1022 Evergreen Place (28 page)

T
anni knew from the nervous, excited way her mother was acting that Larry Knight must be arriving any minute. They had a Friday-afternoon date, and Shirley had spent the past hour getting ready.

Watching the changes in her mother since she'd met Larry had been interesting. Tanni used to wonder how she'd feel if her mother became involved with another man. It seemed weird to think of Shirley falling in love with someone other than Tanni's dad. What surprised her was that she was all right with it. That might not have been the case if it was anyone other than Larry. He was special, and Tanni understood why her mother had fallen for him. Besides being a fabulous artist, Larry was thoughtful, generous and just plain nice. Not only was he responsible for helping Shaw get into art school, but he'd brought the spark back to her mother's eyes.

In the past few weeks, her mother and Larry had been on the phone practically every day, and these weren't short conversations. One night they talked for three hours straight. Tanni knew because she kept track of the time. She'd taken delight in teasing her mother. Even more fun was seeing the flush that crept over her cheekbones.
Shirley had it bad. This Tanni recognized because she'd once had those same intense feelings for Shaw. Not anymore, though.

“Do I look okay?” Shirley asked. She wore pale linen pants and a white top with a teal-and-lime-green scarf. She'd thrown a linen jacket over the whole ensemble.

“You look great.” Tanni wasn't just saying that. Her mother had been paying far more attention to her hair and makeup since she'd started dating Larry. Even when all they did was talk on the phone, her mother's hair was brushed, her makeup applied and she was neatly dressed. She'd stopped wearing old jeans and her father's too-large sweatshirts around the house. It was as if she thought Larry might drop in unannounced at any second. Tanni found that amusing but remembered she'd been the same way when she first met Shaw, too.

Shaw… She didn't want to think about him. It was over. She hadn't heard from him in more than two weeks, but the choice had been hers. She'd decided to cut off the relationship. That had been painful, but as Kristen had assured her, it was the right thing to do. Tanni had taken control. Rather than let him ignore her, she'd quit playing the game.

Shirley tugged at her jacket sleeves. “Miranda insisted I wear this.”

“It's nice, Mom.”

“Miranda has such a good eye for color.”

“So do you,” Tanni said, surprised her mother lacked confidence in her own sense of style. Shirley worked with fabric and color all the time, so no one, in Tanni's opinion, had a better eye than she did.

Shirley thanked her with a brief smile, then glanced at her watch.

“When's Larry due?” Tanni asked.

“Around one.” She set her purse by the front door.

“Where's he taking you for lunch?”

“I…I didn't ask.” She grew flustered. “How silly of me.”

Tanni couldn't resist rolling her eyes. “Was I this dopey after I met Shaw?” she asked.

“Worse,” her mother said wryly.

“That's hard to believe.”

They exchanged a smile. She felt relieved to be on good terms with her mother again. The change had come about gradually over the past few months, ever since Shaw had moved to San Francisco. They used to be at odds with each other all the time, and now they weren't. “Do you have plans this afternoon?” Shirley asked.

Tanni shrugged. “Jeremy might come over. Kristen, too.” If anyone had told Tanni she'd become friends with the girl she despised most, she would've fallen down laughing.

As little as a month ago, Tanni could barely stand to be in the same room with her. These days they hung around, went places together and talked nearly every day.

Kristen had been such a help with the whole Shaw situation. She'd broken off a number of relationships herself and said it was best just to be done with it. If Shaw was sending Tanni all the signals that he wanted their relationship to end—and he was—then Kristen said she should make it easy on him. So Tanni had.

It hadn't been easy on her, though. When she called Shaw to tell him, he seemed shocked. Kristen said that was to be expected, too. Guys might want to end the relationship, but then they had a change of heart as soon as the girl took the initiative. At first, Tanni had thought her friend was exaggerating, but everything Kristen had said would happen did.

