Love Makes the Difference (Sully Point Book 1) (18 page)

"He, uh, sort of represents me, I guess." Anna
knew she should have expected that from Norm.

"Yes, well, fine. I'm familiar with Norman. Now, if I
could trouble you for coffee--I haven't been up that long yet today. Slept in
the limo down here actually. I see you've got quite a few paintings out for me
to see."

"Of course, go right ahead and begin. I'll get the
coffee."

Stanley pulled out a pair of glasses and put them on, then
walked toward the nearest wall of paintings.

Anna went to the kitchen and started the coffee going, then
pulled out her cell phone from her jeans pocket. She stared at it for a full
minute before hitting the speed dial to Sam's phone. He'd programmed it for her
this morning.

"Hello? Anna? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she whispered. "Stanley's
here. Can you come home? You don't have to, but--"

"I'll be there before you know it. Take a deep breath.
See you soon, love."

She put away her phone and set coffee mugs on a tray and
walked out to the main area. "What do you take in your coffee Mr. Walters?"

"Hmm? Cream, no sugar," he said distractedly.

She poured coffee and cream and walked over to hand him the
coffee with a napkin. "Here you are."

"What? Oh the coffee, yes, I could use that. Now back
away young woman, I'm concentrating."

She moved quickly back to the couch, realized she couldn't
stay in the room with him, and took the tray back to the kitchen. There was a
box of scones on the counter she'd brought from the bakery. She set them out on
a plate along with butter and jam. Then she stared at the concrete floor,
stained a smooth sand color.

Finally she heard Sam at the door and practically ran to
open it. Stanley was still moving slowly around the room.

She grabbed Sam's hand and pulled him into the loft. He bent
his head to hers and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Nervous?"

She gave him a tremulous smile. "Come into the kitchen,
he's concentrating."

They moved quietly into the kitchen. Sam took her in his
arms and hugged her. "Has he said anything?"

"No, nothing except that he's concentrating and to move
away. It must be bad. He probably hates them."

"Not at all. I've seen him babble on and on when
looking at bad paintings. If he's saying nothing, it could be good."

"I'm sorry I called you to come hold my hand. I should
have been able to do this on my own."

"Hey, none of that. You should have seen me the first
time my book went to the publisher. Norm had to stay with me for days."

"Really?"

"Really. Besides I have some things to run by you for
the first floor."

They proceeded to talk about design choices and types of furniture,
and by the time Stanley called them into the room again, Anna realized she was
totally calm. Which didn't prevent a knot forming in her stomach as they went
in and sat on the couch.

Stanley stood by the easel looking at a painting there. It
was the one Sam had bought that was now soot-damaged. "Before I leave
today I'll tell you what to buy to clean this painting. It was clearly in a
fire. Recently?"

"Yes," Sam said. "Part of our troubles that
created the need for security."

"It will be easier to clean if it was recent. I can
also recommend a restorer to work on it if you'd prefer. It must be cleaned
however, because I want it in your first show."

Anna felt stunned as a buzzing noise started in her head. "My
what?"

"Your first show at my gallery. Young lady--Anna--these
paintings are wonderful! They must be shown to the public. I don't want you
going to any other gallery. I can give you a superb opening, lots of publicity,
the cream of the crop of New York art connoisseurs will be there."

"Wait--wait--are you saying you like them? You think
they're good?"

"Good? They're better than good! You have such an eye
for color and mood, with a skill yes, but more than technical skill. The
ability to transcend skill and put yourself in the work, this all comes across.
Oh yes, Anna, the paintings are quite something. And you've never shown them?
You already have such a body of work here."

"That's actually not all of them, Stanley. She has a
storage locker with more," Sam said with a proud smile.

"Oh my, this is fabulous! We won't show them all at
once. But I need to see the others too."

Anna cleared her throat and managed to take a breath. It was
all coming at her so fast. "Some of those in the locker are earlier works,
Mr. Walters, before I knew what I was doing. Not all, but some."

