then he winked at her. And he kissed her. And there was something in the way he looked at her.
Even more guilt.
Oh, God, what a mess everything was!
The painting, wretchedly slow as it was, was the most successful part of her life! At least when Stacia had called on the weekend, she’d been able to say, without lying, that she had two paintings finished and the others were coming along.
“Terrific!” Stacia had been delighted. “I’m so glad. Do you want me to get you reservations for a place to stay?”
“No. Thanks. I still don’t think we’ll be able to make it.” Every spare penny she had was being put away to reimburse Nathan for Elaine’s salary.
“But you could use a holiday,” Stacia argued.
“That wouldn’t be a holiday,” Carin said truthfully. The very notion of going to her own opening scared her spitless. “A holiday is where you have a good time.”
Stacia laughed. “Keep painting. Let me know when you’re getting close to finished and I’ll be down.”
“Will do.”
No, she wouldn’t go to New York. But maybe they could take a vacation to another of the islands. Stay a week or two before school started.
And when they got back, with luck Nathan would be gone.
Surely he had to leave sometime. He couldn’t just stay on the island forever. A man who made his living traveling to the four corners of the earth wasn’t going to be able to do that on an island five miles long and half a mile wide. The subject matter just wasn’t here.
“Once you’ve seen one lizard, you’ve seen them all.” Carin smiled to herself.
Maybe she could ask when he dropped Lacey off tonight. Since Hugh wasn’t here—he’d flown a charter to Nassau and would be returning tomorrow sometime—it would be good to have another distraction. Something to annoy Nathan.
Since he got annoyed every time she brought up the possibility that he might not spend the rest of his life on Pelican Cay, that would be a good one.
But shortly before nine, when she heard the car pull up out in front, the engine kept on idling even as the car door shut. Half a minute later, Lacey banged into the house and the car drove away.
“No Nathan?”
“Dad’s got company. Her name is Gaby.”
“Gaby?” What kind of name was that? It called to mind blonde bimbos with big boobs.
“His agent,” Lacey said.
“Oh.” The blonde bimbo disappeared as fast as she’d come. “Well, that’s nice,” Carin said briskly. Nathan’s agent arriving had to be a good sign. “When did she arrive?”
“This afternoon. We had dinner with her.”
“And is she here to get your father to go back to work?” Carin asked, hoping she didn’t sound as eager as she was.
“He is working,” Lacey said, offended. “He works every day on his book.”
“I mean in the field. She must want him to go and take more photos.”
Lacey hunched her shoulders. “Dunno. They didn’t talk about that. You don’t think he’ll leave, do you?”
“I don’t know.” Clearly Lacey wanted him to stick around. Carin didn’t want to get in the middle of an argument about it.
“He’s got a lot to do on his new book,” Lacey said. “The one he’s picking out photos for. And she was talking about him doing a show at her gallery this winter.”
“Gaby has a gallery?”
“Uh-huh. In Santa Fe. It has a Spanish name.” Lacey scrunched up her forehead, thinking. “Something about sombreros?”
“Sombra? Sombra y Sol?” Even Carin had heard of Sombra y Sol. It was one of the best-known galleries in Santa Fe.
“Yeah, that’s it. Sombra y Sol.”
“I thought it belonged to Gabriela del Castillo.”
“Yeah.” Lacey bobbed her head. “Gaby.”
That was Nathan’s Gaby? Though Carin had never met Gabriela del Castillo—having lived in a Caribbean backwater for a dozen years, that was a given—she’d certainly heard of her.
Gabriela del Castillo was a force to be reckoned with.
The widow of famous art patron, agent and entrepreneur, Enrique Castillo, she took over his gallery and his business after his death a few years back. At first, gossips said she was coasting on her late husband’s coattails. But it hadn’t taken Sra del Castillo long to dispel that notion. She had an eye for talent—and she was a terrific marketer.
Gabriela del Castillo was highly respected in the art world now. Sombra y Sol displayed some of the finest photographers in the world as well as some of the most successful artists in other media. It was one of the galleries Stacia had mentioned when she’d told Carin