"What a gorgeous house," Maxine gushed.
Hunter greeted the judges. "We're very pleased you could stop by. As you can see, our family is committed to art. I believe many of you have visited one of Archer's Manhattan hotels," he said while Otis handed out fruit-infused water and cucumber sandwiches.
"That is so extra," I bent down and whispered to him.
"Shut up, Archer."
Hunter's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. Otis gulped.
"While my brother Archer has an impressive collection of contemporary art in his hotels, our family is also committed to historic art. During the renovation process, we restored all of the old paintings left with the house," Hunter explained.
"This house is quite large," Olivia said, "so we're going to see the highlights."
We trooped to the clubroom with the giant antique globe and a random suit of armor then to the library with the mezzanine all packed with books then outside to the grounds.
"We regularly have events for the town here," Hunter said. "One can imagine that during the Art Zurich conference, we would host more intimate art events here." He looked at Meg when he said that.
"This is lovely, just lovely," Trudy said with a sigh.
"This is the cottage Mace and Josie are going to be living in. I'm currently renovating it, up to historical standards of course," Olivia explained.
"There's an extra cottage on the property," I whispered to Hazel. "We could just live there instead of your creepy apartment. I also have a tiny house."
"I'm not living in a tiny house," she hissed.
"Don't knock it 'til you try it!"
After leaving my family's estate, the bus drove up the hill to the Svensson PharmaTech campus for a quick tour of the facility and a walk through the art trail.
"What a beautiful art walk!" Maxine said.
"It's going to extend to the conference center," I explained as I led them down the path, "which is where we're having the gala this evening."
"We'll have the bus bring you all by so you can see it at night. With the lights, it's quite spectacular."
"And you'll have all of this built out by the time the Art Zurich Biennial happens?" Maxine asked. "Presuming Harrogate wins the bid?"
"Of course," I told her. "Already in the works."
Zarah looked dubious. "There's the pressing question of hotel space…"
"There will be hotels," I assured her.
"I sure hope so," McKenna said sweetly. I could tell she was enjoying twisting my arm. There was no way I was going to give her what she wanted in exchange for the land. I hoped Garrett had something devious up his sleeve.
53
Hazel
"Ithink they were really impressed," I said to Archer as we began the gallery walk. My Art Café was one of the first stops. Otis and Theo had come with us since their art was the best, and they walked stiffly beside Archer in their formal clothes.
Of course my spirits sank when we filed into my gallery and were greeted by Ida standing proudly in the middle of the room.
"She is not supposed to be here," I hissed to Olivia.
"Grandma, we're doing a tour," Olivia said, trying to subtly hint that Ida should remove herself immediately. Ida was, of course, incapable of subtlety in any form.
"I know!" Ida exclaimed. "And I wanted to tell all you judges that these ladies and this fine, and I do meanfine, gentleman here have worked very hard to make Harrogate look good. We participants of the art retreat learned so much from Hazel as our teacher. You can see our work on the walls and displayed out."