"Please, my dear, you must call me Stanley. I know we're
going to be great friends. It doesn't matter what level they are at, I want to
see all of them. After that, I'll be able to make decisions about which ones to
put into the first show."

"First show?" Anna asked in a very high voice.

"Yes, yes, clearly we'll have more than one. My dear,
you are about to become famous in the art world, at the very least, and also a
very wealthy woman."

Anna thought for a moment she was going to faint. Then Sam's
arm went around her shoulders and squeezed gently. It was like a grounding
force, his solid presence next to her. She focused on her breathing and felt
her world righting itself. Albeit in a new configuration.

"This all sounds impossible and amazing to me, Stanley.
What do we do first?"

"If we can go see the paintings in the storage locker,
that would be best. Then I'll head back to New York--with the soot-damaged
painting if you want the restorer to work on it. I'll contact your agent and we'll
discuss numbers, prices, percentages, that sort of thing. Once I have a date
set up I'll bring a truck up here and we'll load the paintings to make the move
to the city."

"Stanley," Sam said. "Have you ever seen a
painting that has been slashed be restored?"

"Slashed? Multiple times?"

"No, just once. Part of our ongoing trouble."

"Show it to me."

Anna brought it out of the packing crate room. Stanley set
it up on the easel and peered closely at it.

"Tricky, very tricky, maybe impossible. But the way it
was done, yes, it might be he could do something. I'll take it with me today as
well."

"I'll pay for the restorer. I can get you some money
before you leave," Anna said.

"I can pay for it, one of those is my painting anyway.
It's all because of me that this happened." Sam argued.

"No, I think it should be me who pays--"

"Hush, both of you," Stanley said with a wave of
his hand. "The gallery will pay and that's that. Now help me get these
down to the limo and then take me to the storage locker."

By the time they had seen Stanley off and were back home,
Anna felt herself smiling and wondered if she would ever stop. Stanley had
raved about the paintings in the locker as well, saying even the earliest works
showed true talent. She felt like having wildly passionate sex with Sam right
then--and was sure he would cooperate with the idea--but she also knew she
wanted to tell her father about this stunning news.

"Come on," she said grabbing Sam's hand. "Let's
go to the grocery store and buy some food. I'll fix dinner at the house and we
can eat with Dad and Cody and tell them the news."

"And just when I was thinking I could talk you into
some congratulatory sex," he said with a grin.

"Actually I thought of that too." She looked into
his chocolate eyes and felt lust curl inside her just from the way he was
watching her. "Can you grill steaks?"

He looked startled. "Yes, I can. Why?"

"I'm thinking if we do dinner on the grill, we don't
need to spend so much time in the kitchen, if your offer still stands."

His face lit up. "Oh yeah, the offer still
stands." He laughed as she threw herself into his arms, and began to
unbutton his shirt. "You know, love, these things are usually best done at
a slower pace. However..."

He kissed her with urgent need.

She said breathlessly, "However?"

"Fast has a charm all its own."

She gave a laugh that quickly turned into a moan as his lips
moved down her neck and then up to whisper in her ear.

"Now."

* * * *

Steaks and her news were a big hit that night. Her father
got tears in his eyes when he heard what Stanley had said. "I always knew
you had it, that spark, just like your mother."

"Oh Dad," she said and hugged him fiercely. "Thanks
for giving me the space, the privacy, to do my work."

He patted her on the back. "Come on, let's eat this
great dinner. We've been back to having pizza around here lately."

"I thought you were going to teach Cody how to cook
fish."

"Our first lesson didn't go so well. We have yet to try
again."

After dinner she called Holly who was thrilled for her. "I
can't believe it Anna! This is  awesome, wonderful--"

"Yeah, yeah, now tell me what you really think."

Holly laughed. "Seriously Sis, this is great. How are
things with you and Sam?"

