ENDING OF PREVIOUS POST:

Emily turned her head at a sound. "Darn! Aunt Jane's calling me. It's my bedtime." She blew kisses to Anderson and Shana as tears welled in her eyes. "I miss you."

Shana blew kisses back. "I miss you, too."

"Miss you and love you, pumpkin."

Shana hung up the phone and dried a tear. Anderson moved closer to put his arms around her, but Shana backed away. "Don't. Not now."

"Shana?"

"I'm fine." Another tear rolled down her cheek. "Or I will be." Under her breath, she added, "I have to be."

"I won't allow you to push me away. Emily brought your feelings for her and me to the surface. You can't ignore them, can you?"

TODAY'S POST:

Chapter 32 part 1

Zachery walked in. "Oops, sorry I didn't mean to interrupt."

Shana stood and handed him a skewer. "You didn't." She released a deep breath. "Ready for the s'mores?"

"Sure." Zachery kept watching his brother and patted his back as he went to put marshmallows on his skewer.

Shana continued to the door. "I'm getting some water, does anybody else need some?"

Jeff stood inside the kitchen. "Don't worry, little lady. I'll bring out four bottles." He grabbed four from the refrigerator and held one out for her.

Continuing toward her bedroom, Shana ignored Jeff. He went to the patio. "Okay, what did I miss?"

"I'd like to know the same thing." Zachery blew out the fire on his marshmallow. "Drew, why you holding the kitten? Doesn't she like him?"

"She loves him." Anderson held up the furry animal. "I think his name is Malachi. It's Hebrew."

"Good, but that doesn't explain why Shana ran back to her bedroom in tears." Jeff put a piece of candy bar in his mouth.

"You're right." Anderson stood and then sat. "I don't know if I should go after her or leave her alone."

Zachery sat beside his brother. "Tell us what happened and we'll advise you."

Anderson shook his head. "Neither of you understand women any better than me."

"You know he's right, don't you?" Jeff picked up his skewer. "Want me to go talk to her?"

"Naw, she's got the dogs. Romeo's a good cuddler." Anderson stared at the cat on his lap. "I got this thing. Bro, what were you thinking? Did you forget I own three dogs?"

"I didn't get it for you. I gave it to Shana. You know the lady you keep saying is not your gal. So it wouldn't make any difference how many dogs you have, would it?"

"Okay smart ass, you made your point." Anderson grinned and faced the patio door. "Think I should go after her, or wait for her to return? What do I do if she doesn't return?"

Aslan started meowing loudly.

The three men stared at him. Zachery was the first to speak. "I think he's hungry. It's bottle time."

"I'm not feeding a cat a bottle." Anderson held the kitten up. "Who's going to do it?"

Jeff grinned. "I think that's your excuse to check on Shana."

"Zack, give me the stuff you brought. That's what I'll do. Think she'll buy it?"

Armed with a small bottle and the kitten, Anderson headed toward Shana's room. He tapped on her door. "Shana, Malachi's hungry. Do you want to feed him?" He heard her moving, but silence. Patience, give her time to get herself together.

Moments later, Shana opened the door and took the kitten and the bottle. "You hungry, little guy?" She shook the bottle. "It's cold. I'd better warm it."

"He's a cat?" Anderson's eyes widened.

"I know that, but he's still a baby. His mother's milk would be about one hundred degrees." Shana passed by Anderson and continued into the kitchen.

As she warmed the bottle, Anderson touched her arm. "We need to talk."

"I already know what you're going to say. What you want can't happen."

"Please explain why not."


Characters so far:

Shana Kohlberg -- a 25 year old high school English literature teacher -- she's trying to get her family's painting back
Anderson Sharp -- often called Drew -- 31 years old -- works part-time on Wall Street -- a billionaire from Texas oil wells
Dmitry Bezrukov -- one of three Russian men in black suits
Jeff Burk -- takes care of Anderson's cars and important security details.
Helen -- Anderson's cook
Jane -- Anderson's housekeeper
Philip -- Anderson's butler -- close friend
Kyle -- Anderson's dog walker
Axel -- Anderson's lead German shepherd
Thor -- Anderson's second German shepherd
Romeo -- Anderson's third German shepherd
Aaron Kohlberg -- Shana's older brother
Ivan Kuznetsov -- formally Ivan Morozov, I accidently chose a real person, so I have changed it present day owner of the painting.
Patricia -- Anderson's ex-wife
Emily -- Anderson's five year old daughter
Isaiah Glassberg -- Anderson divorce/custody attorney.
Jeremy -- Jane's second-cousin twice removed, NYC undercover cop.
Hannah Jacobs -- Shana's cousin, the same age and best friend. Married within the past year and just had a baby, Sarah. Her husband, Paul. Sarah was just diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease.
Joshua Colton -- Art Museum's curator
Benjamin Kohlberg -- Shana's father
Eliana Kohlberg - - Shana's mother
Maxwell Gaines -- Lawyer hired to retrieve the painting
Erich Berger -- Manager of the Dorotheum art auction house in Austria
Mary Pritchard -- The lady Anderson hired to help Hannah while she's in Boston with Sarah.
Zachery Sharp -- Anderson's younger brother
Michael Sharp -- Anderson's father
Susan Sharp --Anderson's mother
Leon Sharp - - Anderson's grandfather
Grandma Sharp - - Anderson's grandmother
Oscar - - Team Leader of the security detail
Detective Rollins - - Austin police detective
Agent Allan Ryan - - FBI agent