Painted by the Sun by Elizabeth Grayson

Author:Elizabeth Grayson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ePublishing Works!
Published: 2015-04-22T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Could anyone have a happy Christmas in such a place? Shea wondered as she rapped on the battered, gap-toothed door of Ty and his father's little cabin. For as much as Ty had been avoiding the studio, avoiding her, Shea hadn't been able to let the holiday pass without seeing him. She wanted to be sure Ty had a gift to mark the day, and she couldn't convince herself that Sam Morran would even remember it was Christmas. So here she stood shivering on their doorstep, hoping Ty was alone inside the cabin.

After a moment the boy cracked open the door and stood staring out at her. In his arms he held the biggest, scruffiest, meanest-looking calico cat Shea had ever encountered in her life.

"When did you get a cat!" she exclaimed.

Ty shrugged. "Me and Rand found him down by the river a couple weeks back."

Which meant the boys had been exploring another one of the places Cam had specifically told them not to go.

"Does—does your kitty have a name?" Shea asked, fighting the urge to admonish him about playing too near the water.

Ty ruffled the fur beneath the cat's chin. "I call him Rufus."

"Well, hello there, Rufus," Shea said, reaching to give the animal a scratch.

Rufus took exception to being fondled by someone he didn't know. He reared back in Ty's arms and hissed at her.

Shea gave a startled laugh and withdrew her hand, taking the moment to look Ty over. He seemed to have grown taller in the weeks since the opening, and the pants he was wearing were two inches too short. Dark circles lay beneath his eyes like smudges of lampblack. He seemed thinner, too. It made her want to bundle him up, take him back to the studio, and feed him until he was too full to swallow.

"I—I just stopped by to wish you Merry Christmas," Shea told him instead. "Would you mind if I came in?"

Ty glanced over his shoulder, then shook his head. "Pa's still sleeping."

Sleeping off a drunk, Shea thought. But then, at least Ty wasn't alone today.

As if Ty realized she wasn't likely to go away, he stepped outside and set Rufus on the ground. She could tell by the way he shifted from foot to foot how uneasy Ty was at having her here. Rufus seemed to sense that, too, and hissed at Shea for good measure.

"All I wanted," she went on, determined not to make him any more uncomfortable, "was to give you this, and wish you a merry Christmas." She held out the striped paper cornucopia she'd made and filled for him.

The boy stuffed both his hands in his pockets instead of reaching for the bright paper cone. "I don't have anything to give you."

"Christmas is a day for giving children gifts," she insisted, holding out the cone again. "Please, Ty, won't you take this?"

"I don't know as how I should," he allowed, "after the way Pa took on when you gave me that shirt."

"This is nothing but an orange, some nuts, and a few pieces of candy.

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