“Why?” Aud turned from the slow-starting machine.
“Well, didn’t you have a date last night?” The distance between them muffled her voice. “I figured you’d have had a long night. Or didn’t the date go well?”
“It went great.” Aud couldn’t keep the happiness out of his voice if he’d tried. His sleep had been filled with sexy dreams that featured Leo.
“But you’re still in at opening.” Heather reappeared, smoothing her red silk dress. Her perfectly groomed nails matched the garment’s color.
“We’re going to take things slow.” Aud turned back to the computer as the tones of it finally launching the desktop rang out. “But we had a great time, and we’ll be going out again tomorrow night. That is, if you can close, should we have any lingering customers at five.”
She came behind the counter and leaned against the chair he settled into. “A second date? That’s good. So he’s a nice guy, then?”
“Yeah, I think he’s a great guy. The sketch of him went really smoothly. I might even finish it when I get home tonight.” Aud started pulling up files.
“How detailed a sketch are you doing?”
“Fairly. He’s got a very expressive face. I could stare at him and draw him for hours, days even.”
Heather blinked at him. “Are you serious? You never spend hours drawing someone. How many sketches have you started, just to toss them aside because they got boring, or you did something small that didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to?”
“This one is going perfectly.” Aud ran a finger down the screen as he studied the spreadsheet he’d brought up. “So, we need to go through this. Anything we’ve had in a gallery for more than six months that hasn’t moved, we need to contact the artist or their agent and find out if they want to drop the price, replace it, or pull it out completely.”
“What?” Heather blinked. “Wait a minute. Are you trying to change the subject on me?”
“Not exactly. We need to get some work done, not just chat about my love life. If I’m lucky, I’ll have more to discuss on Monday.” Aud smiled at the thought of seeing Leo again. How long has it been since the idea of going out with a guy for a second date made me smile? How long has it been since I actually had a second date?
“Okay. I’ll give you that.” Heather leaned closer and studied the sheet. She tapped an entry. “I’ll be happy to call this one. That hideous piece of glass has been here way too long. We’ve got several other glass artists who have been in recently wanting to know if we’re looking for new stained glass. That abstract has been hanging in the front window so long some of the regulars think it’s our new logo.”
Aud glanced up at the massive mosaic stained-glass piece. The frame was beautiful, but the mosaic looked like the artist had just swept up all her scraps and decided to make a huge piece out of them. When it arrived, he’d worried it wouldn’t sell, even though she had a good record with other pieces over the years. His gut instinct had been right, and now it was the last piece of hers he had in the shop. “Thanks. She’s been rather distant the past few times I’ve talked to her.”
They settled into a lively discussion about the changes in art they needed to make as well as confirming the openings that were happening over the next few weeks. Aud always felt happy when he was making improvements to his gallery. It was the perfect thing for him to do after an enjoyable date and the hopes of future dates.
“HOW WOULD you like it delivered?” Aud asked the middle-aged woman who had just purchased a large bronze statue of the goddess Artemis.
“What are my options?” She slid her credit card back into her purse.
“We have a delivery company that we’ve never had any problems with. You can arrange your own transport, or I can contact the artist and see if she could move it for you. I know she likes the opportunity to see where her pieces end up.”
She graced him with a pleasant smile. “I’d love to meet the artist. She has done such a magnificent job capturing the beauty and ferocity of Artemis. It’s almost like the goddess came to her in a dream or something.” She handed him a business card. “See when she can handle the move and I’ll make sure to clear my schedule.”
He took the card and stapled it to the sales receipt. “I’ll call you as soon as I contact her.”
“Thank you. It’s always a pleasure to come in and see what’s new.” She slipped her purse over her arm. “You have a good day.” She headed for the door.
“You too,” he called after her as she opened the door and stepped out onto the street. That definitely makes for a good day. It’s not even noon yet and if I don’t sell anything else the whole weekend, bills are paid for the week on that commission.