Why Not Tonight (Happily Inc. #3)(40)

“You didn’t,” Natalie breathed.

Silver laughed before hugging her. “I did. I went to the bakery and they were just pulling these out of the oven. Brace yourself—it gets worse.” She held up a small bag. “Irish butter.”

“No. Not Irish butter.”

At any given moment in time, Natalie was on the verge of gaining five or ten pounds, seemingly overnight. Her body just loved to be chubby, and while she liked to think she kept an ironclad schedule when it came to her exercise program, the truth was she didn’t exercise much at all.

“I just finished eating like a rabbit for the past three days,” she said with a sigh. “I took a walk this weekend.” It had been more of a stroll, but still, there had been movement.

“Then you’ve earned French bread and Irish butter,” Silver teased.

“Easy for you to say. You’ve always been skinny, and yet I still love you.” Natalie pointed to the buffet table. “How are things?”

“Good. Busy. I had to turn down a couple of weddings. I can’t be in two places at once and I was already booked.” Silver pulled a cutting board and bread knife out of her tote, then set the loaves on the cutting board with the butter next to them.

“What about those two trailers you were thinking of buying? Have you decided?”

Silver made a face. “No. It’s the money thing. I’m not comfortable taking out a loan.”

“The bank would be happy to have you as a customer. You’re a successful businesswoman.”

“Maybe.”

There was another knock on the door. Natalie let in Bethany Archer.

“I love it when lunch is here,” the petite blonde said, giving Natalie and Silver each hugs. “I feel so sophisticated surrounded by all the beautiful art.”

“You’re a princess,” Silver said drily. “Shouldn’t you feel sophisticated all the time?”

“You’d think, but no. So what’s new?”

Natalie pointed to the buffet table. “Silver brought bread fresh from the bakery and Irish butter.”

Bethany winced. “I’m on a diet. How am I supposed to be strong when you’re tempting me like that?”

“If someone else buys it, the calories don’t count,” Silver told her.

“Great. Tell that to my thighs.”

Wynn, Carol and Pallas arrived just then and greeted everyone. Pallas was still looking pale.

“Are you okay?” Natalie asked.

“I had a bug,” Pallas said, her smile wan. “I’m getting over it.”

“Whatever it was, I don’t want it,” Wynn said. “You’ve been sick for a while. Have you seen a doctor?”

“I have. She says I’ll be fine.”

There were more hugs all around. Then everyone wanted to take a quick tour of the gallery before getting to lunch.

Natalie did her best not to squirm as her friends walked around. Atsuko had taken the dragon piece she’d started at Ronan’s and priced it at an astonishing thousand dollars. It was more than Natalie had ever gotten for an individual piece, and she had to admit she was nervous. What if no one bought it? What if everyone thought she was fooling herself, thinking she deserved that much for it? What if—

“You never said anything,” Wynn called, pointing at the framed piece. “This is amazing. When did you do it?”

“Over the past few weeks.”

Her friends gathered around to study the stylized dragon.

“Are those paper clips?” Carol asked. “They are! I never would have thought to use them. I love it. And hey, a thousand dollars! Good for you.”

Natalie twisted her hands together. “I’m afraid it’s too much,” she admitted before she could stop herself.

“You have to value your work or no one else will,” Wynn said sternly. “People try to get me to discount their projects all the time. At first I felt bad about saying no, but screw that. I have to pay for my equipment, my building and my employees. I do good work and that doesn’t come free.”

Silver linked arms with her. “You’re so forceful and mature.”

“I know. It’s a burden.”

Wynn grinned and everyone laughed.

“That sounds great,” Carol said. “But it’s not always easy to put a value on what we do. I work for a nonprofit, which makes asking for a raise difficult. Am I being realistic or taking away from the cause?”

“That would be a hard one,” Natalie said. “But the animals love you and would want you to be happy.”

“I don’t know. I think the giraffes would rather have more of their leaf eater treats.”

Everyone glanced at Bethany, who raised both hands in a sign of surrender. “Yeah, not a conversation I’m going to get involved with. I wrestle with having value all the time. Let’s eat instead.”

They headed for the buffet. Wynn and Carol had brought desserts, Bethany unwrapped a fresh veggie plate, while Pallas had provided an herbal sun tea and minestrone soup.

“Everything looks so good,” Silver said as they served themselves.

“That bread,” Carol whispered. “It’s the devil.”

“That’s what I said,” Natalie told her with a grin. “And the Irish butter? Why does she hate us?”