“This is Curt,” he answered.
“Hi, this is Penelope Fallbrook. I’m returning your call.”
“Of course, Ms. Fallbrook. Thank you. Sorry to call you out of the blue, but I’m helping Mrs. Morris with some of her late husband’s affairs. In going through the storage area in the gallery, I discovered one of your paintings from a class you took with Mr. Morris. I’m assuming you’d like to have it. It’s quite beautiful.”
I let out a relieved breath. He didn’t know. “Thank you. I don’t even remember what it would have been.”
“It looks like a vineyard.”
“Oh. I did take the class where we painted at a vineyard. I didn’t realize I’d left one of my paintings. Or that he would have kept it.”
“There are quite a few paintings from students, actually. He was the type to never throw things away. I’m just going through them and reaching out if I can decipher the name, and if we have contact info.”
“I see. Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“Are you local? Would it be possible to swing by the gallery?”
“Sure, I can do that. When is the gallery open?”
“It’s closed, I’m afraid. Permanently. But I can meet you when it’s convenient. I’m there now, or we can arrange another time.”
“Now would be fine. I’m out and about anyway.”
“Great. I appreciate that. Do you know where it is?”
“Yes, I do. I’m not far from there, so I’ll see you shortly.” “
Thanks again, Ms. Fallbrook.”
I ended the call, disappointed to hear the gallery was closing. But it made sense. Running an art gallery had to be a lot of work. And Gina Morris was probably just trying to put the pieces of her life together after the loss of her husband.
Theo would be at practice a little longer, but since it was unofficially my night to cook, I decided to leave him a message in case he beat me home. I brought up his number and hit Send, not surprised that it went straight to voicemail. He usually kept his phone off during the day, as well as during practice.
“Hey, it’s me,” I said after his greeting. “I’m stopping by the gallery for a few minutes before I go home. They have one of my paintings and want to return it to me. I was thinking of making soup for dinner if that sounds good to you. I—”
I hesitated. Oh gosh, I’d almost saidI love you.
“See you later.”
I ended the call and let out a breath. Friend disaster averted. I couldn’t just blurt out “I love you” to Theo. Where had that even come from?
With a shake of my head, I turned on my car and headed for the gallery.
CHAPTER 34
Theo
It had been a day.
There was always so much to do after missing work. Add to that the shitty feeling of a migraine hangover, the normal craziness of high school kids, and a fire alarm malfunction, and it had been especially chaotic.
I’d hardly seen Penelope. Which sucked. It happened that way sometimes, but I’d been hoping she’d come out of her classroom after the last bell. I’d thanked her that morning for the way she’d taken care of me during my migraine, but I hadn’t said enough. We’d been busy getting ready for the day, but I’d wanted to…
Hold her? Kiss her? Something.
Instead, she’d given me the lunch she’d packed for me, and we’d been on our way. And she still hadn’t emerged from her classroom by the time I had to get down to the field for practice.
We’d been in the same building all day. How could I miss her?
