Turn of the Pipes (A Redpoint One Romance) (9 page)

Eddie said, "These won't do."

"I'm still deciding," Rachel said, smoothing
out the dress bag and trying to find how to open it. "This area is
restricted, you know."

"Oh, we know," Velda said, hanging up the
black dress-bag from a doorjamb. "We stopped Arthur on the way
here. As if we could be a security threat."

"Except when it comes to getting killer deals
at rummage sales," Daisy said with a smug smile. "Just wait until
you see what we found."

Rachel's heart sunk as Eddie added, "Daisy is
the queen of deals!"

"And, it appears you needed our help anyway,"
Daisy said, picking up both dresses and returning them to the
closet.

"I don't need all this help," Rachel said as
she was pushed away from the closet. "I doubt he's taking me
anywhere formal."

"Good guess. We looked up your date," Velda
said, unzipping the bag. "Quite the reputation he has."

"Sam was impressed," Daisy said. "Turns out
the two have worked together before."

"Your husband is interested in newts?" Rachel
asked.

"No, the Ring Five Formal Gardens, silly. The
garden has lizards, too," Daisy said, pushing her to the bed and
making her sit down. "He has a very good reputation on board the
station. Very helpful and caring."

"Now, time for the big reveal," Velda said
from the doorway where the dress bag hung. "Be ready for the dress
of your dreams."

Rachel remained frozen to the spot, waiting
for the dress to come out and attack her with whatever venom it
might have, with the pain of the attack to be soothed by the happy
smiles of her friends. The dress was sure to be something like
Velda's classy but loud getups, or Eddie's layered ensembles, or
Daisy's bright and gay whimsical creations. All very nice, so long
as they wore the clothes and didn't insist Rachel joined
in.

Oh, her dear misguided friends.

A flash of deep gold appeared at the top of
the dress bag. Velda reached inside and pulled out a simple deep
gold dress with a wide waist and flaring skirt, tastefully edged
with gold and red rhinestones along the upper bodice. The color was
perfect. The entire dress was perfect.

"Elegant with a touch of formal, but subdued
enough for any occasion," Daisy said, smoothing out the
skirt.

"Wow," Tish said from her corner of the
bedroom. "You found this at a rummage sale?"

"Bevel silk," Daisy said. "I think your
Ignacio will appreciate the nice touch. What do you
think?"

"Wow," Rachel echoed, not knowing what else to
say.

The dress looked fabulous on the hanger, and
just as fabulous on her. How did Daisy manage to find such a great
dress and in her size, all in the same week of her date? Sometimes
the abilities of the other Naughty Knitters amazed her.

The one bathroom in her small apartment
somehow fit four at a time as the ladies moved on to the hair. Tish
stayed out of the way, instead becoming the beverage girl and
offering opinions. Where before Rachel had been worried about being
late, she instead ended up ready right on time.

"No dallying. Get going, he'll be waiting,"
Eddie said, putting a lacy knitted shawl over her
shoulders.

"Of course we expect all the details later,"
Velda said with an evil grin.

"There will be no juicy details," Rachel said
as the women pushed her towards the door.

"There should be. Live a little," Velda said,
putting her hands on her hips. "I mean it."

"Go get him," Tish said, her eyes dancing.
"Don't get into too much trouble with the newts."

Newts. Colorful, ruffled, frilled, long and
short newts. Including one that liked getting into her
pipes.

Which hadn't happened in all the time she'd
been waiting for this date. So nice to meet a man who kept his
promises.

Still, she found herself nervous as she came
to stand outside his door. Only five minutes early, but she
considered waiting the extra few minutes to be right on time. Yet,
as the seconds ticked by her apprehension began to
mount.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door
chime. Time for this date to start, for better or for
worse.

The seconds ticked by while she waited for the
door to open. When it did, it didn't reveal a man in a long apron
with hair sticking out in all directions like last time.

Ignacio wore a simple casual dark blue suit
with a white shirt and simple tie with polished shoes and shiny
black hair neatly combed back away from a high forehead. Not a
speck of dirt marred the sharp planes of his face. He smelled
fantastic.

She'd met a comfortable curmudgeon in an apron
before. Tonight she was with a devastatingly handsome man she might
have to beat women away from with a big stick.

She cleared her voice, managing to say, "Good
evening."

"Good evening." His eyes roved along her body,
growing bright as they took in the dress. "You look
lovely."

"Thank you. You aren't so bad yourself." He
was more than fine, in fact. Rachel adjusted the shawl. "So, what
did you have in mind for tonight?"

Rachel expected a nice restaurant, perhaps a
hole-in-the-wall he liked to frequent. Perhaps one of the bigger
reservation-only restaurants in the entertainment sector as a way
to impress her.

Finding herself on a blanket in the middle of
an exotic-animal reserve for a night picnic would have never
occurred to her.

"Interesting location," Rachel remarked as
Ignacio started laying out the contents of a picnic basket along
the edge of the blanket. An artificial moon reflected off the lake
on the other side of a wide walking path. From the trees around
them came the muffled and subdued sounds of the creatures who
inhabited the night.

"I work with the managers," he said with a
grin. "Would you prefer dinner by candlelight in a place where they
serve snacks for dinner?"

