Chapter 8

Mr. Williams greeted him effusively, showed him around the three-room gallery space, and then they went into William’s office. Half an hour later, Daniel had signed a contract to show his works there, even though at the moment it would only be three paintings. Mr. Williams understood and accepted the fact that Daniel was contractually obligated to leave the rest of his work at the two galleries in Cleveland.

“But you’ll be handling all my new paintings,” Daniel told him, having been impressed by both the man’s knowledge of art and his businesslike approach to marketing it.

“After all,” Williams had said at one point, “you want to sell your work, not just have it sitting here like this was an art museum, with people wandering around then moving down the street to the next place. In your case, selling shouldn’t be a problem, since your name is well known.”

“But only back east,” Daniel pointed out.

“Precisely. So we’ll play on that. ‘Renowned magic realism artist Daniel Chase moves west to find new inspiration for his paintings’ and so forth, and so forth.”

Daniel chuckled. “Not sure I’m ‘renowned’ quite yet.”

“Daniel, by the time we’ve staged your first full-fledged opening your name will be a household word.”

Selfishly, Daniel hoped that would be the case. It would prove to his father that he was more than just a dabbler.

He thanked Mr. Williams and they arranged for one of the gallery personnel to come up to Daniel’s house the next day to pick up the paintings.

Daniel felt like celebrating, so he called Mellie to see if she was up for lunch, without telling her why. She was, and they agreed to meet at a small restaurant close to where she worked.

Mellie arrived first, as Daniel found out when the host told him that “Mrs. Harmon is seated on the back patio.” Daniel wondered at her choice, given that it was only marginally warmer in the city than it had been at his house. Thus he was happy to see she was at a table in the sun. After kissing her cheek, and getting the same in return, he sat across from her.

“So, what brought you down to the big, bad city,” she asked with a grin. He told her, earning a “Woot,” and a fist pump in response.

“Aren’t you a bit old to do that,” he said, laughing.

“Baby brother, always remember you’re only as old as you feel, and I intend to stay twenty-five forever, in my heart and mind.”

He grinned. “I’m sure Tom loves that idea.”

“So he says. And I have some news for you.” She had to wait until the waiter took their orders before continuing. “You’re going to be an uncle again.”

This time it was Daniel who fist-pumped as he jumped to his feet and went around to hug her. “When? And how does Francie feel about the future little brother or sister?”

“She’s already decided he or she has to share her bedroom. And she’s promised to babysit.”

Daniel laughed. “A three-year-old babysitter. Uh-huh.”

“Yeah, I know, but she’ll be four by then, since the baby’s due in May.”

They continued chatting, and ate when their meals arrived. At one point Mellie asked, “So have you met any of your neighbors yet?”

“I don’t have any neighbors. You know that. I did meet a man who lives, hell, I’m not really sure where. On the other side of the mountain according to him. He’s agreed to let me do some sketches of him.”

“Is he nice?”

Daniel shrugged. “He seems to be so far, I think. Oh!” He grimaced. “I didn’t tell you who showed up last night.”

“The soul-sucker?” she asked scathingly. While she’d only met him a couple of times, Mellie hadn’t liked Ray and had made her feelings clear, although not when the man was around.

“Yep. According to him, he came out on business and decided to look me up. Turns out his business was trying to convince me he could turn the house into a great restaurant.”

“Good Lord. He was serious?”

“I’m afraid so. I told him to get out and we almost came to blows. Luckily Griffin showed up out of the blue and Ray decided to split.”

“I hope into enough pieces that you could bury them in a lot of different spots, thus ensuring he won’t reform again.”

It took Daniel a second to pick up on her joke, then he laughed. “Unfortunately not literally.”

“Is Griffin the man you mentioned who you want to sketch?”

“Yep.”

“Good looking?”

“He is. Long, auburn-brown hair, the sexy ‘needs a shave’ look, and very intense blue eyes.”

“So the total opposite of you.”

“If you mean because I’m blond and green-eyed, I guess so.”

“What does he do for a living?”

“You know, I’m not sure he does anything. The first time I met him, he had a bow that he said he uses for hunting. I got the impression he must grow his own vegetables, and that he pretty much lives off the grid.”

“A wild man,” Mellie said. “He sounds interesting.” She waggled her eyebrows.