Gloria heaved a theatrical sigh and walked away.

This wasn't good, Ca.s.s thought.

DURING THE AFTERNOON LULL, Ca.s.s retreated to her office to study the figures Greg had given her. She was impressed with his presentation and his estimate of the costs. Both were very complete and much more reasonable than the other contractor had offered for the same work. She compared the two carefully. Greg had also provided a list of stores and suppliers where he got builder discounts. Ca.s.s called him and told him the job was his.

Another call buzzed in as she was saying goodbye to Greg. It was Griff.

"Hi," she said. "How's Miami?"

"Nice, but I'd rather be in Austin."

"I'd rather you were here, too. I was just talking to my new contractor when you called. We're starting renovations on my houses on Monday."

"That was quick."

"Things happened to work out well. Are you coming back soon? You can help me move the POAC office. One of our members is donating office s.p.a.ce in her building."

"When are you moving?"

"Either tomorrow or Sunday afternoon. I'll be working Sat.u.r.day."

"Babe, I wish I could be there, but it looks like I'll be in Miami until Sat.u.r.day, and I have some things to take care of in New York before I can leave. It will be at least Tuesday or Wednesday before I can wrap up my business and come home."

"Home? Are you thinking of Austin as home?"

"More and more," Griff said. "I told you I love the town. And Austin is where you are."

A big lump formed in her throat. "I miss you."

"I miss you more. Believe me, I'm doing everything I can to get there, sweetheart. You can't imagine. Ca.s.s, I love you so much."

She totally melted. There was no mistaking his words this time. She tried to say something, but her mouth wouldn't work.

"Ca.s.s?"

"Yes. I'm here. I-I..." The words just wouldn't come.

"Ca.s.s, I'm not rushing you, simply telling you how I feel."

"I understand," she said. And the tears came. She sniffed. Why was she crying? "I, uh, I can't talk right now."

"Sorry. I know you're working. I'll call you tomorrow night. Goodbye, sweetheart."

When the call ended, Ca.s.s put her head down and wept.

"Ca.s.s, honey, why are you upset?"

She looked up to see the Senator sitting across from her, looking concerned. Squeezing her eyes shut, she told herself she was hallucinating, but when she opened them again, he was still there.

"Griff told me he loves me."

"How wonderful! Don't you love him?"

"I-I'm not sure. We haven't known each other very long."

"Sometimes it doesn't take very long. The moment I saw your mother I fell head over heels for her. Now, she she took a little longer to bring around." took a little longer to bring around."

Ca.s.s couldn't believe that she was sitting in the office calmly discussing her love life with a ghost. This was crazy.

As if he could read her mind, he smiled.

That made her more nervous. Still, she said, "Mom and Aunt Min don't like him."

"They didn't like me either, not at first. The important thing is not how they feel about him but how you feel. Listen to the quiet little voice deep inside you, and you won't go wrong."

"But-"

Just as quickly as he'd appeared, the Senator faded, and she was left talking to an empty chair.

Chapter Eighteen.

Friday morning was a glorious day in Austin, with clear skies and with temperatures expected to be in the eighties. Dressed appropriately in shorts and sandals, Ca.s.s pulled to a stop in front of her house at exactly ten o'clock. Greg's big pickup was already there, and he was sitting on the front steps, waiting. Did his eyes linger a bit too long on her legs? If so, she didn't mind. In fact, she felt a little smug about still having good legs. She reminded herself it was past time to get back into her jogging routine. Monday for sure.

Hurrying up the broken concrete walk, she waved. "Am I late?"

"Nope. You're exactly on time." Clipboard in hand, he smiled and stood. "I'm a little early. Ready to measure?"

"I am." She held up her retractable tape. "Let me unlock the door. Karen isn't here today. We're hoping to find someone to move the office furniture today."

"I've been meaning to ask you about the office." He motioned toward the sign beside the front door. "Exactly what is POAC?"

"POAC stands for Preserve Old Austin's Charm. It's a nonprofit organization that supports what its name implies. I'm the president." She told him a little bit about projects the group had been involved in.

"Cool," Greg said. "It breaks my heart when I see some of the landmarks torn down and paved over. I don't want Austin to become a city with a bunch of skysc.r.a.pers dominating the landscape."

Ca.s.s chuckled. "You sound like me. We'd love to have you as a member."

"Where do I sign up?"

She took a form from the filing cabinet. "Fill this out and send it in if you're truly interested."

"I am." He slipped the form into the papers on his clipboard. "Where is POAC moving?"

"To the building of one of our members, a couple of blocks over-if I can locate some muscle and a truck pretty soon."

"I've got some muscle and a truck. Is this all you have to move?" He motioned to the desk, folding chairs, a folding table and a file cabinet.

Ca.s.s looked around at the motley a.s.sortment of equipment and furniture and grinned. "This is it. Did I mention we keep the overhead low? Everything we have is either donated or bought from the Salvation Army store. We pay our secretary barely enough to keep her in gas money to work a few hours a week."

"I'll call two of my guys to come over, and by the time we're finished measuring, they'll have everything loaded up and ready to go."

