I sneak like a cat. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
I waved him off. “It’s all right. I scare easy.”
“Like what you see?”
I nodded as we were joined by Kim and Hailey. “This one speaks to me,” I said. “I love the rich colors and her expression. It makes me wonder what she was thinking about when you painted her. She looks almost…” I trailed off and tilted my head to the side to study her more closely. “Sad? But hopeful at the same time? I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”
“Art isn’t made to be explained,” Walker said simply. “I am pleased that you like it. And should any of you ladies ever want a personal session with yours truly where I capture your image in acrylic, give me a ring.”
“Simmer down, Walker,” Rick called from the other side of the gallery. “They’re all spoken for.”
Walker winked at me. “A guy’s gotta try, right?”
Had I not been falling for Peter, I might have taken this gorgeous man up on his offer.
Chapter 27
Peter
“You want to bring a girl to meet Dad?” Mike asked flatly. His hair was a wild mess after he’d roughed it up with his towel, and all he had on were his boxers. He’d just gotten out of the shower and he smelled like pine and lemons. “Why?”
“Because she’s important to me.”
“So you want to expose her to Dad? Half the time, he’s going on about fighting in Vietnam.” Mike blinked at me expectantly with his hands splayed at his sides. “He never fought in Vietnam! The closest he ever got to real battle was marrying Mom, and she had the good sense to bail when we were young and he still had his mind.”
“It doesn’t matter where his mind is.”
“You say that now,” Mike said as he paced around the living room. I assumed he was looking for his pants, but there was no way to know with my little brother. “Just wait until he starts telling her all about our childhood. Or about the brother he never had. Or about how his mother used to fill his pockets with flour when he was a kid and send him off to school. You haven’t forgotten that he’s a raving lunatic, have you? You’ve only been gone a couple of weeks.”
“I haven’t forgotten. And he’s not a raving lunatic. He’s sick.”
“Same, same.”
“Not really though.”
Mike shrugged and let out a victory cry when he found his jeans and T-shirt. I doubted they were clean, but I didn’t much care.
“Call her then,” Mike said. “If you want to expose her to the crazy that is our family, I won’t stop you.”
“Every family is crazy.”
“I suppose,” he said dismissively as he pulled his shirt over his head.
I sighed and moved out through the front door to stand on the cracked pavement of the driveway. I called Katie and half expected her not to answer. Chances were high she’d gone off to do something with her friends. Or perhaps she was lounging by the pool relaxing.
Although I doubted it.
Katie answered after the third ring. “Peter! Hi, sorry, give me two seconds. I’m in an art gallery. I just want to step outside.”
I waited.
“There we go,” she said. I could hear traffic in the background. “What’s up? Is everything okay?”
“Oh yeah, everything is fine,” I assured her. “You’re at an art gallery?”
“Yep. Rick knows a guy who runs a gallery. It’s full of all his own artwork. He’s pretty talented. I didn’t want him to hear me say that. His ego is about as big as the El Cartana.”
I chuckled. “That big, hey?”
“Yep, I doubt the guy knows what the word ‘humble’ means.”
“God forbid an artist makes it big in this world,” I said sarcastically.
She scoffed with the heir of a middle-aged socialite who’d inherited all her riches from her daddy. “I know. The poor sure are thriving these days. Hasn’t anyone told the artists that they belong in the streets where they can find their inspiration?”
I grinned. “You should buy one of his paintings.”
“I don’t think you quite understand how big of a deal he is, Peter. There weren’t price tags on anything. I asked Rick what the going rate of one canvas was. Guess how much?”
“Uh, I don’t know. Fifteen hundred?”
“Way higher.”
“Five grand?”
“Not even close, champ.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. All the bitterness that had seeped into me after walking into my father’s old house had completely disappeared now that I was talking to my girl. “I don’t