“Oh my God,” she gushes. “I just heard about your hand from Kace. How are you?”
My takeaway from her question is twofold: her concern and the fact that Kace has been talking about me. I swear the man’s seducing me when he’s not even here.
“I’m better,” I reply. “Thank you for checking on me. Kace took good care of me last night.”
“Kace as a mother hen,” she muses. “Who’d have thunk it?”
I laugh. “And don’t forget the part where I said he was a very good mother hen, at that.”
“I knew he had it in him. And you brought it out in him. I can’t wait to hear the story of all of this. In fact, I was going to call and ask you to lunch tomorrow, but if you’re not up to it, I understand.”
“Of course, I am. I’m working today. I’m fine.”
“Excellent. I have a lead on some wines, and I convinced Mark that you and I could work out a commission. That way we bypass Alexander, who is going to outbid you.”
I’m stunned by her offer. “You did that for me?”
“I did it for both of us.”
“You lose money if he doesn’t outbid me.”
“Maybe,” she concedes, “but there is value to new, expanded partnerships and friendships. And I might have another motive.”
“Motive?” I query.
“I still want you to consider working through Riptide. Don’t say no. We’ll start with some side deals. And friendship. Noon tomorrow? Can we meet here?”
“Noon tomorrow,” I confirm. “And yes. We can meet there. And you are the nicest pushy person I’ve ever known.”
“Mark would agree.” She laughs. “It’s a necessary skill as his wife for all kinds of reasons.”
We say a short goodbye, and when we disconnect, I consider her push for me to work through Riptide. Perhaps the money she hints at might make it worth considering. Nancy could run the store, or not if I decide it’s not safe. I just don’t know. Maybe I could take her with me to Riptide. All I know for sure is that I have to think about funding our future here. We’ve gotten by rather than thrived for far too long. Besides, I’d like to fund the hunt for Gio, without taking Kace’s money. Kace matters to me, perhaps too much, too soon. Some might say he came into my life at a vulnerable, even convenient time. But just as easily, some might say, I let that happen because I need him.
And that might just be true. At least, the part where I need him. Kace is becoming necessary, and that has nothing to do with anything but him and me. Us. I hope. Because I’ve decided to trust him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
I finish my lunch with Kace on my mind. And thinking of him reminds me to call my gynecologist. By the time I’m sipping my after-meal coffee, the nurse at my doctor’s office is on the phone, and after a few questions, and a hold for her to talk to the doctor, they agree to call me in my first-ever prescription for birth control pills. In a short time, Kace has changed my life in all kinds of big and small ways. And I am changing—a bird with her wings clipped who’s flying for the first time ever. I can feel it happening, and it’s not about Kace. It’s about me. I was suffocating in captivity. I can’t do it anymore.
Gio couldn’t either.
And I don’t know where that leads him or where it leads me, but I know it’s too late to look back.
With that thought, I look forward. I get back to work, determined to make the money to survive and thrive, to hunt for him, to hunt for our destiny and our future, with him. I should never have allowed the divide between us to form. As my mother always said, we are better together than apart. I think of that carrot Gio is chasing and somehow that collides with the promise of viewing the violin Kace has just discovered with his donor. It’s the only violin on the table.
And now I’m the one with a carrot.
I reach in my purse and pull out the business card Kace’s agent, Nix, gave us or really he gave it to Kace. Kace gave it to me. On the back is a handwritten name and number: Donelle Bianchini. A man with a Stradivarius violin to sell. A chance to find our family secret in that violin. A chance to make a fortune by selling it after I inspect it. His name is Italian, and this bothers me but if this is shady, it might also lead to my brother.
I grab my phone and punch in the number. He answers on the first ring. “Ciao,” he answers, hello in Italian.
“Ciao,” I reply and I shift to Italian. “This is Aria Alard from Accent Collectibles. I understand you have a Stradivarius for sale.”