Once they were inside the building, Charlie handed the box of beautiful china to Sebastian. "You should give your gorgeous present to her." He didn't have a mother anymore, but he was a man with so much love to give. Charlie was happy to share hers, especially when she knew how much her mother enjoyed his company and attention.
Despite the dingy room, he was almost ceremonial in his presentation of the cups and plates. Sebastian, it seemed, could transcend anything. Two alcoholic parents. A childhood of poverty. Even the less than stellar surroundings of an elder-care center.
Her mother gasped with joy. A joy that, amazingly, seemed to replace the pain for a little while. "Oh, Sebastian." She pressed his hand. "I've never seen anything so lovely."
"I have," he murmured so softly that only Charlie could hear. He looked straight into her eyes and her heart thumped even faster in her chest.
He suggested they drive Francine out to Lake Elizabeth and share their tea and bear claws as an outdoor picnic. The park was only a mile from Shady Lane, and her mother seemed to enjoy the ride in the limo as much as she soaked up the dappled sunlight streaming through the trees on the comfortable portable chairs he'd stashed in the trunk.
"I'd like to bring a doctor by to see you, Francine." Sebastian had thoroughly discussed the Stanford hand surgeon with Charlie and she'd agreed to his intervention if it had any chance of helping her mother. "Would that be all right with you?"
"You're such a dear, but it's too late now. All the doctors have told me that."
"If you don't mind seeing one more, I know my friend would be very interested in coming to meet with you." Sebastian poured tea from a Thermos he'd brought, having naturally thought of absolutely everything.
Her mother nibbled her bear claw. "It tastes even better on this beautiful china." She added a sip of tea to her delight. "I've never heard of a doctor doing house calls, at least not in this century."
"It's a personal favor. Unfortunately, he's out of the country right now, so he'll see you in a couple of weeks."
Charlie shuddered to think that Sebastian had probably promised to fund a new wing at the hospital in return. She'd worked to get past her hang-up about his spending so much money on her and her mother...but it was difficult when he only grew more generous by the second.
Her mother squeezed Sebastian's hand. "You're going to spoil me," she said in a singsong.
"You deserve to be spoiled."
"I know what a busy man you must be."
"I'm not too busy to see you."
"We both know that isn't true," her mother said in a soft voice. "You're very special to carve out time we all know you don't have to visit an old woman you've just met. Very special, indeed."
Charlie's heart turned over at the glow on her mom's face-and how moved she could see that Sebastian was by the bond he was forming with her mother. She knew how badly he'd wanted to help his parents, and it wasn't hard to see that he'd channeled that need into helping others.
So despite her lingering guilt at accepting his help, she was doubly glad she'd consented. The look on both their faces was worth everything. If the doctor could find a way to help her mother experience even a tiny bit less pain, it would be all Charlie could ask for.
Sebastian was good for her mother.
And, she thought, as he snuck in his one perfect kiss while her mother's head was turned toward the sun, she couldn't deny that he was good for her too.
* * *
"Do you need to head straight back to the workshop?"
The limo had just dropped them off at his house, and even though she should have gone right back to work, how could she resist more time with Sebastian? And if she could actually work on the sculpture while spending time with him? Well, that would be absolute perfection.
"Actually, I was thinking about doing a little shopping this afternoon." At his surprised look-he'd obviously noticed she wasn't particularly into fashion-she laughed and clarified. "For parts to use on the chariot." She'd formed the body and haunch of one horse, but she was working on the legs and head, and the chariot still needed its base. He'd already taken off a ton of time and it was a long shot, but she decided to say, "There's both an estate sale and a construction sale this afternoon, if you'd like to come with me."
"Isn't an estate sale basically just a glorified garage sale?"
It was kind of adorable how his nose crinkled at the words garage sale. Clearly, he'd been living in the lap of luxury for a while. Either that, she found herself thinking on a more sober note, or garage sales had been the only "stores" his parents could afford to shop at when he was a kid.
"One person's junk is another's treasure. It can be a goldmine. I adore junk shopping."
"You adore junk shopping?" He gave her his best innocent look as they headed for his garage. "Could have fooled me."
She playfully swiped at his chest. He grabbed her fingers, and lifted them to his lips for a quick kiss that left her skin tingling and her heart racing as they stepped into his enormous, and well-stocked, garage. Not that she could make fun of him for his collection of classic cars, however, considering her personal collection of broken shovels and pipes.
She insisted on taking the truck, but he insisted on driving. It made her hot and bothered to watch him behind the wheel. A man with a truck was just plain sexy, but Sebastian dressed in black jeans and a black shirt behind the wheel of a half-ton pickup was downright meltingly hot.
The day had been absolutely perfect so far, so when they uncovered an array of crockery, including chipped and mismatched china, not five minutes after arriving at the estate sale, she honestly wasn't surprised. Everything Sebastian touched seemed to turn to gold.
There was no reason for the thought to send a shiver running down her spine. No reason to be anything but thrilled at connecting with him the way she had. And yet, if everything he touched turned to gold...then did that mean she would too?
It didn't make sense that she should be so uncomfortable with the idea of breaking out as an artist, as Sebastian had told her time and time again was his plan. Especially when she so badly needed the money for her mother's care. Still, it took some work to remember to smile when she caught Sebastian looking at her strangely.
"Is everything okay?"
His hand was on her face and when she felt his warm touch and looked into his eyes, she knew she must be crazy for having any reservations at all. "Everything's perfect."
His gaze dropped to her lips for one heady, heated moment, before he simply brushed his thumb over her lower lip and said, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Yes. I want you. Badly.
His grin stole her breath, even before he lowered his voice and said, "God, how you tempt me, Charlie." She could see how much self-control it took to add, "The other thing I'm thinking."
Her breathed whooshed out in a half-laugh, half-sigh. "The mosaic," she whispered. "The china was meant for us." And truly, her heart was fluttering at both the excitement of the find, and from being with Sebastian.
They picked out every piece. Turning them over, she read names like Royal Albert, Rosina, Coalport, Adderley, Rockingham. "This one says, By appointment to Her Majesty the Queen. We should try to break out that part to use. And since they're all broken, I'll offer ten dollars."
"Big spender." He stood close enough to nuzzle her hair.
Her eyes closed for a moment as she savored him. "They're going to end up in the trash anyway. It's ten dollars no one else would pay."
Ten dollars was accepted, and they loaded the box in the bed of the truck. "If they break in transit, who cares?" She was, however, relishing the pleasure of breaking them herself. And she couldn't wait to hand over a stack to Sebastian too, so he could work off some of the latent anger she knew had to be simmering just beneath his calm surface.
"Off to the construction sale?" He handed her up into the truck, his touch doing crazy things to her. This was her world, one that no other man had ever wanted to be a part of. But just having him in it with her made the day extra special.
"Yup." She keyed the address into the GPS.
Fifteen minutes later, the contractor trailed them through the lot until Sebastian gave him the stinkeye. The old house had once been a Victorian, but it was stripped down to bare walls and floors. The sun was high in the sky now, and Charlie was glad she'd slathered sunscreen on her shoulders, arms, and neck bared by the sundress. Sebastian didn't even seem to break a sweat.
They found brass pipes that could work for the sinews of a horse's legs, and several different configurations of pipe fittings for the joints. Then she discovered the spools of copper wire, holding one up for Sebastian's inspection.