That silenced the table.
Megan said, “Obviously, we’re talking about two different people. Because the one I negotiated with breathed fire over the phone. My ear has blisters to prove it.”
“This is also the lady whose lawyers barred me from my own house,” Ian pointed out.
Kari shrugged. “I thought she was delightful.”
“In that case,” Megan said, “you can handle Ian’s next contract.”
“No thank you very much.” To Ian, she said, “What contract is this?”
“Kiki wants me back next year.” He shrugged. “I told her we needed to wait and see.”
“Which she took as a negotiating ploy,” Megan said. “Enter the fire and brimstone.”
Danny asked Maxine, “Where are your friends?”
“They decided to hang around the hall. Supposedly they’re helping Arthur’s team do the mike check. But really they’re just jazzing over where we’ll be playing.” She gently peeled a sketch off the wall. “Those girls, you wouldn’t believe how much complaining I had to put up with. Getting them up before noon, I needed sirens and a forklift. Then they walk into that concert hall and just go crazy. If I wanted crazy, I could have stayed in California.” She walked back over, holding one of Kari’s pages. “Can I have this one?”
“Of course. It’s my favorite.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“Not at all. These are going to become my next paintings. That sketch you hold is the key to the first one I’ll work on.”
Maxine held it out. “Take it. Mail it to me when you’re done.”
“No need.” Kari tapped her head. “The idea is already fixed in here.”
Ian asked Danny, “Are you sure a half hour is enough for the sound check?”
Arthur was the one who responded. “Danny’s guys are the best. Let them handle the preliminaries.”
Danny told Connor, “So is your band, by the way. Working with pros makes our jobs so much easier.”
Arthur went on, “Larry is setting up the piano for you, and Vanessa has a dab hand on the guitar. This afternoon we just need time to run through a couple of songs, check the voices, make sure it’s all in balance.”
Connor’s response was cut off by a plaintive mewling from the other room.
Ian told Kari, “I’ll get her. Have some breakfast.”
“She won’t come.” Kari rose and stepped to the bar. “This smells wonderful.”
Ian returned with a kitten purring in his arms. “Can she have a piece of bacon?”
“I don’t believe this.” Kari walked over, put her face within inches of the kitten. “You complain like a banshee when somebody comes to see me, but Ian can bring you into a crowd?”
“She’s a girl kitten,” Maxine said, smiling at Ian. “I’d let that man carry me anywhere.”
Connor remained as he was, elbow planted on the table, forehead in his hand. “Why did I agree to let you move us to the main hall?”
“You didn’t,” Ian replied. “It sort of happened.”
When Kari returned to her seat, the kitten padded her way across Ian’s thigh and settled into Kari’s lap. Ready to be fed.
It was only then Kari realized how tense Ian had become.
He pretended calm. But his focus was so intent, Kari doubted he had even noticed the kitten’s departure. He looked across the table at Connor and said, “I think we’re facing a choice here. A decision. We can spend the next hour or so hashing over your worries. And we will all do just that, if you really think it will help.”
