"I'll hang it up eventually," she said. "With the remodeling, I didn't want to risk it getting damaged. When the house is finished, I'll hang it up."
"What do you mean, when you finish " Nina asked. "Have you started?"
"Well, maybe if my decorator hadn't quit—"
"Hey!" Nina jumped to the defensive. "I stuck with you through five types of tile, six cabinet finishes, three professional ranges, seven industrial sinks, two dishwashers, and thirteen cabinet knobs. Do you know how many cabinet knobs are too many? Thirteen. Thirteen is where any self-respecting design professional draws the line."
"Fine," Julia said. "Point taken. Now, can I have my painting back, please?"
"No." Nina pulled it to her chest. "We're using the quilt on the bed, and this is going downstairs. You're going to pick out a place to hang it."
"Nina, I don't think that's—"
"I'm coming back as your decorator for one job only, and this is it."
"What time is it?" Nina asked over the steady pop, pop, pop that was coming from the microwave.
Caroline looked at her watch and answered, "It's half past five."
Nina's eyes flew open and she yelled, "I almost missed Decorating Derby]" She jumped off the barstool and ran into the living room, where she grabbed the remote control from Lance's hands and told him, "Scoot over, stud."
"Hey, I was watching ..." Lance started, but Julia took a seat beside him and said, "Duke loses in overtime."
"How did you know that?" he asked, sincerely impressed.
Julia felt cocky. "ESPN Classic shows old games, or didn't you know?"
"Okay," he said. "Let's watch some decorating."
"Shush up, you two," Nina snapped as she clicked through the channels at breakneck speed, until snappy theme-show music began flooding into the room.
On the screen, Felicia Wallace, the woman who was second in Nina's class at the Wellington Design Academy, was about to begin a major project on a Manhattan brownstone. The designer who had graduated first in the class was waiting to be divorced from Jason—again. Julia had to wonder why Nina put herself through the agony of watching a former rival excel on national TV.
"What is this?" Lance asked.
"I'll tell you what this is. This is the bane of my existence." Nina quickly climbed on her soapbox. "Shows like Decorating
Derby are convincing the American public that with a gallon of primer and a dozen cardboard toilet-paper rolls, anyone can decorate." She snorted. "Good decorating is like anything else—you get what you pay for."
Caroline came in from the kitchen, a bowl of popcorn in each hand, just in time to see Felicia Wallace introduce the show's official carpenter, Mason Kent. When she-glanced at the television, she immediately asked, "Who is that"
"That is the worst thing about these shows," Nina declared. "They take a hot guy, strap on a tool belt, and use him to lure thousands of female viewers. This show isn't about design; it's about hot men with power tools. Look at those arms. Look at the way that T-shirt clings to his rippling chest. If you want to do a reality show about decorating, then at the very least, your carpenter ought to have jeans that hang below the equator."
Julia picked up on something she hadn't heard from Nina for a very long time. "You like him!" she exclaimed. "You've got a crush on Mason the hot carpenter guy!"
"I do not." Nina dismissed the suggestion, but a hint of red was appearing on her olive-skinned cheeks.
"I'm a married woman," she insisted. "Well, kind of. I'm a little bit married."
Lance glanced down at her hand. "You're not wearing a ring."
"Nina, this is great!" Julia cried. "You have a non-Jason crush. It's a good thing."
"I may be many things," Nina said, "but in love with Felicia's hammer-jockey is not one of them."
"I auditioned to be on one of these shows once," Lance said, grabbing a fistful of popcorn.
"Really?" Julia said, stealing a kernel for herself.