Софи Райан - The Whole Cat Аnd Caboodle

She smiled. “Okay, then. Thanks.”

I glanced around to see if I could catch sight of Nick anywhere. All I saw was a waiter threading his way over to us through the increasing crowd. He had a basket of nachos and a bowl of salsa, along with a glass of wine for each of us.

“I ordered,” Jess said. “I hope that’s okay.”

“Absolutely. You know I’m a sucker for Sam’s homemade salsa.” I grabbed a chip. They were thin, crisp and warm. “What happened to your healthier lifestyle?” I asked.

“Salsa and chips are healthy,” she said. “Anyway, I’ve decided what I really need to work on is a healthier mind-set.” She made a sweeping circle around her head.

“How was your date?” I asked before I popped a chip in my mouth.

“Short.”

“Stature or duration?”

“Both,” Jess said, tucking her hair behind one ear and reaching for her wineglass.

“He’s a surgical resident. He got called back to the hospital before dessert.” She grabbed a chip, scooped up some salsa and ate the whole thing. “Umm, that is so good.” She gave a little groan of pleasure. “And he’s my height, so I guess he’s not that short by real-world standards.” Jess was five-nine in her socked feet and, like Liz, she usually wore heels, which made her closer to six feet.

I shot another look in the vicinity of the door.

“He’s not here,” Jess said.

I frowned at her. “Who’s not here?”

She took another sip of her wine before she answered. “Nick.”

I shifted in my chair so I was facing her. “How did you know I was looking for Nick?”

Jess tapped the side of her head with her right index finger. “Deductive reasoning,” she said. “You told me you saw Nick. You probably told him you were going to be here tonight. So he can pretend he’s coming for Thursday-night jam even though everyone in town knows he’s had a thing for you since he was fifteen.”

I stared at her, my mouth hanging open just a bit. “What do you mean everyone in town knows he’s had a thing for me?” Okay, so Nick and I had kind of made out a little that summer we were fifteen, but I’d never thought that meant he had a thing for me. Two weeks later he’d been in music camp, drooling over one of the percussionists, who had a big pair of . . . cymbals.

Jess shrugged and scooped up more salsa. “Okay, well, everyone but you.”

She was serious, I realized. For all of that teasing smile on her face, she was serious. I could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice.

I took a sip of my wine. “Why didn’t I know that?” I finally said.

“Because you don’t notice those kinds of things.”

“What kind of things exactly?” I said, running a finger up and down the stem of my glass.

“Men-women things.” Jess dragged another chip through the salsa and ate it.

“If you’re trying to say I don’t notice when some man tries to flirt with me, you’re wrong,” I said, reaching for another chip myself. “Every time I go to Noah’s for that organic cat food for Elvis, the guy who works behind the counter flirts with me. I notice that.”

Jess sank back against the chair, laughing. “Tyler is all of nineteen years old and he flirts with every woman who walks into the place. He’d flirt with his own grandmother if he thought it would sell a case of dog food.” She picked up her wineglass. “I mean you don’t notice when a man our age is interested in you.”

“That’s because there aren’t any men interested in me,” I said a little hotly. “Including Nick Elliot.” I knew I wasn’t as dense as Jess was making me out to be.

She tipped her head to one side and studied my face. “How many times have you seen Nick since the first time you saw him Monday afternoon?”

“He stopped by the store. So a couple of times.”

Her eyebrows went up but she didn’t say a word.

“He was worried about Charlotte. I told you that she and Rose and Liz are trying to help Maddie.”

“Uh-huh,” Jess said, fishing a chip out of the basket and breaking off a corner.

I made a face at her. “Nice try, but you’re not sucking me in. Nick and I have been friends forever and that’s all we are now.” That I’d thought about maybe kissing him when he’d walked me home after dinner was just a momentary aberration brought on by the fact that I couldn’t remember when I’d last had a date. And he hadn’t tried to kiss me. Which meant he wasn’t interested. The whole thing was meaningless, so meaningless I didn’t even need to tell Jess about it, I decided.

“You know, I don’t think Arthur Fenety would have been able to work his way into your life,” Jess said, frowning thoughtfully. “I mean, if you’d been closer to his age.”

“Thank you?” I said.

She laughed.

I thought about Gram. I couldn’t quite picture her being swept off her feet by anyone like Arthur Fenety. It wasn’t that she was smarter than Maddie or any of the other women Fenety had scammed. It’s just that she wasn’t the kind of woman that any kind of line would work on. Gram was drop-dead practical.

“Jess, why do you think Arthur Fenety was able to scam so many women? Maddie’s very intelligent and I don’t think of her as being particularly gullible.”

Jess shifted in her chair. “I don’t think any of those women were stupid or gullible. I think Fenety just made them feel like they weren’t invisible.” She looked around for our waiter, caught his eye and pointed at her glass, holding up two fingers. “Did you ever notice how women love Sam?” she asked.

I laughed. “Oh yeah,” I said. “Women adore Sam.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “He’s funny. He’s a good listener. He’s just a nice guy.”

“Exactly,” Jess said. “I’m guessing that was what Fenety was doing. He probably couldn’t keep the nice-guy routine up long-term, but he could do it long enough to con someone.”

The waiter arrived with two more glasses of wine. He set one in front of me and I thanked him. He put the other one in front of Jess. “Hey, thank you,” she said, looking up at him and giving him the full force of her smile. He grinned back and almost fell over his own feet as he left.

I shook my head. If Jess suddenly decided to start conning men out of their money I could see she’d be very successful. “Promise me you’ll use your powers for good and not for evil,” I said.

She just laughed.

I looked around again. “I guess Nick’s not coming.”

Jess flipped her hair back over her shoulder. “Oh, he’ll be here.” She snagged the basket of chips with one finger and slid it across the table, closer to us. Then she narrowed her eyes at me. “I bet you a basket of these that not only will Nick be here but he will have shaved.”

“What does shaving have to do with anything?” I reached for the bowl of salsa before Jess ate all of it and the chips, too.

“If a guy likes you he’ll shave again at the end of the day.” She put a hand under the chip she’d just loaded with tomato, onion and peppers. “What did Nick wear for aftershave when he was in high school?” she asked.

“Hugo,” I said.

“You got that one pretty fast.”

I made a squinty face at her, which she ignored.

“Okay. Not only will Nick shave, he’ll also be wearing Hugo.”

“Fine,” I said. “Just to prove that you’re wrong I’ll take your bet.”

Jess stuck out one hand and shook it like she’d just gotten it wet. “Shake,” she said with a grin. She’d been doing that as long as I’d known her. I held out my hand and did the same.

Sam came out first, without any announcement, carrying his favorite guitar. He slipped onto a stool and went right into the slow version of Clapton’s “Layla.” It took at least a minute for people who had never been to Thursday-night jam—in other words, tourists—to figure out that the set was beginning. About halfway through Eric came out, picked up his bass and joined in. Sean and Vincent slipped into place just as Sam played the first few notes of “Sunshine of Your Love.” Jess suddenly turned her head, looked toward the door and held up her arm. Then she smiled and turned back to the stage. I didn’t need to look to know Nick was on his way over to join us. Jess was still smiling, her eyes locked on the small stage.