Chapter eighteen

The skies opened as Pat sat helplessly on the ferry. She found the sweatshirt she kept crammed between the seats and pulled it on, cursing herself for not pulling the top up on the Jeep before she left Carly. Little good it would have done. She didn't have the windows with her. By the time she pulled into her driveway and parked under her stilted beach house, she was soaked. Her wet hair was plastered to her back and she went straight to her utility room and stripped off her wet clothes.

After a hot shower, she poured a glass of wine and sat in the dark, watching the lightening as it danced over the gulf.

Her thoughts drifted to Carly and she smiled slightly. Without really trying, she seemed to irritate the woman to no end. Oh, but she was damn cute. Especially when she got riled and her green eyes flashed. Which was often. Pat's normal impatience with people, women, didn't seem to apply to Carly. Pat found she enjoyed the other woman's company. Actually, what Pat found refreshing was Carly's indifference to her. Pat wasn't naive about her looks. She had used to it her advantage on numerous occasions, in fact. But Carly seemed oblivious, even though she was obviously gay. Maybe Carly was involved with someone in Austin. Maybe that was the reason for her indifference.

But still, Pat noticed the attraction she felt for the other woman. She'd hardly recognized it at first...they had been too busy arguing. But the blonde woman who was so devoted to her cause still managed to stir Pat's libido.

Chapter nineteen

The rain that had started on Sunday afternoon lingered until Tuesday. Pat paced back and forth in front of her windows, watching the waves churn angrily against the wet sand. A mist, even a light rain, Pat could handle. She could still get out and run, if nothing else. But this, this continuous downpour had her stuck inside for the second day.

"Fuck it." She had to get out.

She had put the top on the Jeep yesterday morning, but the seats were still damp. She put a dry towel down and turned the heater on high. Pat hated April. Some days, so warm you would swear summer was making an early appearance. Then, like today, cold and damp, making you wonder if the brief winter they enjoyed was still hanging on.

She drove through the downpour, her wipers barely keeping up with the rain. There was only one car at The Shrimp Shack. It was Angel's. She pulled the hood of her raincoat over her cap and ran inside, stopping to wipe her muddy boots on the mat.

"I figured I'd see you today," Angel said.

"I hate this shit. I have cabin fever," she stated.

"Beer?"

"Sure. I've got nothing else to do." Pat looked around the empty bar. "I guess I'm the only one that braved the weather?"

"Oh, we had a handful at lunch, that was it. You eating?"

"No. Had a delicious frozen dinner earlier." Pat took a swallow from her beer, then put it down on the coaster Angel had provided.

"Hey, Lannie has the weekend off. She said to invite you over for dinner Saturday night."

"Please tell me she's not trying to set me up again," Pat said.

"No. She knows you're hopeless."

"So you're actually taking a Saturday off?"

"I'm taking the whole weekend off. We haven't spent an entire weekend together in months."

Pat's cell phone interrupted them and she searched her coat, finally finding it in one of the pockets. She checked the ID before answering.

"Aunt Rachel? What's up?" Pat asked.

"Where are you?"

"Are you checking up on me again?"

"I'm simply trying to find you. Dr. Cambridge called, looking for you. Apparently, you didn't leave her any phone numbers. She said she needed you."

Pat raised her eyebrows and grinned. "She needs me?"

"She found a nest. Egrets. She was very excited."

"It's been raining for two days. When did she get out to find a nest?"

"She didn't go into details. But she was very excited. I told her I would hunt you down."

Pat looked out the window at the steady rain. She didn't relish driving to Rockport and the ranch in this. She certainly didn't want to go outside in it, looking for a damn egret. But, the idea of seeing Carly, a possibly wet and soaked Carly, appealed to her. Oh well, she didn't have anything better to do.

"Okay. You can call her back and tell her I'm on the way to her rescue. I'm just going to finish my beer."

"Tell Angel hello for me."

"And what makes you think I'm here?"

"Where else would you be in this mess?"