Artist's Dream (14 page)

“I’ll get them both tomorrow before I leave. Is that okay?”

“Of course. You live in the city?” Cassie asked. She accepted his platinum credit card with only slightly shaking hands.

“Oh, no. Out on Russian River. We’ve just moved into a log home that Luke Winston built. But we’re from the city, and this is our first county fair,” he explained.

This must be the client Luke was telling her about that first day. “Well, I hope you’re enjoying it,” Cassie said as she waited for his receipt to print.

“Very much. My partner and I just recently retired, and we were so ready to get out of the city.” He rubbed his neatly trimmed mustache then flicked his eyes again to her carvings. “Could I have some of your business cards? If you don’t mind, I have a good friend up at Lake Tahoe that has a shop. Your eagles would go over so well up there.”

Cassie’s breath caught, but she kept calm. “Woodcarvings in the mountains are everywhere. I doubt this would be anything speŹcial.”

Weldon Arnold dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand. “Chainsaw art, if anything. A dime a dozen, you’re right. But this, hand carved from driftwood, your detail is spectacular,” he said, running his fingers lightly over the eagle’s head.

“You have a good eye,” Cassie commented. “Were you in the business?”

He smiled. “We owned an art gallery, yes. And I know good work when I see it. How is it you’ve been hiding away out here in the country?”

Cassie shrugged, remembering her struggles of trying to find shops in the city that would carry her carvings. Of course, back then, she seldom had the time to devote to her large carvings.

“I haven’t been doing this that long,” she explained. “The giant carvings, only about five years now, but I have a couple of shops in San Francisco that sell the smaller ones.”

“Our gallery was in the Union Square area. Your work would have done wonderful at the Union Street Spring Arts Festival.”

Cassie’s eyes widened and she laughed. “I’m afraid I was never good enough for Union Square.”

“Oh, honey, trust me, you’re good enough. You just didn’t have the right contacts.” He paused, as if considering, then continued. “Luke says you two are friends, and any friend of Luke’s is okay by me. I still have a few contacts there. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to make a call for you,” he offered.

Cassie was speechless. Any local artist would kill to have their work displayed in Union Square. Suddenly, things were moving too fast, and she was stunned. Mr. Arnold seemed to notice her discomfort and patted her hand.

“My dear, I can see I’ve dropped a bomb on you, and I have no idea what your inventory is like. If you decide, just let Luke know. She can contact me directly.”

“I really, really appreciate the offer, Mr. Arnold, but it is a bit overwhelming. I’ve gotten used to these county fairs and local art shows, I’m afraid.”

“I understand. If you would at least allow me to call my friend at Lake Tahoe?”

“Of course, if you think he’d be interested.”

He smiled and pocketed the business cards she handed him. “After thirty years in the business, I do miss discovering new talent. Think about my other offer. It would be my pleasure to introduce your work.”

“Thank you. I will.” Then she motioned to the carvings he had bought. “And I’ll have these ready for you tomorrow,” Cassie assured him.

“Wonderful. It was so nice doing business with you.” He took her hand, kissed the back of it, and left as quickly as he had come.

She sat down in a daze after he had gone. Two pieces just like

that. And just because Luke Winston said she did exquisite work. She owed Luke a very big thank you, but wondered when she’d have the courage to call her.

Luke. Why did the mention of her name call up memories of them on the floor … kissing? They came to her with such vividŹness that she felt her stomach roll and pulse quicken. She had spoken to Luke only once in the past week, but had not seen her. Luke had gone to San Francisco on Wednesday and Cassie had not heard from her since.

And she was fine, she told herself. She didn’t need to see Luke, to talk to her. It was better that they took some time. She took a deep breath, staring out over the crowd, seeing nothing. It wasn’t better, she finally admitted. She missed Luke. She didn’t want to miss her, but she did.

She stood quickly, pacing in her small, roped off area, trying to forget about that night, wishing it still didn’t come to her with such vividness. All these years, she thought. All these years of pretendŹing she was something she wasn’t. All it had taken was one kiss. One kiss and she could no longer pretend.

