dazzling, dressed in a flared spring coat that was nipped in at the waist and lined in a leopard print, which revealed itself along the collar. At their first meeting Kit had been struck by the resemblance between herself and her client, though with Avery everything just seemed more, well, dramatic. Her hair was generally blown out so that it was super smooth and shiny with the ends flipped up. She never seemed to leave the house without a spray tan, and she wore so much gloss over her nude lip color, you could practically see your reflection in it. While Kit never imagined herself playing things up that way, she admired Avery’s go-big-or-go-home approach to life.
“I’ve just got an hour,” Avery reminded her.
“No problem,” Kit said, though Avery had promised two on the phone. “The main goal today is for me to show you pieces I think could work. If you like the general direction, I can shop on my own going forward and just show you photos.”
They made a decent amount of progress, despite the time constraints and the fact that Avery stopped frequently to check messages or send a text, and once to take a phone call from an associate at her PR firm.
“I couldn’t represent someone who looked like that,” she told the person. “It’s not about the sound bite anymore. It’s about the image.”
Overhearing the call, Kit remembered that before she left on vacation, she’d toyed with the idea of hiring someone right out of college to help her for a few hours each week with the social media efforts for her business, but she’d been so preoccupied with the X situation, the idea had flown from her head. She had to get back on track.
A few minutes later, as they surveyed dining tables, Avery paused and looked at Kit.
“I know my aunt’s dining table is too big for my house,” she said, “but did you see the sideboard in the same room? I always loved that piece. She used to let me set the table, and that’s where all the silver was kept.”
Kit had seen the sideboard. It was dark and huge and hulking. If it were placed in the cottage, it would look like a water buffalo grazing against the wall. But she knew she had to pay heed to what Avery was saying. If you tried to ride over a client’s wishes, you might get your way, but there was a chance your client would never truly be happy with the end results.
“I did see it,” Kit said. “And it’s lovely. But beyond the expense of shipping such a big piece up here, I worry that it will eat up too much space in the cottage and work against the open feeling you’re trying to achieve.”
Avery sighed.
“I hear you,” she said. “It would be too big, I guess.”
“You mentioned once that your aunt had given you her silverware when she moved out of her house.”
“Yes, and I was thinking of keeping it at the cottage. I plan to entertain a lot there.”
“What if we try to find another sideboard for the dining area? Something more minimal but still with drawers. It won’t take up as much space but it will add a bit of elegance. You can keep the silver there and think of her when you use it.”
“That’s a possibility,” Avery said. “That could be nice, in fact.” Kit could sense her warming to the idea even as they spoke.
After Avery departed in a mad dash to the office, Kit stopped at several more of her favorite design houses and then headed to the small restaurant on the top floor of the building to grab lunch and review her notes. Between what she’d seen with Avery and the items she’d found on her own, she had most of the basics figured out: sofa, armchairs, an ottoman, dining table and chairs, and the guest bedroom furniture. The next step would be picking out fabrics for the upholstered furniture and the curtains.
Her phone rang just as her lunch arrived, and she saw with annoyance that it was Ungaro again. She pressed decline. There was nothing she could tell him that he couldn’t learn from the police. Of course, if she did speak to him, she might be able to glean if Healy had gone to Miami on business, but that information would come at a price. She’d be further ensnared with Ithaka. And she couldn’t let that happen.