this navy blue pants suit so she'd be comfortable on the plane, but it was so--so New York.
She longed for a brightly colored cotton skirt to wear with the white short-sleeved sweater she'd packed to go with the pants suit. And maybe a scarf with the same colors in it as the skirt.
Eyeing herself in the mirror as she blow-dried her hair, she frowned at the colorless combination of navy blue pants and white top. She looked--efficient. Even on the trail, though she'd been no style setter, she'd come off with more zip than this.
Emerging from the bedroom, she followed the sound of Davis's voice and found him with Bram, sitting on the floor beside a box where Sheba nestled among her nursing kittens. As Vala eased down next to them, Bram took her hand and guided it toward the mother cat, allowing Sheba to smell her fingers.
"Vala's a friend," he said.
Friend. Is that what she wanted their relationship to be? His efficient friend, she thought moodily.
"Mom, did you know Siamese kittens were all white at first?" Davis asked. "Bram says they don't get their masks like their mother's got till later. These'll probably be seal points 'cause Sheba is and so was the father cat." Gazing at the kittens, Vala saw they were, indeed, all white. "Have you chosen yours?" she asked her son.
He pointed at the one at the far end of the food line, a kitten smaller than the others. "He's mine and I'm gonna call him Zorro."
"But he's the runt." The words came out before Vala thought.
"I already know that. But Zorro needs me. The others don't."
"Zorro seems healthy enough," Bram put in. He reached in the box and gently disengaged the kitten from its mother. Zorro let out a squeak of protest, causing Sheba to comment, but she didn't object otherwise to Bram holding her kitten.
"See, he's got a crook in his tail," Davis said, gazing at Zorro as though he was a prize winner. "His eyes are a little bit crossed, too. Those things happen sometimes in Siamese cats, Bram says."
Bram deposited the kitten in Davis's hands and the boy carefully raised Zorro until its fur brushed his cheek. The kitten reached out and sank its tiny claws into Davis's T- shirt, trying to climb onto him.
Davis smiled happily. "He likes me already."
Later, after Vala had washed, dried and folded their clothes and packed most of them, she rejoined Bram and Davis in the kitchen. They'd gone for quesadillas and enchiladas while she was busy and were laying out the food for lunch. "We watched the TV weather channel before we left," Davis told her. "That old storm's gonna blanket New York."
"Up to a foot of snow," Bram put in. "With high winds. A regular blizzard. I called your airline and all fights to New York and New Jersey have been cancelled for today and tomorrow. They'll call here to reschedule you when they can."
Vala thought she probably ought to worry, but her heart lifted. Irrationally, she wondered if there was a nearby store where she could buy the kind of skirt she craved so she wouldn't look so--staid. Before she could stop herself, she asked, "Is there a mall around here?"
"You wanna go shopping?" Davis asked incredulously. "We're gonna go swimming after lunch."
"We could spare an hour in the mall while our lunch digests." Bram put in. "That do?"
Vala nodded.
After lunch, before they could leave, Bram's friend Nick, the guy who'd been taking care of Sheba, showed up in full western regalia.
"Hey, Hunter," he said, after being introduced, "I was beginning to wonder if the Superstitions had got you this time, but I see I was wrong." He winked at Vala, as if they shared a joke Bram wasn't in on.
"We ran into some unforeseen delays," Bram said.
"Don't blame you a bit." Again Nick winked at her. "Well, I was going to invite you to take in the rodeo with me tomorrow--got two tickets--but..."
"Hang on," Bram said, then turned to Davis. "You like rodeos?"
"I've only seen them on TV," Davis said, "but sure!"
"Nick used to be a rodeo rider before he got all stove up," Bram said.
"Whoa!" Davis gazed awestuck at Nick. "You mean you rode bucking broncs and all?"
"Got to admit I did," Nick said. "Too young to know any better till I got thrown and busted my femur. That's the big bone up here in the thigh, kid. You don't ever want to break that sucker. Still got a limp."
"Yeah, and