"Oh, Greg, I hate for you to do that. I don't want to impose on your workers' time."

"Not a problem." Greg phone Chick, whoever he was, and told him to bring a couple of helpers to this address.

"That's very sweet of you, Greg."

He grinned. "I'm a sweet kind of guy. Let's use my tape." He unclipped an enormous tape measure from his belt and whipped it the length of the living room. "Sixteen." He moved and whipped it again. "Thirteen."

Ca.s.s hurriedly wrote down the numbers as he moved from room to room and called them out.

"Golly," she said when they were finished. "That took a whole five minutes. You're speedy."

He chuckled. "The other house had the exact same floor plan, so these same measurements should do for them. Let's talk about the fireplace. I a.s.sume you'd want it in the living room."

"Sure. I suppose another option would be between the living room and dining room." They walked back in that direction.

"It's a possibility, but it would cost considerably more. I recommend you put it right here between these two windows." He showed her several styles to choose from, then gave her a price for each.

"I love this one," Ca.s.s said, pointing out a contemporary one, faced with slate. "Let's do it."

"Good choice," he said. "A lot of people are putting their flat screen TVs over the fireplace. Want me to wire yours for a TV?"

"Great idea. How much will it cost?"

She was surprised at how little he quoted, and she scribbled the figure in her notebook a second before the helpers knocked on the front door. Greg instructed the two men on what to load in his truck, and while they were doing so, Ca.s.s called the owner of the new office s.p.a.ce and told her they were on the way.

Greg drove the men and the furniture to the new site, and Ca.s.s followed behind. The furniture was moved and the office set up in less than an hour.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am for this, Greg," she told him warmly.

"Consider it my donation to POAC. Want to grab a bite of lunch at the place across the street?"

Ca.s.s hesitated. She rarely ate lunch so early.

"I wanted to go over some particulars about trim work and paint."

"Sure," she said. "I'm always up for Chinese. What about your men?"

"Chick will pick them up. He's on his way."

She and Greg walked across the street and went inside. It felt a little strange to be with another man and have him opening the door and touching her back to steer her to a table. Was she picking up some subtle signals or was he just another friendly guy?

After they ordered, he did indeed go over some ideas he had for the crown molding in both houses, as well as railings for the porches to make them look different from one another. He also suggested using reclaimed lumber. They decided on granite countertops for her house and concrete ones for the rental, and discussed interior molding colors.

When their food came, they put aside their respective notes and ate.

"Tell me," he said, "what have you been doing since high school?"

Ca.s.s briefly told him about college and law school and her stint as a lawyer in New York. "I stood it as long as I could, and then I headed back to Texas last year. I didn't like being a lawyer, and I missed home and my sister. What about you? As I recall, you had a football scholarship somewhere."

"I did. UCLA. I was studying architecture there, but I blew out my knee in my junior year. Surgery fixed me up to do everything except play football, and I dropped out of school. For a few years I knocked around California learning the building trades. Like you, I started missing Texas and my family, so I headed home a couple of years ago."

"Married? Children?"

He shook his head. "Nope. How about you?"

Ca.s.s had a feeling she needed to discourage any ideas of a personal relationship between them. "Nope. Me neither, but I've been seeing a very special guy. This may be the one."

"Then it wouldn't do me any good to ask you out on date?"

She smiled. "Sorry. I'm pretty sure my guy wouldn't approve."

"Well, d.a.m.n. A day late and a dollar short. You know, I used to have a crush on you when you were a cute little soph.o.m.ore cheerleader."

Ca.s.s laughed. "On Sunny or me?"

"Both of you, to tell the truth. I couldn't tell one from the other. But you seemed too young for me at the time."

"How funny. I figured you didn't know we were alive. So you never went back to get your architecture degree?"

He shook his head. "I kept putting it off for one reason or another, and now I'm too old."

"I don't think you're ever too old to go back to school."

"Maybe you're right, but I have people dependent on me now. My mom isn't in the best of health, and I support her and my special-needs sister."

While they finished lunch, Ca.s.s told him briefly about Sunny's life, as well. Greg was easy to talk to, and she really liked him, but the zing she felt with Griff simply wasn't there. She didn't have the slightest urge to jump across the table and nibble his ear or kiss him senseless.

Sorry, Mom.

SHE MISSED G GRIFF dreadfully. Even though he called every day, it wasn't enough. Her days were busy and full, but still they seemed to drag by. When Sunny picked her up on Sunday morning to drive to Dripping Springs for their meeting with Carrie Outlaw, Ca.s.s welcomed the distraction of both having time alone with her sister and seeing Carrie. dreadfully. Even though he called every day, it wasn't enough. Her days were busy and full, but still they seemed to drag by. When Sunny picked her up on Sunday morning to drive to Dripping Springs for their meeting with Carrie Outlaw, Ca.s.s welcomed the distraction of both having time alone with her sister and seeing Carrie.

Sunny drove like an old lady, but Ca.s.s didn't say a word about it as they tooled down the highway. This last time she'd come this way, Griff had been with her and nervous as a hooker in church about her heavy foot. She smiled, remembering.