Why Not Tonight (Happily Inc. #3)

*


“HOW’S NATALIE?” NICK asked as they ran along the park’s trail. The tournament was coming up faster than Ronan had realized and they were in a rush to get in shape.

“Not good,” Ronan said, thinking about how quiet she’d been when he’d stopped by the previous night. “She says she’s fine, but she’s not.”

“I haven’t seen her since it happened.” Mathias glanced at him, then returned his attention to the trail. “Has she been to work?”

“Just in the office. She hasn’t been back in the studio.”

“It’s not your fault,” Nick told him. “It just happened.”

Something Ronan had told himself about a thousand times, but that didn’t stop the gut-churning guilt that never left. She’d created something wonderful and he’d destroyed it. He’d been the one to pick up the piece after she’d left. The canvas was still intact but the flowers were ruined. Those at the top had been burned down to nothing while those at the bottom were singed, with the middle petals somewhere on the spectrum, depending on their placement.

For a couple of minutes, he’d had the idea that maybe he could fix it or something, but who was he kidding? He didn’t have her gift. Besides, it wasn’t as if what had been lost could be replaced. It was a one-of-a-kind creation and now it was gone.

“So, ah, how’s that volunteer school project?” Mathias asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject. “What are you going to do for your first class?”

He figured the distraction was as much for them as for him. No one liked to think about Natalie suffering.

“I thought I’d go traditional and we’d start with paints. I’m going to work up some templates, show them how to divide their work space. Talk a little about perspective, that kind of thing.”

“Want some help?” Mathias asked. “Sounds like it’s going to be cool. I’d like to go with you.”

“Me, too,” Nick added. “I can wrangle a kid or two. It will be good practice. Plus, I was thinking about the classes. Remember when I used to play around with animation? Maybe I could work up something with that. Break it down into steps. Show the kids how to illustrate the high points of a story. With all the animation software out there these days, the students who are interested could take it to the next step on their own.”

“Thanks.” Ronan cleared his throat. “I appreciate the offer. I welcome any help you want to give.”

They finished their last lap, then walked to the chin-up bar, where they took turns alternately cheering and jeering each other as they finished their workout.

The charity tournament was in a few days. Aidan and Del would be arriving, along with their wives. It was going to be a Mitchell brother reunion.

When Ronan had first found out he’d been committed to the event, he’d felt trapped. Now he was grateful to have time with his brothers. Natalie had dragged him back to the land of the living. Without her, he would still be moody, reclusive and without purpose.

Thinking about her reminded him of what he’d done and how she was still crushed. If only there was a way to make it up to her—but there wasn’t. In his head, he understood it really had been an accident and no one was at fault. In his heart and his gut, he knew he’d hurt Natalie, and how on earth was he supposed to get over that?

*

“I’M WHINING,” PALLAS said with a strangled laugh. “You’re welcome to hang up on me if you don’t have time.”

Natalie was alone in her office at the gallery. She’d finished all her work and, were this any other day, she would be eager to get into the studio and get going on whatever project she had planned. But she hadn’t been back to the studio since the accident and going there now seemed impossible.

She shifted her cell phone to her other ear and said, “I would love to listen to you whine. What’s going on?”

Pallas sighed. “Just a bunch of little stuff that makes me insane. The villain T-shirts are printed wrong. They’re going to be replaced, but they’re from a vendor I really trust. Now I wonder if they’re going to screw up other stuff, which isn’t fair, but it’s how I feel. Renee was the one to find the mistakes. Thank goodness she insisted on checking the order. I would have just left the boxes in the storage room, ready to go for the wedding.”

“Are we liking Renee more?”

Pallas laughed. “Yes. I mean, I never didn’t like her. It’s just she’s so perfect. It’s unnerving.”

“What else is going wrong?”

“I can’t for the life of me get the whole, and I’m using air quotes here, icy lair thing right. Renee’s working on it, too, and we’re stymied. Oh, Silver did a midweek wedding at one of the other venues last night and she called to say she thinks she got food poisoning.”

“Oh, no. That’s awful. How is she feeling?”

“She had to go throw up before she could tell me, so I’m guessing not good. And that’s everything here. You’re coming to the dinner on Friday, aren’t you? I’m looking forward to hanging out with everyone.”

With all five brothers in town, a big family dinner had been planned. Ronan had asked Natalie to go with him. “I’m a little nervous about seeing Aidan, Del and their wives again.”

“You’ll do great. They’re so sweet. I got to know Del and Maya last year when I worked on their wedding. I didn’t spend as much time with Aidan and Shelby, but they seemed really nice.” Pallas laughed. “I’ll make sure you and Ronan sit by us. How’s that? Then if you run out of things to say, you can roll your eyes at me.”

Natalie smiled. “It’s a deal.”

She and her friend chatted for a few more minutes, then hung up. Natalie looked at the clock and knew she had an entire afternoon to fill. The past couple of days, when she finished in the office, she’d simply gone home, but she couldn’t avoid the studio forever. There’d been a disaster, but no one was hurt and her next piece would be even better. The only way to get over her disappointment was to move on.

That was as much of a pep talk as she could manage, so she forced herself to her feet and walked across the parking lot to the studio.

The building was closed and dark. She knew Ronan was working from home and she wasn’t sure where Mathias and Nick were. After unlocking the door, she stepped inside and turned on the lights.

Nothing looked all that different than it had before. All the workstations were just as messy. The huge oven still sat in the far corner. She turned toward her area and saw the big easel was empty, which made her wonder where her canvas was. There was no way the guys would have thrown it out. She’d just assumed it would be waiting for her, all big and burned and ugly.

She looked around the studio but didn’t see it anywhere. She went into the storeroom and saw it leaning up against the far wall. Her heart stopped as she relived the horrifying moment of the first flames consuming her beautiful flowers. The sound of the canvas hitting the concrete floor replayed in her mind over and over again.

But even as the sound filled her mind, she couldn’t help noticing the damage wasn’t total. The top of the canvas had suffered the most and the flowers were burned down to the glue, but at the very bottom they were barely touched and three butterflies were intact. The flowers in the middle had scorched and burned petals, the black contrasting with the vivid colors she’d chosen for her piece. There was, she had to admit, a savage beauty to what was left.

She carried the canvas to her workstation and set it on the easel, then walked back and forth as she studied the canvas. While it still hurt to see the destruction, a part of her knew there might be other possibilities.