
it. I'm not asking for money." She shoved Irvine into his hands and
looked straight up into his eyes. "To make good, I demand another
date."

***

Ignacio stood in the door holding a wriggling
Irvine, wondering what parallel universe he'd just entered. A short
time ago he'd sent her a text to break it off nice and clean, and
then she arrived at the warehouse demanding another
date?

He couldn't have heard correctly.
"What?"

"You heard me. Now, go put Irvine away and
let's talk specifics." Rachel pushed him backwards into the
apartment. Her bot followed her into the entry way, but then
stopped. With one last hiss in Irvine's direction, it set to
rearranging some of the parts in the cart.

He did as she asked, only because it gave him
more time to think. He took Irvine into the other room, putting him
in an isolation enclosure until he could check out the main
enclosure for the escape route.

He must be dreaming. He stood staring at
Irvine as the newt made his displeasure known with his smaller
enclosure, flashing angry colors at him and hissing. He tried to
get his mind wrapped around what to do with the situation now. He
hadn't expected her to come back to the warehouse.

"Don't think you can hide among the newts,"
Rachel called out after him. "I know where you work. I can find
you."

Apparently, she also had no plans to leave
until they talked. He took in a deep breath. Fine, time to get it
over with.

He returned to the living room to find her
pacing back and forth, her bot and cart still next to the front
door. She didn't appear angry. Instead, her shoulders were held
tight, along with her jaw. Tense, just like he felt.

"I don't know what you want to talk about. We
tried one date. It didn't work out," Ignacio said.

"Yes, it did work out. You enjoyed it, I
enjoyed it, all except when you… I don't know, thought of
something." Rachel came to a stop in front of him. "What was
it?"

Her eyes sparkled bright with her inner fire.
With her so close he realized her brown eyes included flecks of
blue along the inner halo, spiraling out to a softer milk-chocolate
brown. He could lose himself in them forever if he weren't
careful.

He took a step back, trying to pull himself
away from the danger. "I do enjoy your company, as a friend. It
isn't fair to claim it's anything more than that."

Rachel took just as big of a step forward.
"Your kiss said otherwise."

"The kiss was a mistake." His heart cringed at
the words.

He couldn't take lying any more. When it came
down to it, which part of him was lying? The part remembering his
wife, or the part who wanted Rachel? Once again the thoughts
swirled around in his head, jumbling so they made no sense at all.
Even worse, he could see his words had hurt her, making him wishing
he could take them all back.

"You know where the door is." He turned
towards the dining room and kitchen, hoping for a quick escape. She
would leave, and then he could go back to his newts and
salamanders, trying to forget Rachel Henderkito never
existed.

He didn't expect her to follow him.

"Not good enough. You are hiding something."
She stopped next to the table.

With a start, he realized he hadn't cleared it
off. What possessed him to pull the old stuff out in the first
place? His heart sank even more when she picked up a flat black
object. She studied it a moment, rubbing her fingers along the top
of it.

Her eyes lifted to his, clear and bright, with
an unexpected tinge of humor."Now I understand. Widower's
guilt."

Ignacio stood frozen to the spot. He'd heard
the words, knew what they meant, but his brain couldn't process the
current situation. He didn't know what to say or do. Now, she
knew.

Others knew of his dead wife, but this was
Rachel. Rachel was different. He cursed himself for bringing the
box of mementos. How long ago did he pack them away into storage,
and he'd felt the urge to look at them now?

"Reggy told me you'd been married and she
died. What was her name?" Rachel asked, still running a finger
along the edge of the digital frame.

"Marcie," Ignacio answered
automatically.

"What did she do for a living? Helped you with
the breeding?"

"Environmental surveyor for corporations. It
gave us a chance to travel and spend time together."

"What happened?"

Ignacio didn't want to talk about it, but he
couldn't deny her clear eyes. No pity, no raised voice. Only simple
interest.

"Surveying for a new factory site one of the
few times I wasn't with her. She wrote back that she was going to
stop the construction because of the unique environment. Then a
different nearby factory had an accident." He briefly closed his
eyes, not wanting to remember. "It destroyed most of the nearby
town along with much of the surrounding environment. At least she
didn't suffer long."

"This was on Bevel. I remember seeing the news
reports about it. Where the Silky Newts are from, isn't it," Rachel
asked, her voice soft.

Ignacio nodded. "I'm breeding the newts to
rebuild the lost local population from stock from pets and zoos.
They are unique."

Rachel smiled at him. "You breed them for
her."

"I bred a few before in a previous
conservation program I belonged to." Ignacio forced himself to turn
away from her. One by one he took the objects and started placing
them back in the storage box. "Because the need was so great I
started my own program here to start working on the unique reptiles
of what is now a preserve using settlement money from the accident.
Ironically, Irvine is the one odd newt out, as he's from a
different world."

"Lucky me." Rachel handed him the digital
picture frame.

