“Maybe if they’re not appropriately grateful you should rethink doing it.”
“Never.” Cat stalked away, then turned. “How dare they! I am an artist. They have no right to refuse. No right to complain. It’s a gift. You don’t get to say what the gift is going to be. My piece will put this little town on the map. They should beg me to give it to them.”
Her voice rose with each word until she was shouting. Nevada wasn’t enjoying herself, but she wasn’t actually nervous until Cat picked up the blowtorch and lit it.
“Okay, then,” she said, hurrying to the door. “You think about it and we’ll talk again later.”
She scurried outside and hunched over when Cat screamed. The sound was still echoing in Nevada’s ears as she jumped in her truck and sped away.
“LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDE,” Tucker told Nevada. “At least now you don’t have to worry about her wanting to date you.”
“Shut up.”
Nevada wished they were somewhere private so she could punch him really hard in the stomach. She knew how—she had brothers. But on the job site, with their crew around and the blasting team putting the final touches on their work, it didn’t seem like the right time.
The good news was that watching the explosion and the subsequent crumbling of earth would probably make her feel better.
“Want me to talk to her?” he offered.
“Cat will probably attack you with a flamethrower. Which right now doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.”
Tucker grinned at her. “Don’t be afraid. You could take her.”
“She has tools and a vicious will. You should have heard her. She thought the town was ungrateful. If only that were enough to make her change her mind.”
Nevada watched her men get into position. “I need to go.”
“You’ll feel better after the explosion.”
“I hope so.”
Blasting earth was a complex proposition. There were dozens of safeguards in place. Now she did a final check on her part of the operation, then settled in to watch the show.
“Um, boss?”
She turned and saw Jerry walking toward her, Cat by his side.
“You have a visitor,” Jerry said, stating the obvious.
Nevada held in a groan. “What are you doing here?” she asked Cat. “Never mind. We have to move back. We’re doing blasting.”
She led the other woman back toward the trailer and got her a hard hat. Once it was in place, Nevada put her hands on her hips.
“Why are you here?” she repeated.
Cat stared at her, wide-eyed. Her full mouth trembled at the corners. “I knew it. You’re angry with me.”
“Not exactly.”
Tears filled Cat’s eyes. “I was so hurt by what you said. It was as if you stabbed me in the heart and then crushed my soul. The very essence of my being. What you asked me to do, how you want me to change… I thought you knew m-me.” Her voice trembled on the last word, as if she were holding in a sob.
Nevada swore under her breath. She moved away from the trailer, motioning for Cat to keep up with her.
“I wasn’t trying to crush your soul.”
“How could you have said those things to me?”
“Telling you Fool’s Gold doesn’t want a giant vagina in the center of town is the truth.”
“But it’s my gift. It’s who I am.”
“Transcendent?”
The corners of Cat’s mouth turned up. Nevada might not be into the girl thing, but she had to admit that Cat defined beauty.
“Yes,” Cat whispered. “I want to give this to them because it’s like giving it to you. Every time you see it, you’ll think of me.”
“You got that right.”
Crap and double crap, Nevada thought. Someone called out the one-minute warning. She grabbed Cat and moved her farther back.
“I already have a vagina,” Nevada said, unable to believe they were having this conversation. “Can you do something else?”
Cat shook her head.
Nevada sighed. “This isn’t about you. I understand that you’re giving us a gift, but don’t you care that we don’t want it?”
“You don’t understand. When you see it completely, you’ll be grateful. Everyone will be.”
“No, we won’t. We’ll be horrified. Can’t it be something else? A circle? The shape of a woman?”
Cat laughed. “Don’t be silly. Of course it can’t be something else. This is what I have to do. It’s out of my control.”
“Technically, it’s not. You’re the one building it. You’re the one who—”
Then she was flying through the air.
She’d been partially aware of some kind of countdown, but she hadn’t been paying attention. Who could notice anything else with Cat being her usual crazy self? That meant she wasn’t paying as close attention as she should have been and didn’t bother making sure they were back far enough.