Almost immediately after she broke up with him, Shaw started texting her five or six times a day. After weeks of
driving Tanni insane by disregarding her messages, he suddenly wanted to be in contact. She gained a perverse satisfaction from ignoring him. But that only encouraged him to text more often. He'd even tried to phone. She'd had to force herself not to answer, but managed to hold firm. Kristen praised her for being in control. It felt good, she felt good, and she was determined never to let anyone treat her emotions so lightly again.

As a bonus Kristen had introduced Tanni to her neighbor Jeremy Reynolds and they'd met several times. He was very different from Shaw. Knowing that Jeremy was interested in her made the fact that Shaw was out of her life a lot more tolerable.

The doorbell rang and her mother rushed into the living room. Tanni followed her, wanting to greet Larry and hear about their plans so she'd know when her mother would be home.
That
was a role reversal if ever there was one.

Halfway into the room, Tanni froze. Larry Knight was at the door, but he wasn't alone. Shaw was with him.

“Hi, Tanni,” Shaw said as he sauntered into the house.

“What are you doing here?” She made it clear that she didn't appreciate his unexpected arrival. If she'd known Shaw was coming, she could have mentally prepared herself for the confrontation. She would've liked to discuss this with Kristen first and gotten her advice.

“Tanni.” Her mother said her name softly, reminding her of her manners.

“Hello, Shaw,” she said with less of an edge.

Larry had his arm around her mother's waist. “Tanni, I brought Shaw along as a surprise.” He gave Shaw a skeptical look. “I was led to believe you'd welcome a visit.”

“You are so thoughtful,” Shirley said, smiling at him.

Larry's expression indicated he was no longer so sure
of that. “Would you rather I dropped Shaw off at his family's place?” He spoke directly to Tanni.

“Come on, Tanni,” Shaw pleaded. “I just want to talk.”

Larry regarded each one in turn. “Is that what
you
want, Tanni?” he asked.

He didn't seem any too pleased with Shaw, which was all right with her.

“Fine. I'll talk to him,” she said.

Still, Larry hesitated. “I'd like to take your mother to lunch here in Cedar Cove, and then we thought we'd stop off at the art gallery,” he explained. “We shouldn't be gone more than a couple of hours. Would that suit you?” Again, he looked at Tanni.

She shrugged, letting that be her response. She wanted Shaw to realize that her feelings about him were lukewarm at best.

Larry and her mother left and then Tanni was alone with Shaw. At one time she would have welcomed the privacy. That wasn't true anymore.

“How's it going?” he asked. He made himself at home on the sofa, crossing his legs and stretching his arm across the back.

Tanni sat on the other side of the living room, as far from him as possible. He looked different, but then so did she. With subtle suggestions from Kristen, Tanni had changed her wardrobe. She'd stopped wearing all black and added color here and there. Today she had on regular jeans and a pink T-shirt. She'd changed her hairstyle, too; now she wore it shorter and parted on the side. Again, she had Kristen to thank for that. Kristen had good instincts about style and together they'd found a new, more flattering look for Tanni.

Her mother liked her new hairstyle, too, although
she seemed reluctant to say much. That was understandable.

For a long time after her father died, Tanni didn't want her mother to comment on anything to do with what she wore or how she looked. That wasn't the case now; their relationship was a lot more comfortable these days, a lot closer. Tanni wasn't sure what, exactly, was different but she suspected it had more to do with her than with her mother.

“It's going,” she said flippantly, answering his question.

Shaw shifted his position and leaned forward. “You look great.”

“You, too,” she said curtly. When they'd first started going out, Shaw used to wear dark clothes, the same as her. He had on blue jeans and an artsy T-shirt now.

“School's going really well,” he said, and seemed to want her to comment.

She didn't.

“Come on, Tanni, if you're mad, fine, but get over it.”

“I'm not angry.” Okay, so that wasn't entirely true. But Kristen had helped her cope with those negative feelings. They'd talked at length about how to end a relationship properly, and Tanni had absorbed every word.

“If you're not mad, then why aren't you talking to me?”

“I really don't have anything to say.”

“Sure you do,” he said. “I know I do. I've missed you.”

