lived in a weird place, it was hard to settle for normal.
But there were differences. Fool’s Gold was in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Happily Inc was on the edge of the desert. There were mountains in both towns, but the ones here seemed newer, with sharper peaks and more edges. As interesting to his artist’s eyes were the changes in colors. Dawns were a mix of oxblood and carnelian with umber and sepia for shading.
He’d been in town for three weeks. Mathias owned a ridiculously large house on the edge of the golf course and had offered him a place to stay until he figured out what he wanted to do.
“Why’d you move here?” Nick asked. “Why not Sedona or some artists’ village in Tennessee?”
“Atsuko was already selling our work,” Mathias said, mentioning the gallery owner in town. “She wanted us to meet, and when she heard we were leaving Fool’s Gold, she suggested we stop by and visit her. One thing led to another and here we are.”
His brothers had a sweet setup, Nick thought. Atsuko had contacts all over the world. With her acting as broker, they didn’t have to bother with the business side of what they did. Instead they could focus on their art. Their studio was large and open. They had each other for company and yet plenty of space.
While Mathias lived here, by the golf course and the zebras, Ronan had a house up in the mountains. Built mostly of stone and native materials, the structure blended perfectly with the surroundings. There was even a large studio out back, when Ronan didn’t want to make the drive into town.
When Nick had figured out it was time for him to get somewhere else, he’d considered a lot of options, but Happily Inc had been the obvious choice. Especially with the Dubai commission looming.
Twilight turned to night. There were a million stars out here. Nick studied the sky and wondered if they were far enough south for it to be different from what he was used to. Probably not.
“Any regrets about leaving?” Nick asked.
“No.”
Because of their father, Nick thought grimly. Ceallach had made an impression on all of them. Some good and a lot bad.
There were five Mitchell sons. The oldest two hadn’t been blessed—or was it cursed?—with any form of Ceallach’s talent. They had been mostly ignored by their father, while the younger three had gotten the brunt of his attention.
“Ronan okay?” he asked. Their youngest brother had had the most to deal with.
“We don’t talk about it.”
“Still?”
“Always.”
Which had to be a bear. Mathias and Ronan had always been tight. Probably because they were twins—or they used to be.
Neither of them would want to talk about that so he changed the subject. “How was your date Saturday night?”
Mathias looked at him over his beer bottle. “It wasn’t a date.”
“You didn’t take a woman to dinner, and then have sex with her?”
“Yeah, sure, I did that.”
“How is it not a date?”
“I’ll never see her again.”
“I guess that does change the definition.”
Since moving to Happily Inc, Mathias had started taking up with the various bridesmaids that came into town. He hooked up with them for a night or two, then they were gone.
Nick enjoyed women as much as the next guy, but he’d never been that into volume, or variety. He liked the idea of having someone in his life—as long as he could keep things under control. He wanted enough passion for things to be interesting, but not so much that he was consumed. Sometimes that balance was difficult to find so he erred on the side of not doing.
“Just be careful,” Nick warned. “You don’t want some woman coming back in six months and saying she’s madly in love with you.”
“Not gonna happen.”
Nick hoped he was right.
“Atsuko says you’re going to be working for one of the wedding venues,” Mathias said.
“Yup. Weddings in a Box.”
His brother frowned. “Doing what? Folding napkins?”
“I’ve never folded napkins. It could be interesting.”
Mathias stared at him. “Do I have to worry about you?”
“I don’t know. Do you?”
His brother’s stare turned into a glare. Nick laughed. “I’m going to be restoring two sets of wooden panels. They’re old and in bad shape. The work is brilliant. I need to do some research to see if I can figure out who made them.”
“You should ask Atsuko. She knows things and has a lot of connections in the art world.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll take some pictures and see if she can show them around.”
He’d only known the gallery owner a few weeks but he was already impressed. The fifty-something woman had buyers everywhere. She drove a hard bargain, got an excellent price, then handled shipping. He’d sold more through Atsuko in the past three weeks than in the past three years.
His father’s philosophy had always been to let the art buyer come to him. Nick was beginning to believe that was a very shortsighted way of doing business.
“Heard anything on the Dubai commission?” Mathias asked.
“No. It’s going to be a couple of months until they decide. Then I’ll have to figure out what I want to do. Two years is a long time.”
“Is this where I point out you don’t have the job yet?”
Nick grinned. “Hey, it’s me. Who else would they give it to?”
“Someone with talent.”
“You’re jealous.”
“Not of you, big brother.”
Nick laughed and turned his attention back to the night. “Any bats around here?”
“Scared?”
“Intrigued. I keep getting flashes of a piece that has a lot of bats in it.”
Mathias shook his head. “There’s something wrong with you.”
“Probably.”
“Bats. Fruit or vampire?”
“Fruit. I think. I should do some research.”
“On bats.” Mathias took a drink of beer. “Do you think Mom dropped you on your head when you were
