Chapter Eleven

Once in the Bronco with Maddie, Ryann found herself struggling to make conversation. Maddie didn’t seem to mind her silence, humming along with the radio (Bach) and watching the road. On Ryann’s end, however, it was a nightmare. More than wanting to make an effort at being polite and friendly, she had a desperate need to get her mind off what she’d been thinking about earlier. She absolutely did not need to encourage herself in any more lustful thoughts about this woman. It was ridiculous. Every time her mind wandered back to the memory of Maddie in that suit, she became hot, uncomfortable, and her stomach and guts twisted with something like excited dread. Each time this happened, the words she was reaching for died in her throat, until they’d been driving in complete silence for several minutes.

“How was the studio today?” she finally managed to ask.

“Great. I’ve been doing the fur for the last two weeks and am finally in the last stretch.”

“Fur?”

Maddie laughed. “Oh, right. You’ve never seen my work. I do animals, mostly. I’m on a commission right now for the City of Longmont, which is south of here. The piece is two dogs—a kind of fuzzy mutt and a Lab-mix. They’re actually based on real shelter dogs. I even got to meet them. Anyway, they’ll be outside the new dog park that’s opening this spring.”

She was surprised. Stuart’s work was more conceptual and abstract. He’d done some public commissions, too, but all had been in his usual vein. She’d assumed, for some reason, that Maddie did something similar.

“I’d love to see your work some time,” she said.

“And I’d love to show you.” Maddie paused, looking around. “Actually—I can show you one right now. It’s a public piece. We’ll have to drive by, since we’re short on time.”

She signaled at the next block, and they turned, coming up on a traffic circle a couple of blocks later. There, in the center of the circle, was an enormous sculpture of several geese bursting into flight. They were connected in a way that made it appear as if some of them were actually in the air, while others were merely getting ready to jump off the ground. Even from here on the road, she could see individual feathers on each of the birds and their beady, eager eyes as they reached for the sky. She craned her head around as they drove the full circle before heading back the way they came.

“It’s incredible,” she finally said. “Really beautiful.”

Maddie glanced at her, slight color in her cheeks. “You like it?”

“I do. It’s amazing. Why do you sound so nervous?”