“What?”Declan asked.
“Give me a minute,” I said, following the man to the desk.
“I’m sorry, sir?”
He turned to me and held out his hand.“Mark.”
I held up my gloved hand.“It’s nice to meet you, Mark.”
He dropped his hand, looking confused.
“I wear the gloves because psychometry is a gift of mine,” I said quietly.
His eyebrows rose again.It wasn’t shock or disbelief, only interest in this new information.
“When you touched me, your finger brushed my wrist.”I pushed down my sleeve to cover that inch of skin again.“I got a sudden and very painful headache.You don’t have to believe anything I’m telling you, but I’d really appreciate it if you went to the doctor, a neurologist.You need an MRI.”I gestured to the back of my head.“You have a dark spot in the occipital lobe.”
He blinked, his expression frozen.“What?”
“I’m not wrong,” I whispered.
His shoulders straightened.“I see.I think this is why I felt such a strong need to stop here after my golf game.”He nodded like he was talking himself into something.“I still have time?”
I considered that.“It’s small right now, but you should clear your schedule tomorrow and go.This isn’t the sort of thing you want to wait on.”
Frank, who hadn’t been following our conversation, came back with the painting, adding cardboard caps to the frame edges so nothing was scratched or dinged.
I gestured to the painting.“Do you still want that?”
He closed his eyes on a slow blink.“Now more than ever, yes.”
“I’m glad we met.”I stuffed my hands into my overall pockets.“Please take care of yourself.”
He smiled.“You too.”
“The gallery is closing in twenty minutes,” Carter said to the customers as he walked by the pottery section.
I went back to Declan, who I knew had heard the whole thing.He gave me another big hug.“You saved his life.”
I leaned into him.“Hopefully.”
He tugged on an overall strap.“Did you work today?”
“Oh.That’s right,” I said.“Come with me.”We went through the studio into the hot shop, where I flicked my fingers, opening all the windows while I told him about my visitors earlier.
“I didn’t know Kaknu was FBI,” Declan said.
“Neither did I.”I went to the railing, soaking up the cool breeze after walking through the hot shop again.“I swear, I’ve checked all my gauges.It’s not any hotter than usual when I’m working with glass, but I feel like I’m going up in flames these days.”
Declan scratched his cheek.“Sorry.I think that’s on me.I run hotter than humans.The little one probably does too.I think she might be heating you up from the inside.”He came to the railing to stand beside me.“Can’t you spell your shirt to be cold or something?”
I stared at the waves for a moment, completely flummoxed.“Why the hell didn’t I think of that?”
“Shall I list all the things you have swirling around in that head of yours?”He took my hand and tucked it into his elbow, walking me back to the gallery.
Frank and Faith were checking out the last stragglers.Elizabeth and Robert were back to pick up the kids, which told me how nervous they both were.Normally Elizabeth did the drop-off and pickup by herself.Bracken was back, talking quietly with Hester.Carter, in his usual spot by the front door, waved Declan and me over.
When we got there, I asked, “Do you want a chair?This is a long time to stand.”