She laughed. "No way. I prefer a bit of
substance to my meals."

"Good. I prefer a woman who likes to eat." He
set a covered plate in front of her, taking the cover off to reveal
a sauteed mix of fish and vegetables over a bed of flaky
rice.

The aroma floating up to her nose smelled
amazing. Rachel needed no invitation to start attacking it. After a
long hard day with few breaks, and a pitiful excuse of a lunch, it
tasted delicious. She felt so much better with a little food in
her, easing the edges of her nervousness.

Only when she'd consumed half the contents of
the plate did she notice he'd laid down a flaky roll in front of
her. He laughed when she picked it up to help finish off the
meal.

"Enjoying the food?" He asked.

"Please tell me you didn't cook this," she
said between bites. "It would be too much."

"It would bother you if I did?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Rescuing animals,
breeding near extinct newts, on conservation committees. How much
more can you do?"

"I'm horrible about the laundry, if that
helps. And no, I didn't cook it. I know a little restaurant. They
know me well, and I asked if they could help me out."

Rachel paused in the act of using the roll to
scoop up the last of the rice. "A little hole-in-the-wall
place?"

He nodded. "Sophie's Place. Do you know
it?"

"No, I was just guessing." Rachel polished off
the last few bites, sorry to see it all gone.

A splash in the water preceded the appearance
of the arching neck of a large fishing bird. It shook its head,
fancy white feathers around the crown of its head flaring out.
Small gray babies bobbed to the surface next to it before one more
large adult, then the family paddled out into the lake.

"The flitch had a brood? I don't remember
hearing about that." Rachel smiled as she watched them paddle out
into the lake. "Babies everywhere."

"You are familiar with the bird?"

"Oh yes. Quite the accomplished underwater
hunters. I rescued Boto from an illegal trader who tried to make
Redpoint One into a way-station for his goods."

"Why does it not surprise me you know the name
of one of them?"

"I helped name her. She was only a baby when
she arrived at the reserve. A cute little fluff-ball." Cute, but
the same dull gray as the babies swimming frantically to keep up
with the parents.

Ignacio put the finished dishes back into the
basket, casting her a worried glance. "I'm not sure I like the idea
of you confronting animal traffickers. Some of them can be quite
dangerous."

Normally, such protective words would make her
bristle. She was an adult who had made her own way in the world for
some time. She ran her department. The fact she couldn't find fault
in Ignacio's sincere tone when he said the words made the
difference. He sounded as if he were honestly worried for
her.

"You forget I had Redpoint One on my side."
Rachel grinned at him. "They made the mistake of messing with my
pipes."

Ignacio gave a short laugh. "Warning taken.
Keep my newts under control."

"You've done a really good job so far. I
didn't even know about your program until recently."

Ignacio grimaced, revealing charming lines
across his forehead that she itched to run a finger across to
soothe. "Coinciding with Irvine healing from a leg
injury."

Rachel lifted a broad-based glass, saluting
him with the clear amber liquid inside. "To Irvine, for introducing
us. May he now happily stay in his enclosure."

Ignacio lifted his own glass, letting the lip
of it clink against hers. "To Irvine, and his eventual return to
the wild."

Rachel saluted him again. "Even better. I'll
definitely drink to that."

She lifted the glass of wine to her lips while
watching Ignacio's face. His eyes were just as intense on her face.
The taste of wine was almost as good as the expression lurking in
his eyes. Almost.

Something small hit the back of her head. Her
head went forward, and a small sip of wine went down the wrong
pipe. Rachel struggled to set down the wine without spilling while
coughing seized her.

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE COUGHS KEPT coming as Rachel reached up to find out what
hit her. Whatever the thing might be, it was still there, making
her head feel heavy. She knew her face must be bright red from the
coughing spasms. She became even more glad for the dim light in the
park.

"Hold on. Don't panic." Ignacio took the glass
from her and set both next to the picnic basket.

"I'm not panicking. I just don't like sudden
surprises," Rachel said, sputtering out another cough to clear her
throat.

He rose to his knees, and soon she could feel
his hands in her hair. She started to ask what it was, expecting a
bat or one of the nocturnal birds of the park. Then she heard a
chirp and a soft thrumming.

"It's really tangled in here. I'll have to
take out some of the pins," Ignacio said.

She put her hand down. She couldn't believe
it. "Let me guess. A Mandian flying squirrel?"

Ignacio's hands paused. "How did you
guess?"

Her heart sunk lower. Why now? "One white ear
and the other with a small notch in it under the feather
tufts?"

Ignacio settled on his legs, one hand still in
her hair. "How did you know that?"

Rachel reached up to the little fur-ball
shaking itself silly with its thrumming to pet the furry back. "May
I introduce Pookie?"

The squirrel started thrumming even louder,
nestling down even further into what had once been an elegant
hairstyle. Its nimble hands rubbed against her skull as it snuggled
ever deeper into her hair.

Ignacio stared at her with wide eyes. "Pookie?
Who would name the poor thing Pookie?"

"The name wasn't supposed to stick!" She
reached up with both hands to try and pry Pookie out, but it
grabbed onto her hair even more. What a day for him to appear.
"Usually I wear a pony tail when I visit and it's not too hard to
get him out."