He cradled the frame in his hands, watching as
the pictures flicked by of Marcie and himself on their trips around
the worlds of the Galactic Commonwealth. Full of smiles and fun. It
seemed so long ago, and yet it really wasn't.

"I'm not trying to replace her," Rachel
said.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SHE MUST HAVE hit just the right button again. The dazed
confused expression returned in full strength. Rachel didn't want
him confused. To her, it was all rather simple and
straight-forward.

"We'll talk more on our date," Rachel said,
handing him a knitted hat with a ball on top of it. It looked
exactly like something one of her group would knit for their
grandkids. "In the meantime, see if you can find Irvine's escape
route."

Before he could say anything more, Rachel
returned to the front door. With her bot and the cart preceding
her, she called out, "Expect a message soon. The word 'no' is not
an option."

With that one final reminder she left the
warehouse.

Okay, so it hadn't gone exactly like she'd
expected. At least she knew more. With the new knowledge she would
know where the mood changes came from. That it meant he was
remembering.

Her bot gave one more hiss towards the
warehouse before turning into a maintenance corridor to head for
the next repair site.

"Relax. Irvine isn't so bad. Only annoying,"
Rachel said as she followed.

Her bot started an entire monologue of chirps,
beeps, whistles, squeaks, and squeals. Obviously, it thought she
was wrong, and was going to explain exactly why. It was times like
this Rachel wished she could understand their language. On the
other hand, the range of noises were so much more amusing than any
words would likely be.

Still, it was a barrier. The bots sometimes
sensed and understood things their human partners didn't. Could
Irvine be more dangerous than a simple annoying escape
artist?

***

Ignacio stared at the closed front door where Rachel had just
exited. Somewhere, somehow, he'd lost the chance to stop all of
this once and for all, and now not only did she know about Marcie,
but she was taking the lead in another date?

He pulled off the apron and ran towards the
door. He didn't see any sign of her on the road between the
warehouses in the block. How did she disappeared so
fast?

He went back inside and finished putting away
the box. A run through the warehouse to see to the newts and a
half-hearted attempt to once again discover Irvine's escape method
and he knew it wasn't going to work. He needed to get out of the
warehouse. Do, well, something. Talk to someone.

He went to the one place he knew would be busy
with people. He headed to the surface of the ring above his head. A
quick ride of a tram and he arrived at the site of the upcoming
Exotic Pet Show.

He found Paul inside one of the buildings
testing the systems of each of the transparent enclosures. The
display enclosures for the house-pet categories, if he remembered
the design of the layout correctly.

"Hey, you came up from newt-land. I tested
your building. You're ready to go," Paul said with a gesture
towards the next building.

"Great, thanks," Ignacio said, wondering how
to start. Now that he'd arrived on the grounds, the entire thing
seemed silly. He should turn around and go home. Or maybe work at
the site? At the very least come up with a coherent way to explain
what just happened without making himself look the fool.

He started mentally organizing the explanation
when he instead blurted out, "She saw Marcie's picture."

Paul jerked up straight from testing a
watering system to stare at him. "Rachel? Wow, you showed her
already? I'm surprised."

"I didn't show her. She saw pictures I have in
storage," Ignacio said, running a finger around the collar of his
shirt.

Paul balanced the epad against the lower ledge
of an enclosure opening. "She dug through your stuff?"

"No, I had it on the table."

Paul frowned at him. "You brought out her
stuff? Why?"

Ignacio shrugged, knowing he didn't have a
good reason. As he'd worried about, he was coming out looking like
a fool. "I wanted to see it again."

"And Rachel saw it. What did she
say?"

"Asked a few questions and then insisted on
another date."

Paul's frown broke into a smile. "Great. She
wasn't intimidated by the previous wife. Good sign."

Ignacio knew he should feel the same way. He'd
mourned. He'd move on. Really, it should be easy from this point
on.

Paul's smile faltered. "The problem isn't with
Rachel, is it."

"I feel like I'm cheating on her."

Paul glanced down the building at where
workmen were still working on other enclosures. He grabbed
Ignacio's arm and pulled him down the building in the opposite
direction. "Cheating? Ignacio, you had a great thing with Marcie,
but she's been dead for almost five years now."

Ignacio shrugged off the hand. "I know that.
Of course, I know that."

Paul compressed his lips. "I'm not sure how to
help you with this. You have another chance at something great. How
often does that happen?"

Ignacio sure hadn't expected to be confronted
by the possibility again. The universe couldn't hold another
Marcie. Multiple universes couldn't.

"Are you interested?" Paul
demanded.

Ignacio started, the brown eyes with blue
flecks coming to mind. "Very interested."

"Okay, then?"

There it was. The choice in front of him. So
simple, but so complex all at the same time. Why did it appear so
simple to Paul?

Yet, could it be so simple? Could he make it
simple if he tried hard enough?

Ignacio shoved his hands into his pockets.
"So, when Rachel calls to set up the next date I say
yes?"