Best of My Love (Fool's Gold, #20)(48)

No pun intended.

“Dammit all to hell,” he muttered, his voice hoarse with passion. “I respect you. I like you. I want you to have everything you’re looking for. And it’s not this.”

Even though it was the most difficult thing he’d ever done, he took a step back.

Shelby stared at him. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated. She looked aroused and beautiful and it was all he could do to keep from reaching for her again.

“You should go,” he told her. “Just go.”

She started to speak, then shook her head before turning and walking away.

*

AIDAN HAD KNOWN for a while that his brother had a secret studio in the woods. He’d even visited Nick there on occasion. But he’d never explored it. Beyond looking at whatever piece Nick was working on, he hadn’t thought about what else might be stored there. Now he stood beside his brother and stared at the rows and rows of incredible creations.

There were wood carvings. Dozens of them. Some finished, others in various stages of completion. He could see the traditional bears and deer, a few raccoons. But there were also life-sized human figures. A dancer with one leg in the air. A woman holding a baby. They were so real, he half expected them to move.

Nick’s glasswork was just as extraordinary. Swirling shapes as big as a man. There was a glass tree, huge bowls, a slithering snake nearly six feet long.

“What’s that line from that old movie, Jaws?” Aidan asked. “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”

“I’ve always been an overachiever.”

That was one way of putting it. Aidan didn’t know where to begin. When Nick had asked for help, he’d jumped at the chance to get out of his head for a few hours. He hadn’t seen Shelby in a couple of days, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t with him. He couldn’t stop thinking about their kiss. Hard labor moving heavy pieces of wood and glass would go a long way to distracting him. Or so he hoped.

“What are you going to do with it all?” he asked.

“Sell some. Put some in storage. The rest of it can be kindling. Or melted down.”

Charlie walked along the rows, sniffing as he went. Aidan knew the little guy would stick close. Over the past couple of months, he and Charlie had become a team. Or was it a pack? Charlie went pretty much everywhere with him. Aidan was still playing with different designs for a sturdy wagon/dog carrier so the bichon could go hiking with him. He figured Charlie would keep up as best he could, but expecting him do five or eight miles uphill was too much.

Nick pulled a pad of stickers out of his back pocket. “Red dots are going to the gallery. Green dots are storage. Blue dots get destroyed.”

Aidan winced. “How can you do that? Destroy something you created?”

“It’s not hard. Some pieces aren’t meant to be finished. There’s a fatal flaw, either in the raw material or the design. Either way, they’re never going to be anything.”

A harsh assessment, but he would guess a mindset that was required for an artist. From failure came the chance to try something better next time.

He followed his brother through the huge studio. Light poured in through windows and skylights. Nick hesitated in front of a two-foot-high carving of a boy with a fishing pole.

The kid sat cross-legged. His expression was intense, as if determined to wait it out, however long it took. The features were delicate, yet masculine. Looking at the perfectly carved hands reminded Aidan that his brother was an incredible artist.

Nick stuck on a blue dot.

“What?” Aidan demanded. “That’s a brilliant piece. Even I can see that.”

Nick turned it so Aidan could see the crack running down the back. “I doubt it’s going to split further, but I can’t sell it.”

“I’ll take it.”

Nick looked at him for a second, then smiled. “Thanks.”

They finished going through the pieces, then began to move them into different parts of the studio. Some of them could be simply carried into place, but others required the two of them to wrestle them or use a hand truck. A few of the bears had to wait until they had more man power.

Charlie supervised for a while before settling on the small sofa in the front part of the studio. After a couple of hours, Aidan and Nick joined him to take a break.

Aidan opened the beer his brother had handed him and took a drink. “You’re really going.”

“If not to Happily Inc., then somewhere.”

“Have you told Mom?”

“No. I want to have a plan before I mention it.”

“She’s not going to appreciate having yet another of her sons leaving town.”

He thought Nick might crack a joke, but instead his brother’s expression turned serious. “It’s all going to be on you now. The family thing. I’m sorry about that.”

“I can handle it. I don’t get her relationship with Dad, but there’s no getting around the fact that she loves him. He’s her world. The rest of us are a distant second.” He took another drink. “I think that’s how it’s supposed to be when you’re married, though. Sure the kids are important, but they grow up and move away. If you lose your partner while dealing with your children, then one day you have nothing.”

Nick’s brows rose. “What is Shelby doing to you?”