At Last (The Idle Point, Maine Stories)(20)
Wiley looked up at Noah with something approaching adoration and they both laughed.
She looked at Noah over Wiley's ruff of fur. "You like dogs?"
"Love 'em." He grinned as Wiley leaned into a scratch. "When I was a kid, I wanted a houseful of 'em."
"Me too," said Gracie. "I used to look at that big house of yours and try to figure out just how many dogs and cats I could fit inside."
"You work here." He said it as a statement, not a question.
"Official dogsbody," she said, then wished she hadn't tried to be funny. What if he didn't get the reference? She didn't want to believe he was anything but perfect. Please, please, don't let him look at her with a blank expression on his face. He was already beautiful. Would it be too much to ask for him to be smart as well?
The sparkle in his eyes grew brighter and she knew that he knew exactly what she meant. Her heart, already overflowing with emotion, attached itself firmly to her sleeve.
"Part-time dogsbody or full-time?" he asked.
"Full time during the summer; part time when school's open." She leaned back on her heels and went for broke. "I'm saving up for college," she said, "and time's running out." You might as well know it all, Noah. I'm plain and smart and poor. A real triple threat.
He didn't even blink. Instead he leaned forward and said, "Where do you want to go?"
She listed her top three choices. "They all have great veterinary programs but I'd have to win a scholarship in order to be able to afford any of them."
"Do you have the grades?"
She nodded, feeling undeniably proud. "Senior year's gonna be tough. It's make-or-break time for me."
He didn't say anything and she wondered if she'd bored him to tears with her goody-goody plans for the future. Guys hated that kind of thing. She should have steered the conversation to music or movies. Something fun and normal and meaningless. She'd never done very well with meaningless.
"So which college are you planning on?" she asked, looking to shift the focus to him. "I'll bet you can have your pick of any one of them."
"Not if they check out my SAT scores," he said. "The only way I'll get into a decent school is if my old man's checkbook opens the door."
"That's been known to happen."
"He'd better be able to pay off the headmaster at St. Luke's too."
"Uh oh," she said. "You're in trouble."
"A-yup," he said, mimicking his father's Down East tones, "and I'll be up shit creek when my parents find out."
"Your secret's safe with me."
"I know it is," he said.
She leaned forward to adjust Wiley's collar as Noah leaned forward to scratch him behind his other ear. His fingertips accidentally brushed the top of Gracie's head and her breath caught sharply in her throat. She prayed he hadn't heard the sound. She would die of embarrassment. You'd think she'd never been this close to a guy before... close enough to catch the scent of soap and sunshine on his skin... close enough to feel the warmth of his body. His touch was light, gentle, a whisper of a touch. She understood why Wiley was looking up at him with something close to adoration. Given half the chance, she would happily do the same thing for the rest of her life or longer.
#
Noah hadn't thought about Gracie in years. Whatever memory he had of her was of a sad-eyed, skinny little girl who knew how to read and write before the rest of them could tie their shoes. She was still skinny and still smart but the sad look in her eyes had been replaced by determination. She was going places. You only had to spend five minutes with her to know that she had her life planned out to the last detail.
She was busting her ass so she could go to college and make something of herself, while the rest of her pals screwed around on Hidden Island. No wonder she'd given him such a peculiar look when he told her he'd been kicked out of St. Luke's. She probably thought he was a real loser, one of those rich kids who end up pissing away their trust funds before they turn twenty-five. He had a kind of sixth sense when it came to people and he felt the change in her attitude right away. She'd been interested in him right up until that moment and then it all disappeared and he'd felt as if someone had turned off the sun.
She'd been brisk and efficient with him, writing up a receipt for Wiley's care, scheduling his next appointment for shots, telling him to say hello to his mother and be sure to mention how Wiley needed to be thoroughly brushed every day. That was it. No flirting. No attempt to make him stay a little longer. She almost seemed relieved to see him go.