“Your talents seem to be in putting things together. Did you always know what you wanted to do?”
She shook her head, laughter bubbling up her throat. “Good heavens, no. Ask anyone in my family and they’ll tell you how often I change my mind about what I wanted to do when I grew up. One day I’d be convinced I was going to be a gardener, the next I wanted to be a vet. I went through so many different career choices it drove my parents insane. I think I still do.”
The tiny freckles scattered over her nose and across her cheeks mesmerized him. Not dark enough to stand out but pale enough to almost blend with the tan kissing her skin. He hadn’t noticed them before.
“And you settled on a mix. Interesting concept.” David swallowed, fascinated by the youngest of the Moore sisters. She wasn’t his type but there was something about her he couldn’t ignore.
He was just getting comfortable when Susan walked over with her father. “April, I wanted you to meet my father. Dad, this is April who’s taken over the empty half of David’s building. April, Pierce Linton.”
April jumped up and squealed, making David cringe beside her. “Seriously? Pierce Linton.” She turned to David and thumped him on the arm. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew him?”
David shared a desperate glance with Susan who came to his rescue. “My father likes to keep a low profile. But he saw what you’ve done with the shop and asked to meet you. There aren’t many people around this town with your kind of talent. His words, too, not mine.”
April held out her hand, the grin on her face bigger than David’d ever seen it before. “I’m having a pinch me moment.”
Pierce preened and David wanted to kick the man. He was an eccentric old fool who they all tolerated because he was “arty.” Plain weird was how David would have described him. Even when Susan and he were growing up, her father had seemed like an enigma to them, someone to be adored from afar but only if one liked his work. David didn’t.
Always buried in his art without the normal constraints of life to bog him down like an eight-to-five workday. His wife had been a saint the way she put up with his ways, in David’s opinion.
But he was incredibly successful, which made David question his own taste in art. He’d readily admit he didn’t understand modern art. Painted animal skulls and rusty teapots made into weird mythological creatures seemed to be the most popular in Pierce’s world. Gruesome stuff. Give him a cool, calm landscape any day.
“I have your limited edition posters in my apartment.” April’s cheeks were flushed and David wondered what he had to do to get that kind of reaction.
“I’m flattered. When I walked past your shop, I had an idea I’d like to share. I wonder if I can steal you away from David and discuss something with you?”
Her mouth dropped open and her eyes bulged. “Really? You want to talk business to me?” The high squeak of her overly excited voice grated on David’s nerves.
The man had to be sixty if he was a day. How on earth could someone as youthful and exciting as April was even remotely interested in anything to do with Pierce? It didn’t make sense.
“Anyone would think you’re jealous of my father with that look of thunder on your face.”
He stared at Susan, the words registering in his brain. “Don’t be ridiculous. April isn’t interested in your father apart from his art. He’s far too old for her anyway.” Images of sugar daddies ran through his mind, quickly dismissed as beyond ridiculous. But still, the idea lurked.
Susan watched them walk away, a wistful gaze in her eyes that made him feel ill. “He does seem rather taken with her though. Poor man’s been alone for years. I think it’ll do him good to have a love interest again and, really, age is just a number.”
Seeds of dismay sprouted in his mind. How insane was that? He found April charming one minute, annoying the next and as soon as someone showed an interest, his mood blackened. Besides, he was going to be going back to Seattle and she was only just putting down roots. While it might be interesting to have a fling, there was no way he could commit to a proper relationship.
Pierce, on the other hand, lived and worked in Cherry Lake. He was here to stay. The thought alone made David anxious.
Chapter Twelve
“I can’t believe I have a Pierce Linton original hanging on my wall.” April stood back and stared at the finely carved cow skull she’d hung up over the antique couch in the front room of her shop. The vivid blue and gold paint brought the bleached white bone to life with a story of its own etched onto the surface. Scatter cushions in varying shades of blue tied the artwork with the furniture.
“Don’t you find it creepy?” Mari stood staring at it, looking unsure what to make of it.
“Not in the slightest. Just look at the detail. The guy’s a genius. Imagine how long that would have taken to carve and paint. The brush strokes are so fine and delicate which makes the heavy skull look, I don’t know how to explain it, but almost whimsical like.”
“Hmm, I’m not convinced. I don’t think my tastes run to animal bones I’m afraid. If I want whimsical I’ll invest in some paintings of fairies or Dakota’s glass angles.”
“Not everyone’s taste does. I get that. But, regardless, you have to admit he’s brilliant and painting on bone is only one of his mediums. I’m so very lucky to have this. They’re worth a fortune and I could never afford one.”
“If you say so.” Mari tapped her foot, a Moore sister sign of impatience. “Listen, I came
