"She's been here for almost a week," Garrett said. He was under an umbrella, fully clothed, with his laptop.
"Why didn't you say anything? After what happened with Payslee…" Mace clamped his mouth shut.
"McKenna's not like Payslee," I hissed, hoping the kids didn't hear. I didn't want to spook them.
"You have the worst taste in women," Hunter said, settling back in his chair with his newspaper.
"And Mace has the best taste," Mike said as Josie walked out onto the terrace with a large package under her arm.
"A courier brought this," she said. "It's for Greg. The courier said Marnie told him it was extremely urgent. Otis is finding some scissors."
Greg frowned. I tried to keep my face neutral. It wasthe painting. I couldn't wait to see his face when he opened it. The note I'd written had made it sound like the painting was some urgent thing. I knew Marnie, Greg's assistant, would make sure he opened it. And she, as a stellar assistant, had it sent over to the estate.
"Did you figure out your rendering situation?" Josie asked as she came and lay down next to Mace on the lounge chair.
"We'll need to see if the architects can redo the renderings," Mike said.
"We can't just let them loose," I argued. "We should decide on a style. We need to figure out what Amos will like."
"He said he wanted the human touch," Mike added.
"Do you draw?" Greg asked Josie.
"No," she said. "I'm not that talented."
"You need to stop volunteering her for your work projects," Mace complained. "I never see her as it is."
Otis came out with a knife, and Greg opened the package. As soon as he pulled the painting out of the box, I started snickering.
"What the hell?" Mike asked.
Greg frowned as he studied the painting. My face beamed out from the canvas.
"This is exactly what we need," Greg announced, holding up the painting.
"A picture of Archer's face?" Mace asked, confused. "This is a new level of narcissism, even for you, Archer."
"It's not for me!" I said, hopping up and crossing the terrace to the table where Greg had the painting propped up. "I'm giving it to Greg. It's a present so you'll always remember me."
I stared at the painting. It was weird to see myself painted. I didn't think I'd ever experienced that. It was somehow more intimate than a picture, like the painter, well, Hazel, had truly seen me.
"It's perfect," Greg said.
"It is?" Mike said.
"Just cover up Archer, and look at the rest of it," Greg said, tearing off a piece of the brown wrapping paper and covering the portion of the painting with my face.
"Hey now!"
"Is that Harrogate?" Josie asked, coming over and peering at the painting.
"Right," Greg said with excitement. "This painting is basically a rendering of Harrogate. Look at the light, the trees, and the nice-looking shops. It's Main Street but comes across as very high-end yet still has some authenticity and character. This is the feel we're going for in the convention center. We need renderings like this for the project."
"It does seem like Amos would appreciate this style," Mike said. "What artist did you hire, Archer? Would he have any availability?"
Otis and Theo giggled to themselves.
"What's so funny?" Greg asked them.
