The Ties That Bind Read Online Free PDF Page B

bracelet I'd bought her last Christmas on her right wrist. Sage had opted to pull her hair back into a pony tail. Her leather hair tie was decorated with a silver concho. Simple but elegant. I loved watching her at these events because she was Zen personified. In the midst of absolute freak-out, there was Sage, utterly at peace and at home in the world, doing what needed to be done, unchained but somehow down-to-earth. She finished arranging the paper plates and napkins and glanced over at me, as if she'd known the whole time I was watching her. She probably had.
    She smiled at me.
    I held my duffle bag up. "I'm going to put this in the car. Do you need anything?"
    "You." She closed the distance between us and kissed me on the cheek. "Mmm--" she breathed. "My girlfriend is so fucking hot," she said, pulling back to study me.
    "Aw, shucks, ma'am."
    "I love when you wear your boots." She arched an eyebrow and her smile lit up her face like a promise. We both heard Maureen's voice in the back, yelling something. "Wait a sec," Sage said, holding up an index finger. She pushed through the curtain covering the doorway. I moved over to the tables, looking at the trays piled high with veggies, fruit, and cheese, all covered with plastic wrap. And a plate of brie. Yum.
    "You look nice," Shoshana said as she came up behind me and placed a plate of crackers next to the brie.
    "Thanks. This is my quota for the year. After this, it's back to looking like a desert dog." I tightened my grip on my duffle and hoped she didn't notice that I'd taken a little step backward.
    She crossed her arms, eyes drilling into mine.
    No way. I will not break first... How mature. A stare-down with Art Chick.
    A slow smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. "Do you always act like this when someone notices you?"
    I started to say something but she raised a hand and brushed my thought aside. "Maybe you don't want to hurt my feelings."
    Help me, I prayed to whatever deity might be listening. "I don't like to hurt anybody's feelings," I said, finding my voice. I put on my most charming grin. "It's not good manners." I regained my footing. "And I'm a sucker for good manners." I turned before she could respond and moved toward the doorway that led to the back just as Sage brushed the curtain aside.
    "Crisis averted," Sage said. She looked at me, playful, and her expression shifted. She threw a glance at Shoshana, then studied my face again. Sage smiled, the look in her eyes softening. "Averted here as well, I see."
    I nodded, relaxing. "So do you need anything? Everything okay?"
    "Much better, now. I'm going to help Dan with the wine." She winked at me and returned to the back. I sighed, relieved, and headed for the front door. People were already arriving. I hoped there was a large turn-out.
    I exited the patio and went left, toward Opera House Road, a dirt strip lined with old miners' shacks that had been refurbished. Madrid had an odd history. A true late-nineteenth-century boom town, it tanked after World War II because coal production shifted elsewhere. It was literally a ghost town until the 1970s, when wandering artists and other so-inclined people discovered it nestled in the Ortiz Mountains north and slightly east of Albuquerque. Many of the miners' houses had been re-done, though a few still stood abandoned amidst their more lively neighbors.
    I turned right onto Opera House. Sage had parked here, squeezing close to a cinderblock wall somebody had built across from the houses. I put my duffle bag into the trunk and locked up as a sleek newer-model SUV bumped past, its driver no doubt looking for parking as well. I returned to Jackson's and made myself unobtrusive but useful while Sage worked the crowd, which was growing larger by the minute. By 4.30, the gallery was packed, filled with the drone of voices, laughter, and soft jazz through a couple of large speakers near the food.
    " ¡Esa! " said a familiar voice.
    "Hey! You made it with time to spare." I