Page 25 of Lorcan
“Now, I’m curious.”
“Let me give you a tour of the entire place. Should take, oh, about ten seconds.”
As we rose, I cast one final glance at the volcano.
In fact, the tour took about five minutes.
I loved the tile work done in the bathrooms—modern and sophisticated palette, yet also understated. I couldn’t help myself—I checked out the workmanship and found nothing wanting.
He’d painted the guest bedroom a soft pastel yellow. The desk crammed against the window might’ve been small, but the view out of it was glorious. Again, of Cedar Valley and the volcano.
“How do you get any work done in here?”
“Honestly? I’m mostly here at night—after a long day at the ranch, I come home and do an hour or two. Making notes, looking up cases. Stuff like that. Then I sit in front of the television and flake. Or, just as likely, I crawl into bed.”
I pointed to the double bed.
He shook his head. “No, this is a guest bedroom. Not that I have many guests—but the option’s here. I’ll show you my bedroom.”
I thought he was going to take my hand, but he merely gestured for me to follow.
The living room was dominated by a huge black sectional sofa.
“It’s actually more comfortable than it looks, and the faux leather is easy to clean.”
“I think it already looks comfortable. I have a thirdhand used pullout couch whose mattress should’ve been replaced last century—and that doubles as my bed.”
“Oh.” He scratched his stubble-free chin. “And you can’t fit a small bed into the space?”
I gestured to myself. I wasn’t as tall as Cody, but the only small bed that might fit was a child’s bed, and even I couldn’t make myself that small.
He laughed ruefully. “Point taken.”
“What about the artwork?”
“Local artist.” His gaze turned wistful. “I love his use of color. He does both landscapes and people.”
The painting was above the couch and, again, dominated the space. The mountains felt…majestic. And the forest growing up the side of it seemed expansive. “It’s amazing. I can feel the fresh air.”
“Right?” Cody grinned. “Talented guy. Not well known. He moved back to Mission City after living in Vancouver for almost twenty years. He, uh, knows Kennedy and she introduced me to his work. I’m embarrassed to say, he gave me a discount.”
“Then he saw something in you.”I see something in you.Cody wore his heart on his sleeve. Compassion oozed out of every pore.Is he this way with his patients? How easy do they find it to open up to him?
About as easy as I found it.
Well, that was true.
He rested his hand on a high-top table with four barstools. “My idea of a dining room. Truthfully, when I have more than one person over, we usually sit on the couch.”
“And the recliner.”
“Oh, you noticed.”
“I’m envious. That’s top of the line.”
His face clouded for a moment. “I got it secondhand. A gentleman bought it for his mother to keep her comfortable—but she died in hospital just a few days later. He couldn’t bear to keep it, and so wanted it to go to a good home.”
“He made a good choice.”
