Page 95 of Native Hawk
Chapter 28
By the time Catalina and the madam returned to The Parlor, Miss Hattie was flushed and out of breath.
“Honestly, Cat.” Miss Hattie huffed and puffed as she staggered through the front door. “I don’t know why…you’re in such a…an all-fired hurry.”
“I must iron the clothings while they are hot,” she explained. She wasn’t sure that was quite how Chase had said it, but it made sense to her.
While Miss Hattie puzzled over her words, she picked up her skirts and swept past the madam, up the stairs.
Drew wasn’t asleep. When she walked in, she could see worry etched into his brow.
He sat up. “How are they?”
“Good. They are good.” She set her purse on the nightstand and started unbuttoning her jacket.
“What did Chase say?”
“He said your grandmother’s spirit was there.” She wrenched off her jacket with unaccustomed haste, dropping it on the stool.
“That’s good. That’s good.” Drew seemed distracted as he thought things over. “Yoema was a great healer. If Chase can feel her there…”
Catalina sat on the edge of the bed and began unlacing her boots. One of the laces tangled and knotted. With a quiet curse, she wrenched the boot off her foot, breaking the lace.
“You all right?” Drew asked.
“Yes, fine.” She wasveryfine. She felt finer than she’d felt in a long time. She knew she was doing the right thing.
He moved over in the bed to make room for her. “Was Claire awake? Did you get to talk to her?”
Catalina kicked off her second boot, tugged off her stockings, and then stood to untie her skirt. “No. She was asleep.”
“Prob’ly tuckered out. She’s had a rough couple o’ weeks.”
She pulled off her skirt and flung it aside. Then she started on her bustle.
Drew frowned at her rumpled clothing. “Is somethin’ wrong?”
“No. Something is very right.”
Normally she folded her clothes neatly, careful of each crease. But for some reason, that didn’t seem important right now. She tossed her bustle over her shoulder. Then she started on her corset.
Drew was still reflecting on what had happened. “If her fiancé was responsible, I hope they do hang him—the sooner, the better. Any man who’d do that kind o’ thing…”
“Per amor di cielo!”Catalina cursed. She’d never noticed before how many laces there were on a corset. It was ridiculous. At this rate, it would take her half the night to get undressed.
“You need some help with that?” Drew asked.
“Please.”
She sat beside him, and he went to work on the laces. She wanted to believe he was so adept at it because of his nimble card-dealing fingers. But she was afraid it was because he’d had a lot of practice with corsets. He managed to finish the task in less than a minute.
As she freed herself from the contraption, Drew looked thoughtfully down at his hands in his lap. “If anythin’ like that ever happened to you, Cat, I just don’t know what I’d do.”
A lump wedged in her throat as she warped the corset between her hands. “That is why we must…” She paused. She didn’t want to say it wrong. “In Italy we have a saying—carpe diem.It means ‘seize the day.’ It is to say we must not waste a moment.” She set the corset aside. “Life is…uncertain. It is a candle that can be blown out so quickly. None of us can know how much time we have left.”
Drew was staring at her. His eyes softened as his gaze traced the contours of her camisole and drawers. “What are you tryin’ to say, Cat?”
She took a steadying breath as she pulled loose the bow at the top of her camisole. “I think you know.”