Anna looked around to see that Sam was inside her father's
study, looking at plans her father had drawn up, while she was out on the porch
in the swing. "Things are really good, almost too good."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's hard for me to trust it, to believe it's
real."

"Oh Anna, hon, you have to go with it. Has he done
anything to make you distrust him?"

"No. The thing is, I may be, you know, falling in love
with him."

"I could have told you that. It was obvious to me
before I left."

"But we're from such different worlds."

"You are and you aren't. Yes, he has money and fame and
travels all over, while you like privacy and being by yourself. But he also
works alone, is creative in his own art, just like you. I think where it
counts, you two are very similar."

"Huh, I never thought of it like that. Thanks."

"No problem. Now what is the name of the gallery so I
can brag about it to my friends."

Anna laughed. "Stanley Walters gallery is all I know. I
don't know if it has another name."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Holly?"

"Anna," Holly whispered. "Do you have any
idea how prestigious his gallery is? Stanley Walters is famous in his own
right. He's the one who came to see your paintings?"

"Uh, yeah. Is that weird or something?"

"Weird, no. Amazing, yes. Anna honey, you have just
leaped into the big time. Wow, oh man, this is huge."

"Well now that you've succeeded in freaking me out..."

Holly laughed. "Sorry sis. Really major congrats to
you. And we are going to have to do some serious clothes shopping. You have to
look great at the opening of your show."

"I have to be there?"

"Absolutely. I'll make sure you look fantastic, don't
worry."

"Fat chance there."

Once she was off the phone with Holly she hunted down Cody.
She found him sitting on the back steps drinking a beer. "What's up?"

"Hey, Anna. Cool about your paintings."

"You have to promise to come to the city for the
opening. I need my big handsome brother at my side."

"Yeah?" He perked up a bit. "Sure I'll go.
Might as well start looking for women there anyway. I think I've gone through
all the ones in this town."

"Cody! Why do you date so many different ones?"

"I'm trying to find the right one, Sis. Thought maybe I
had this last time, but she said I'm not in touch enough with my feelings--whatever
that means."

"Hmm. I think it means it's not all about the sex.
There's more to a relationship."

"I was thinking of swearing off women for a while. But,
you know, I love women too much to stick to that."

Anna laughed. "You'll find her, one day. The right one
will come along and suddenly you'll be head over heels."

He looked at her seriously. "I really do hope that's
true. Was it that way for you and Sam?"

"Kind of, yeah. Still a little new to talk about."

"Whatever you do, don't blow it. Because it sucks when
it ends." He stared morosely at the label on the bottle of his beer.

"Yeah," she whispered, walking away. "That's
what I'm afraid of."

* * * *

Sam had watched her during the evening, talking to her
father and Cody, on the phone with her sister, and he'd felt glad she was so
excited. She deserved this, and so much more. Before the night at her family
home was through, they all helped to box up some of her books to put on the
shelves in the loft.

"There's certainly a lot of science fiction and fantasy
here," he said. "I should have realized after seeing some of your
paintings that you'd like it."

Cody held up a book. "Never fear, Sam. She appears to
have every one of your psychic detective's books."

Sam laughed. "I guess I won't need to bring in a set
then."

Cody continued. "So what did you say when you heard
about the Porsche, Anna?"

"What Porsche?" she asked, picking through books.

"You know, the Porsche Sam bought to replace your old--"

"Cody, shut up!" Frank said.

Sam groaned.

Anna turned slowly around from the shelves in her room. "What
did you say? You bought me a--a--Porsche? Are you nuts?"

Sam shook his head. "Maybe a little premature. I
thought perhaps at some point you'd need to drive into the city and I couldn't
imagine you driving your car there."

"And you didn't think to talk to me about this? How
much money did you spend?"

"Anna--love--you know I don't care about money. Let's
not talk about price."

"Sam Carter--if you think I'm just going to accept a
big expensive car from you--"

"It's actually rather small and sporty."

She tossed a paperback at his head. Not, he noticed, one of
his.