If I Didn't Know Better (The Callaways #9)(76)

"I thought you were already working in a museum."

"I was. That man I was referring to—the one I made a mistake with—kind of messed that up. But I'm not sorry the job ended; it wasn't really for me. It was more paperwork than art, and since I've come back here, I've been reminded that art is so much more than the famous paintings displayed on the walls of a museum. I want to be able to have more freedom to work with artists and open art up to more people. I love that Aunt Carly used her studio for art therapy, that she let people stay here for free while they painted their problems away. I hate to see that end."

"Does it have to end?"

"It's not my house. My parents own it now, and I'm sure they'll sell it."

"Maybe to you."

"Out of my price range. And there's still the problem of a job."

"You know, I might have an idea for you," Didi said, a gleam in her eyes.

"What's that?"

"You could come and work for me. You could take Harrison's place as soon as I fire him."

She was shocked by Didi's suggestion. "That's a very generous offer, but I don't think I could do that. And Mr. Raleigh has worked at the gallery a long time. Can you really fire him?"

"I don't want to fire him out of loyalty to my husband, but he fights me at every turn. If I want to take control of the gallery, he has to go. Just think about it, Mia. Put it on your list of possibilities."

She smiled at Didi's choice of words. "I will do that. But you don't know that much about me."

"I know enough. I'm sure you're very qualified, and I love your idea for the exhibition. Why don't you bring the paintings to the gallery next week? We'll set up a date and make our plans."

"Do you want all of them?"

"I'd love for you to pick eight that you think are worthy of a spot in the gallery. We'll figure out the rest of the details later."

"I do have one other concern," she said. "My aunt asked every artist to leave her a piece of their art as payment for their stay in the studio. I assume that all these paintings belong to my aunt's estate. But a couple of artists have already expressed concern about their art being publicly displayed. I don’t quite know what to do about it. I've resolved the issue with those artists who have contacted me, but I have no idea who painted these works of art."

"Well, this is a small town and news spreads fast. I'll let the artists I work with know about the exhibition. We'll make up a flyer, and we'll see who comes out of the woodwork. As far as I'm concerned, the paintings belong to your aunt's estate. I'm not a lawyer, but I could certainly consult an attorney to make sure we're on the right track."

"That would be great. I don't want to make any problems for you or for myself."

"Consider it done." Didi got to her feet. "Thank you for the lemonade. It reminded me of Carly. We shared many a glass of lemonade on this very patio. We talked about men and work and life and the world. I miss those days."

Mia wished she'd had more days like that with her aunt to miss.

She walked Didi out to her car, debating if she should mention the mystery painting and eventually deciding against it. Didi seemed like a good friend of Carly's, but how well did Mia really know her? It would be better to get the painting out of Angel's Bay and give it to an objective party who knew nothing about her aunt or anyone else in town.

After she said goodbye, she went back into the house and unrolled the painting once more. "Tell me your secrets," she said, as she spread it out on the table once more. Unfortunately, the painting wasn't going to give her an answer. She would have to find it somewhere else.





Nineteen

Jeremy pulled up to Kara's house a little after five. He'd spent the day with Ashlyn getting her ready for the sleepover. She'd told him she needed new pajamas, a new sleeping bag, and a new backpack to carry her toothbrush and teddy bear in.

While Ashlyn seemed pretty happy about the upcoming event, he was worried that she was getting ahead of herself. What if the nightmares returned when she was at Kara's house? What if she scared the other kids with her screams, or woke up crying and couldn't be comforted? It seemed too soon to let her go.

On the other hand, she really wanted to go, and she'd told him that she'd gone to a sleepover for her friend's seventh birthday party last year, which meant she wasn't a complete novice at being away from a parent.

As that thought crossed his mind, he realized that he was forgetting the month she'd spent in foster care completely alone. But that had been different. That had been scary and sad.

He turned off the engine and turned to Ashlyn. "If you change your mind and you want to come home at any point, you know you can call me. I'll come right over and pick you up."

"I know," she said.

"It doesn't matter what time it is. If it's the middle of the night, I'll still come, and I won't be mad."

"Okay, Daddy."

His heart caught at her response. He still wasn't used to hearing that word come out of her mouth.

"It's going to be okay," she told him. "I'm going to have fun."

He smiled, wondering when the tables had turned. Now she was worrying about him. "I know you'll have a good time."