Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil by Barbara Monajem Read Free Book Online Page B

Fabulous. You'll have to go through hardship to win her. I can hardly wait to tell Art. Which reminds me."
    Here we go. He closed his eyes and held the phone away from his ear, picked up his fork, and turned the steak. Women. He looked at the three female dogs gazing patiently and adoringly up at him. No nagging, and so easily satisfied. On the other hand, no sex appeal whatsoever.
    "If she does give you the time of day," Jeanie was saying, "which she probably will sooner or later--although God knows why, because you're so arrogant and obnoxious, and you'd better help that poor woman who's being blackmailed--"
    "You are going somewhere with this, I hope?"
    "If she falls for you, Gideon, you'd better treat her right. Violet says she's had bad experiences with men. Real bad."
    "Jeanie, don't think I don't appreciate your efforts, but I'm comfortable being arrogant and obnoxious. Go find Ophelia some guy who's in touch with his feminine side. I'm not the therapist type. I can't even get through a phone call with my sister, much less a relationship with a woman who's sworn off men."
    "If you knew what she'd been through, you'd be more understanding," Jeanie urged. "You keep saying you've lost your instincts for people, but it's your own lazy fault. How can you relate to people if you never have relationships? It must be so lonely out there with just a bunch of dogs. Tell you what. I'll find out all about her and let you know."
    Gideon sighed. "Suit yourself, Jeanie. Gotta go." He hung up and put the perfectly seared meat on a plate, and the three dogs clustered close, tongues hanging out. "No way I'm lonely." He proceeded to share his steak.
    An hour later, he left the two old German shepherds, Daisy and Belle, to sleep off their meal in the shade of the river birch that dominated his back yard, and whistled Gretchen into the car. She was a good companion on patrol, pretty patient if left in the vehicle, friendly with kids, disarming to most adults.
    He turned out of his driveway onto the road and addressed his canine companion. "So, Gretchen, you're the closest I have to a feminine side. How should I play this?"
    Gretchen turned her shaggy blonde face away and stared out the window.
    "It's got to be a game. She played me the whole time. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy some of it, but still...it was definitely a game. The thing I don't get is why. If she wanted me, she could have had me. If she didn't, why suck me back in?"
    Gretchen lolled her tongue out the window.
    "She didn't have to offer me a Coke," he continued. "She didn't have to tell me about the dead cat."
    Gretchen brought her head inside and nipped at her matted flank.
    "Nervous as hell, too, but it's not like I tried to jump her. Pretty much all I did was smile." Gretchen snorted, and he said, "Most women like my smile. Should I try and impress her? And if so, how?"
    Gretchen hunched a shoulder and returned to the window.
    "What about the vandalism? Willy or his wife?"
    It doesn't matter. You need to show Ophelia your caring, compassionate side. Unless you want to end up like your old man.
    Gideon squelched this thought as he did any suggestion, by himself or anyone else, that he resembled his father in anything other than build and hair color. He made a right off Highway 43, musing, "Lep says Willy's been cheating on his wife since day one, and she doesn't care as long as she's got her house, her fancy car, and designer clothes for herself and her preppy kids. It's not as if Ophelia's interested in the jackass."
    As he neared Ophelia's place, Gideon's pulse quickened--dumb, since she probably wouldn't be home yet. He'd just drop by to see if the plaster cast was still there. Not that it mattered much, but if a woman could shake his composure to the extent that he forgot evidence, he needed to do some serious personal reevaluation. Or just have sex with her and get it over with.
    "Lep usually knows what he's talking about," he told Gretchen. "He also told me if I do