She heard someone call her name and saw Kim making her way through the crowd. She groaned silently. She had been avoiding Kim all week, afraid she would see through the facade. She would have to tell her sooner or later, she knew.

“Hey,” Kim called before stepping over the rope. “How’s busiŹness?”

Cassie avoided Kim’s eyes, making a show of going to the beaver and eagle, a broad smile on her face.

“Say good-bye to these two,” she said.

“Two more? It’s barely noon,” Kim said. “You only have five left.”

“Yes. Isn’t it great? Some guy came in and just like that,” she said, snapping her fingers, “He bought both of them. He’s coming back tomorrow to pick them up,” Cassie said. She did not mention that Luke Winston had sent him. She cocked her head to the side with a grin. “How about you?”

“You were right about the abstract,” Kim said. “I got rid of it first thing this morning. The guy let me keep it until this evening, and I had at least six other offers for it.”

“Well, it’ll give you something to do this winter,” Cassie said.

Kim nodded, then stood with her hands on her hips.

“Have you been avoiding me?”

“Of course not.”

“I’ve barely talked to you all week. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you okay?”

“Of course I’m okay,” Cassie insisted.

Kim stared at her for a long moment, long enough to make Cassie uncomfortable.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay. Well, I better run. I’m just taking a pee break. Great crowd, huh?” She stepped over the rope, then called back, “Don’t forget about the party tomorrow night,” and was gone.

The party. She had forgotten. It was a tradition that had started long before Cassie had moved here. Each year, the artists got together for a party after the fair ended on Sunday, just to brag about good fortunes or lament the sale that got away. Paul and Jeff were hosting it this year, and Cassie was thankful she would have someplace to go instead of her empty house where flashes of Luke’s kiss seemed to be hiding in every shadow.

She had to stop this, she knew. It was slowly driving her crazy, these feelings raging through her body at just the slightest thought of Luke Winston.

She wanted, needed to see her again. She missed Luke. But maybe Luke was giving her time to adjust. Their conversation on the phone had been brief, Luke simply making sure she was okay and to tell her she would be in the city the rest of the week.

With difficulty, she pushed thoughts of Luke from her mind, and instead, replayed the conversation with Weldon Arnold. It was too good to be true, really. Union Square? God, she would be the

envy of the locals, that was for sure. Even Kim, who had had showŹings in the downtown galleries, never made it to Union Square.

But did she have enough pieces? Five left here. A handful more in her workshop in various stages of completion. If she did that, she would only be able to concentrate on the bigger pieces. No more sitting on the porch in the evenings, carving small birds and squirrels. Did she want to give that up? Then she grinned. She wasn’t a total fool. No artist in their right mind would turn down an offer of Union Square.

Cassie waved at Kim briefly, then let herself be pulled into the kitchen by Paul.

“You haven’t been here since I moved in,” Paul complained.

“I was here at the Christmas party last year,” Cassie said.

Paul scowled then shook his finger at her. “Cass, you and I came together for that one. That was only the second time Jeff and I had met.”

Cassie grinned and punched Paul in the arm. “And we all know what happened that night, don’t we?”

“I fell in love,” Paul said dramatically, and Cassie laughed.

“Yes you did,” she said. “And I got dumped.”

Paul grasped her hands. “It could have been worse.”

“Yes. You could have left me for another woman,” she said lightly.

Paul ignored her comment and pulled her in close. “And what about your love life?” he asked quietly.

Cassie looked away quickly. “What love life?”

“I thought you were seeing some farmer.”

She dismissed his comment with a wave of her hand. “Oh, that. I wouldn’t actually call it dating,” she said. “There was nothing there,” she said.

He stared at her for the longest time, and she grew uncomfortŹable under his gaze.

“What?” she asked finally.

He smiled and stared at her for a second longer, then shook his head. “Nothing,” he said lightly. He filled a wineglass for her and handed it to her after a quick kiss on the cheek. “Now, how was the fair? The last time I checked, you only had five pieces left,” he said.

“I still have them. And I guess the seal will stay with me through the winter, too. I really like her, but I suppose people don’t want a seal sitting on their patio. I did sell most of the small carvings,” she said. She took a sip of wine, which tasted surprisŹingly good.

