This is a pretty one-sided decision.
Please don’t make it harder than it needs to be.
“That small town wouldn’t be the same without your grandmother there,” Courtney said, pulling me back to the moment.
“I know,” I sighed.
“And chances are, things wouldn’t have worked out with this guy. The fact you both knew it was going to be temporary might have been part of the appeal. That’s what makes a spring fling so romantic.”
Was that all Matt and I had had together? A spring fling?
No. There had been a lot more to it than that—on my end anyway. But falling for him wasn’t a good enough reason to give up the biggest career opportunity ever likely to come my way. If my experience with Kurt had taught me anything, it was that career decisions needed to be made solely by me, based on facts and sound reasoning, not emotion or persuasive arguments. I would be a fool to pass up this job.
But some part of me—some wistful, old-fashioned, sentimental part, the same part that loved negligees and peignoirs and honeymoon words—would probably always secretly wonder otherwise.
ONE MONTH LATER
“I need you to go to an art festival in Miami next week.”
I was sitting in my boss’s office, gazing at a massive Wintrope on her wall. I knew the painting was appraised at $750,000. I knew it was entitledEnergy. All the same, I couldn’t help but think thatthe artist was running a scam, because it was nothing but a blob of orange on solid red. I could have painted it in five minutes flat.
“We’ll have several clients there,” Ms. McAbbee continued.
I nodded.
“And be sure and pack some evening clothes.” She looked at me in a way that meant she was trying to convey something she didn’t want to come right out and say. “I realize you’re new, but schmoozing is a very important part of what we do.”
So she’d noticed I’d ducked out early and kept to myself at the last few events. After discussing a few other matters with her, I headed back to my office—I had an office to myself, a real office with a window!—and gazed out at the view.
In the past month, I’d technically done everything I was supposed to do. I’d moved into a new apartment. I’d decided to take a short-term lease so I could look around and find something to buy that excited me as much as Gran was excited about her new city. (Gran and Snowball were happily settled in an assisted living apartment in San Francisco, two blocks from Eddie and Ralph. Ralph had set her up a Facebook account, convinced her to give digital cameras a try, and now she was regularly posting photos.)
I’d bought new clothes. I’d gotten my hair trimmed. I’d even gotten a makeup makeover. I spent the day on the computer, looking at art, researching statistics, and finding comparables, and in the evenings, I was expected to go to gallery openings, galas, and other places collectors frequented. I was busy all the time, but I didn’t feel like I was accomplishing anything. I felt like a stand-in for someone else’s life.
My phone rang. I recognized Gran’s number and quickly answered. “Hey—how are you doing?”
“Just dandy. But I need to ask you to do a favor. I need you to go to Wedding Tree for the closing on the house.”
Gran’s house had sold for full list price to an investment consortium the first week it was on the market.
“Eddie can’t get away, and the closing company says they need someone from the family to be present to sign the papers.”
“Can’t the attorney do it?”
“Afraid not, dear.”
“When is it?”
“Next Friday.”
I checked my calendar. I’d have to miss a black-tie affair. My boss wouldn’t be pleased, but I was delighted to get out of the obligation. When I’d taken the job, it had been with the condition that I could take a few days off within the first few months if I needed to take care of family business. “Okay.”
After we hung up, I contacted the title company in Wedding Tree, then went online and made arrangements for a fast swoop into town and a fast swoop out. I called Kirsten.
“You’ll stay with me, of course,” she said.
“That’s really sweet, but I’m not staying the night. I hoped I could meet you someplace private for lunch.”
“You’re wanting to avoid Matt?”
