“Mostly,” she answered at once.
“Mostly?” he echoed, frowning even harder.
“Well, it’s . . . I’ve been dating a guy, but it’s just casual; dinner, a movie, the occasional business function. We aren’t exclusive or anything,” she assured him.
Basil nodded solemnly. “I am.”
“You are what?” she asked uncertainly.
“Exclusive.”
It was a simple word, but somehow carried the finality of a judge’s gavel. Sherry was trying to sort out what it meant exactly, and how she should respond, when a chime sounded from the phone Justin had set on the table. She glanced his way as he picked it up.
He thumbed the screen, and then stood, saying, “Well, kids. You’ll have to finish this ‘get to know you’ thing in the SUV. Nicholas says the street is clear at the moment and we have to get you out of here before Leo and his boys come back around.”
Sherry glanced to Stephanie and then to Basil as he stood, noting the hand he was holding out to help her up. So gentlemanly, Sherry thought. She took the offered hand, startled by the tingle it sent through her fingers and up her arm. The man seemed to be full of static electricity. Probably didn’t use Bounce in the dryer, she thought absently as he released her hand to take her elbow and usher her toward the front door of the pizza joint.
Sherry glanced over her shoulder as they went, relieved to see that Stephanie was right behind them with Justin on her heels. Sherry had started out trying to keep the girl safe, but suddenly felt like she was in over her head and Stephanie was the only lifeline she had. Weird.
“Here we are.”
Sherry turned forward again as Basil urged her out of the pizzeria and to the back door of an SUV illegally parked in front of it. She allowed him to usher her inside, and busied herself doing up her seat belt before she risked looking at him again. He’d settled next to her and was buckling up as well, so she glanced to the front of the vehicle where Stephanie was doing the same in the passenger seat.
“Do we know if everyone was okay at the store?” she asked no one in particular as Justin Bricker got into the driver’s seat.
“My daughter and Drina were headed there to take care of matters,” Basil announced quietly. “They’ll report when they are done, but I’m sure everyone is fine.”
Sherry stared at him blankly. “Your daughter?”
“Katricia,” he explained.
“Katricia who’s getting married?” Sherry asked slowly.
He nodded and smiled faintly. “She met her life mate at Christmas.”
“Teddy, the police chief where Stephanie lives,” Sherry said, recalling the girl’s earlier words.
“Yes.” He smiled. “She’s settled in Port Henry with him and helping him police the town.”
“Right,” Sherry murmured, but she was trying to wrap her mind around the fact that this man—who looked no more than twenty-five—had a daughter old enough to marry anyone. She didn’t care what Justin had said about adding two zeroes and so on, this man looked twenty-five. Clearing her throat, she asked, “And how old is your daughter?”
He paused and squinted toward the roof of the SUV briefly. “Well, let’s see. She was born in 411 AD, so that makes her—”
“What?” Sherry squawked with amazement.
Basil blinked and glanced to her with surprise.
Forcing herself back to calm, she asked uncertainly, “You’re kidding, right?”
“No,” he said apologetically.
“Right.” Sherry peered out the window. 411 AD. So if she got together with Basil, she’d have a stepdaughter who was . . . what? Sixteen hundred and some years old? Cripes. This was crazy.
“Do you have any children?”
“Good God, no!” Sherry blurted, jerking around in her seat to look at him with horror at the very suggestion. She wasn’t married, for heaven’s sake. Although, she supposed that wasn’t necessary for having a child nowadays, but the very idea of having children was terrifying to her. She spent most of her time at the store, working ridiculously long hours. She couldn’t imagine trying to raise a child, let alone more than one, with the schedule she kept. Maybe someday . . . when things were more settled . . .
Sighing, she shook her head and decided a change of subject was in order. “So how did you get named after a spice?”