The Shy Dominant Read Online Free PDF

staring at a field of irises, vivid as any Van Gogh had painted. The bottom was trimmed with sparkling beads in the style of a 1920s handbag. She didn’t need to read the signature to guess who had created it. “You are so talented,” she told Stacy.
    Stacy shrugged, but Dharma felt a slight crack in the ice. “How did you make this piece?” Dharma huffed out a breath in awe.
    “It’s from a photograph I took in France. Dad took me and Mattie there last summer because she wanted to see Paris.”
    And you didn’t want to see Paris, not at all, Dharma thought with amusement. Yeah, right. “You went to Paris?” She sighed. “Do you hear that sound?”
    Stacy was staring at her like she was very strange. “No.”
    “It’s the sound of my heart breaking. Mannnnn! I’d love to go there. All those neat flea markets and pastries and art galleries and just…Paris!”
    “You’ve never been?” The superior tone was back, but it wasn’t quite as sharp.
    “Nope, I’m poor. Probably be years before I can make it over there.” Dharma turned her attention back to the tapestry, not bothering to resist reaching up and tracing the nub of the woven cloth.
    “I, uh, did it on a knitter’s loom. I took lessons at the local community centre and then just wanted to try to make something of my own,” Stacy said, moving closer. “You really like it?”
    “It’s amazing. You should think about selling on Etsy.”
    Now Stacy smiled. “I’d like to, but Dad wants me to wait until I’m older.”
    Dharma did a slow circle of the great room—and great it was. Pottery glazed in copper and teal greens was arranged attractively on Mission tables while comfortably beaten leather couches were grouped close together. Kelim and rag rugs were the perfect place for a young girl to spread her homework out or watch the big Plasma screen peeking out of a half-open red Chinese cabinet.
    “Did you do all this, the decorating?”
    Stacy nodded, flushing a deep rose. “After my mom…left, Dad said we needed a change and he’s hopeless. So I found things, like in local boutiques and stuff.”
    “Boy, did you. I thought this place was a jewel box when I came inside.” Dharma stopped admiring and looked straight at Stacy. “You’ve got better taste than I do.”
    Stacy blinked. “Yeah?”
    “Totally. I have what’s called ‘artistic taste’ so sometimes I like to mix acid greens and tangerine and let them scream on the walls. The last time the plumber visited to fix a drip in my kitchen pipe, he asked where I go when I have a headache since there’s so much colour in my home.”
    Stacy glanced back at Dharma’s bag in the hallway. “You said we’d be decorating for dinner?”
    Dharma nodded. “After seeing this, it’ll seem a bit basic to you, but I’m doing a theme menu.”
    Stacy helped Dharma unload the hunks of quartz crystal and seashells, arranging them on the large coffee table.
    “We’re really eating here, not the dining room?”
    “Do you eat there a lot?”
    “Nah. Mostly we eat in front of the TV. Some nights Dad’s so tired he falls asleep on the couch.”
    “It’s a lot on him, his job is so demanding and then he wants to spend time with you and Mattie.”
    “I guess.”
    “He talks about you all the time.”
    Stacy fiddled with a small amethyst geode. “Are you his girlfriend?”
    “Nope. But I’m going to be straight with you—I wish I was.”
    She stiffened. “He’s never been with anyone but my mom—”
    “Yeah. It’s complicated, Stacy.” She held Stacy’s gaze, woman to woman.
    Stacy frowned. “I really want to dislike you.”
    “That would certainly be the easy path. Do you think that would make you happy?”
    Stacy studied her, fiddling with a hunk of smoky quartz. “It would be satisfying.”
    “I can’t argue with that. It’s always easier to have a target when life sucks.”
    Stacy put down the crystal. Dharma could feel the girl’s indecision. “Should we put out the