Why Not Tonight
Page 27

The first time Natalie had participated in the process, she’d been terrified. Not only had she been new at her job, she’d just had a small mixed-media canvas put on the wall. What if Atsuko decided it wasn’t worthy? But her boss had simply walked by the small piece and two days later it had sold.
Atsuko had excellent taste and an understanding of what her clients wanted, but every now and then she made a mistake. The odd half man, half bull bronze casting might fall in that category.
Natalie waited, clipboard in hand, while Atsuko circled the eighteen-inch piece. Every now and then Natalie privately thought she wanted to be Atsuko when she grew up. The gallery owner was always perfectly put together, favoring tailored clothing with an Asian influence. She ran a successful business, sold incredible art for hundreds of thousands of dollars, all the while making everyone around her feel comfortable and happy.
Atsuko shook her head. “That one is going back. I’m sure it would sell eventually, but I don’t love it.”
Natalie made a note next to the small picture on her inventory sheet.
Every artist had his or her own sheet listing what was available for sale. The only exception was Mathias. His dishes, bowls, basins and lighting fixtures were managed differently—more as goods to be sold than individual pieces of art. As far as Natalie could tell, anything Mathias created sold almost immediately. Even his mistakes were offered at a discount and quickly snatched up.
Atsuko glanced out the window. Natalie followed her gaze and saw two cars driving around to the work studio parking lot.
“Ronan seems to be on track.” Atsuko turned to Natalie. “Your doing, I presume.”
“What?” Natalie felt herself flush. “Me? No. I just... He...” She sighed. “It’s not what you think. Ronan is getting out more. Being around people helps him, plus working with his brothers. I think he needs the energy.”
“Is that what we’re calling it?”
Before Natalie could shriek, the gallery door opened and a man walked in. He was of average height, with light brown hair and glasses. He wore a blue button-down shirt tucked into khakis. For some reason he seemed vaguely familiar, but more in the way of someone she might have seen around town. He certainly didn’t look like a typical gallery client. Plus it was Wednesday morning. No one shopped for art on Wednesday morning.
He glanced between Atsuko and herself. “Natalie Kaleta?”
Natalie took a half step toward him. “That’s me. How can I help you?” She had no idea who the guy was or what he was doing here.
“Edgar Wooster.” He offered his hand. After they shook, he handed her a manila folder. “I’m a scientist at the sleep research center north of town.” He nodded at the folder. “That’s my résumé, along with a health history. I’ve never wanted children of my own or a wife. Too much of a distraction. I’m all about my work.”
Natalie glanced at Atsuko, who appeared equally baffled by Edgar’s presence. “Okay,” Natalie said slowly. “While that’s interesting, I’m not sure why...”
Edgar frowned slightly. “I want to improve the gene pool. It’s always been a goal of mine. To contribute to the species but without the messy emotional involvement.”
Which sounded weird, but everyone had their own ideas about things. What she couldn’t figure out was why he was here and what he was telling her.
Edgar’s expression became impatient. “I’m here to be a sperm donor. I heard you’re looking for one.” He dropped his gaze to her feet, then slowly raised his gaze until he met her eyes again, then smiled. “You’re not unattractive. We could save the money and get you pregnant the old-fashioned way.”
Atsuko gave a little burst of laughter, then excused herself, leaving Natalie to splutter alone.
“I... You...” What on earth had happened? Who was this man and how did he know about her baby app? And a sperm donor? No. No!
“Do you want to think about it?” Edgar asked.
“I don’t need to,” she said firmly. “While I appreciate the offer, I’ve decided to go in another direction.”
“That’s disappointing.” He nodded at the folder. “If you change your mind, my contact information is right there.”
With that, he turned and left. Natalie stood in the gallery, unable to believe what had just happened. In the distance, she could still hear Atsuko laughing.
* * *
FIRE GOOD, RONAN thought with a grin as he adjusted his face mask. Or in this case, a blowtorch was even better. He, Nick and Mathias were in the back of an auto repair shop where they’d had Natalie’s totaled car towed. They’d let the local high school auto shop class pick over the vehicle for whatever parts they wanted and had been left with a stripped carcass. Now, wearing protective face masks, aprons and gloves, they prepared to cut her car in two.
Ronan and Mathias had agreed with the “coming and going” theme for the bridge and Mathias had already been in touch with the city’s engineer to work out ways to secure the car and keep the bridge safe. Ronan had done some preliminary sketches and knew that he would have to reduce the length of the hood by at least two-thirds. Nick was along because it was cutting a car in half with a blowtorch.
Nick, who had won their round-robin rock-paper-scissors, got to go first. They’d marked where the major cuts would go—parts of the car would have to be separated with a saw and tin snips, but there were still large sections that could literally be blown apart.
“Everybody protected?” Nick asked, checking his own face mask. “I’m going in.”
The sound of the blowtorch was very satisfying, Ronan thought as he watched the process of separating metal. The roof was thin enough that it cut quickly. As his brother worked, Ronan flashed to Natalie’s mixed-media pieces and he briefly wondered if he could do something like that with metal and glass. He knew people did all-metal sculptures—some of them were huge and very detailed. But what about combining the two? He would have to play with some sketches and probably take a welding class. Last year Mathias and Nick had played around with welding and they’d nearly set themselves on fire.
Once the car was in two pieces, Mathias went to work on removing the back third, including a bit of the rear door and the trunk, while Nick and Ronan discussed the best place to cut the hood section.
“What’s your outer limit?” Nick asked. “Don’t forget you’re going to have to put something over the headlights. You can’t leave glass that thin out there. Maybe a mesh of some kind. Or replace them with a thicker glass that’s safe.”
“Good point.” The last thing they wanted was glass that would splinter if broken.
He and Nick figured out the measurements, then had Mathias check their work. The three brothers worked together for most of the afternoon. They were hot, sweaty and tired when they were done, but everyone had a good time.
Ronan remembered when it had always been like this. The three of them in the studio, creating, experimenting, wanting desperately to be the best to show their father.
At first Mathias had been the most gifted. Nick had great talent, but he liked to try different things. Greatness meant perfection and perfection required discipline. Nick would rather experiment with a hundred different techniques than master five.
Mathias had been more than willing and the one Ceallach had watched the closest. Ronan had tried to outdo his brother. His work was consistent and always improving, but Mathias had a flare, a vision Ronan couldn’t duplicate.