“You’ll be busy from now until Christmas, I guess.”

“Yes. But they don’t take very long to make.” She wasn’t going to tell anyone about Weldon Arnold until she decided what to do, but she desperately wanted to share her news with someone, and she hadn’t had a chance to talk to Kim. “I did meet a contact.”

“Oh? From the city?”

“Yes. He used to own a gallery in Union Square.”

“Jesus, Cass, that’s great.” Paul swooped in for a quick kiss. “Tell all.”

“Well, he bought two pieces for himself. He offered to make a few calls and introduce me, if I was interested.” She tried to keep the excitement out of her voice and failed miserably.

“My God,” he drawled. “Little bitsy Cassandra Parker might make the big time!” Then he smiled and his voice turned sincere. “I’m so proud of you. You deserve it.”

“My inventory is a little thin right now, and I’ve already comŹmitted to the Christmas fair,” she said. “And I may be out of my league.”

“Don’t be silly. You’ve never charged enough for your work. This would be a wonderful opportunity for you. Screw the Christmas fair.”

“You know I can’t do that. Kim would kill me.”

“I would kill you for what?”

They both looked up as Kim shoved them out of the way and took the bottle of wine and poured a full glass. “I could have sold ten today, at least,” she told Cass
ie.
“You’re right. I’ll be doing abstracts all winter.” She took a large swallow, then continued. “Kill you for what?”

“For skipping the Christmas fair,” Paul supplied.

“What? Why?”

“I’m not skipping it,” Cassie insisted.

“She got a better offer.”

Cassie glared at Paul, who closed his mouth but couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing, Kim.”

“Oh, please! You’re such a chickenshit.” Paul moved in front of Cassie and took Kim’s arms dramatically. “She got an offer for Union Square.”

Kim’s eyes widened. “Oh my God!” she hissed. Then she shoved Paul out of the way. “You’re joking?”

“I haven’t even talked with him about it, Paul,” Cassie said, wishing she had not even mentioned it.

“Who? Who?” Kim demanded.

“Some guy bought two pieces and offered to set her up,” Paul continued.

“Well I’ll be damned! Just like that?”

“Isn’t it fabulous?”

“Hell, yes! When?”

They both turned to look at Cass
ie.

“I’m supposed to call him if I’m interested.” Luke’s supposed to call him, she corrected silently.

“Interested? Why wouldn’t you be interested?” Kim demanŹded.

“We’ll talk later, okay?”

“But this is great news, Cass.”

“Yes. But I haven’t even absorbed it yet. And I know I would be a fool not to try, so I’ll probably call him.”

“I’m so proud of you,” Kim said, wrapping both arms around her. “Let me go tell Lisa.”

“But no one else,” Cassie called after her. Then she turned on Paul. “Thanks a lot.”

“It’s great news, darling. Bask in it for awhile, why don’t you.”

She gave a silly grin. “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?”

He refilled their glasses before offering a toast. “Here’s to great success.”

“Thanks.” She drank, then paused, wanting to turn the converŹsation away from herself. “How about Jeff? Did he do okay?”

“He was pleased, but I thought he overpriced some of them. There was this guy from Petaluma, of all places, who had similar sketches for a lot less,” Paul said. “Not nearly as detailed as Jeff’s though,” he added.

Cassie smiled at Paul’s obvious bias. He was happy with Jeff, that was perfectly clear, and she wished them well together. She did, however, feel a twinge of envy. She had long ago given up hope of someday having someone in her life to share things with. She wasn’t really surprised now when Luke came to mind, although she doubted that would ever be a reality.

“Well, I’ve got to mingle,” Paul said, disrupting her thoughts. “I’m the host tonight, you know.” He paused on the way out. “Congratulations, Cass. I mean that.”

“Thanks, sweet
ie.
”

Cassie followed him back into the living room, listening as everyone seemed to be talking at once, each wanting to tell about their success at the fair. She was glad she had come, and the wine was helping her relax and forget her encounter with Weldon

Arnold. It was her first attempt at wine since the infamous party when she was certain she would never drink wine again.

Kim walked up behind her and squeezed her arm, startling her. “Lisa almost peed in her pants over your news.”