That wasn't the impression he'd given her after he got to San Francisco. He'd made it seem as if he was far too busy to bother with her. She could remind him of the grief and frustration he'd caused her, but then decided that was exactly what she
shouldn't
do.

“How long will you be in town?” she asked instead.

“I'm here over the weekend.”

“That'll give you time to see your friends,” she said, folding her arms.

“The only person I want to see is you.”

Yeah, right.

“And Will Jefferson,” Shaw added. “I want to thank him. I owe him big-time.”

“What about my mother?” she asked, unable to disguise her irritation. Shirley had been just as instrumental in getting Shaw into art school as Will Jefferson and Larry Knight. Her mother was the one who'd put everything in motion.

“Of course.” Shaw was quick to make amends. “I'd never have made it into art school if it hadn't been for your mom.”

“How are things with your family?” she asked after an awkward pause. From the very beginning, Shaw's father had been against his becoming an artist. He'd wanted Shaw to attend law school. It'd taken real courage for Shaw to stand up to his father and live his own life.

“Much better,” Shaw said. He seemed pleased to be able to say it. “Mom's proud of the fact that I'm attending on a full scholarship, and Dad's actually coming around. I've emailed them some of my work and I keep in touch. I'll be with the family tonight for this big dinner Mom's cooking.”

Tanni thought that was a good idea.

“Would you like to drop by Will Jefferson's place with me?” he asked.

Apparently Shaw could tell that she wouldn't be having any cozy chats with him.

“I don't have any other plans for a while,” Tanni said, keeping her voice casual. “I can drive.”

His eyes widened. “When did you get your license?”

She'd texted him the day she'd passed her driver's test. Obviously he hadn't taken the trouble to read it. Rather than berate him, or remind him that he should know, she shrugged. “A while back.”

“Hey, it's great that you've got wheels,” he said enthusiastically.

Again, she pretended it was no big deal, but in actuality her whole life had undergone a transformation. Now that she had her license, she felt a new sense of freedom and independence. She felt like an
adult.

They left the house, and during the short drive to the gallery, Shaw dominated the conversation, acting as if hardly anything had changed between them. He was animated, telling her tale after tale of friends he'd made in art school. He didn't seem to notice that she said almost nothing.

He avoided mentioning any of the girls he'd met, although Tanni knew he hung around with several. One name in particular stood out—Mallory, Marcie…something like that. Tanni briefly considered bringing up Jeremy, but decided against it.

Tanni parked down the street from the gallery. The place looked attractive; Will Jefferson had done some work recently, refreshing the outside with a coat of white paint and arranging large baskets of red geraniums in front. He'd redesigned the inside earlier, with new display cases and glass enclosures. Will had put a lot of money into the renovation, and it showed.

When they walked into the gallery, Shaw's eyes went immediately to the wall where her mother's dragon quilt was displayed. There was no denying that “Death” was a masterful piece of work.

She hadn't fully appreciated the skill involved in the creation of fabric art, and this piece in particular, until Will Jefferson had hung it on his wall. To Tanni, that
dragon breathed life—and death—and spoke of grief, love, passion. It captivated the attention of all who saw it. She knew there'd been numerous offers to buy it but the work wasn't for sale.

Will stepped out from his office, and when he saw them, he smiled. “Shaw,” he said, holding out his hand as he advanced toward them. “Good to see you.”

“Hi, Mr. Jefferson.”

They shook hands and then Will turned to Tanni. “Great to see you, too.” He looked around as though he expected her mother to be with them.

Tanni smiled and out of the corner of her eye she caught a movement. Someone else was in the gallery.

“Hello, Tanni,” Miranda Sullivan greeted her, emerging from the back room a moment later. “What's your mother up to this afternoon?”

“She's with Larry.”

Will Jefferson stiffened noticeably. “Larry Knight's in town?” he asked, and he didn't sound pleased to hear it.

“I flew in with him,” Shaw told them. “It was a chance to reconnect with friends,” he said pointedly, glancing in Tanni's direction. “I wanted to see you, too, so you'd know your faith in me was justified. If you speak to Larry, he'll tell you I've done well in each of my classes so far.”