Why Not Tonight

by Susan Mallery

  “I’m going to pay for it,” Ronan said easily, careful to stand behind Natalie so she couldn’t see him. “It’s only a few hundred dollars, right? Before the discount?”

  Greg looked momentarily startled, then caught Ronan’s slow nod and smiled. “Right. With the discount, it’s practically free.”

  Natalie clapped her hands together. “Then it’s the Corolla. Let’s take her to the mechanic, and if she passes, then I’ll buy her. I hope she’s in good shape because I can already picture her bright, shiny red.”

  “There’s some paperwork to fill out before she can go to the mechanic,” Greg said. “Let’s go into my office.”

  Natalie waved them toward the building. “You two go ahead. I need a minute more with the car.”

  “Take your time,” Ronan told her. “You need to be sure she’s the one.”

  He walked with Greg. When they were out of earshot, Greg said, “The paint job is a few thousand.”

  “I know. She’s going to want candy-apple red. That’s going to be more.”

  The other man stared at him. “You must really like her.”

  “Something like that.” He passed over his credit card. “Just make sure she doesn’t find out I did this.”

  “You got it.”

  Ronan watched Natalie to make sure she wasn’t done bonding with her new-to-her car. When Greg handed him the receipt, he signed it without glancing at the final amount.

  “If the car doesn’t pass with the mechanic, I’ll refund the money,” Greg told him.

  “Thanks.”

  Natalie started toward the offices. Ronan tucked the receipt in his back pocket and hoped his good deed wouldn’t come back to bite him. If it did, he would have to deal.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “I DON’T KNOW what I was thinking,” Atsuko murmured as she studied the brass statue. “Had there been wine at the meeting?”

  Natalie carefully pressed her lips together, determined not to comment. Every quarter, Atsuko went over the gallery’s inventory to determine what was and wasn’t selling. The accounting software provided a list of everything waiting to be sold, but Atsuko preferred to look at the various pieces herself. She always said that while numbers were interesting, art came from the soul.

  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 proces
s 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.

  Ronan remembered their intense conversations about art and how great they were going to be. They were the twins—they’d always had each other. Everyone had known they were a team.

  Maybe that was why Nick went his own way. Del and Aidan didn’t have the gift—they were normal, so naturally hung out together. Ronan and Mathias were each other’s best friend, leaving Nick odd man out. Whatever the reason, Ronan had known he could count on Mathias and his brother could do the same.

  When Ceallach had destroyed an exceptional piece Mathias had created—no doubt because it challenged his own mastery—Mathias had switched to creating everyday objects. Ronan remembered their fights as he’d struggled to convince his brother not to let their father win. But Mathias had been adamant. He was what he was and he wasn’t changing. A stubbornness Ronan happened to share.

  Now he looked at his two brothers and wondered how things could have been different. If he’d found out the truth in some other way...or not at all. A part of him wanted to still be Mathias’s twin—at least then he would know his place in the world. Now he was nothing but Ceallach’s bastard and that was not a happy fate. Without a mother, there was no one to counteract the darkness that threatened.

  Natalie would tell him he had his biological mother, but he wasn’t sure she would be much help. The woman had slept with a married man, had his baby, then walked away from her kid. She wasn’t a shining example of social correctness. For all he knew, she was as selfish and amoral as his father. Which left Ronan fighting demons with no chance of winning. Part of the reason he’d found it easy to stay away from his brothers.

  Only now he was reconnected, and even though he knew he should go back to his solitary life, he couldn’t seem to do it. He was drawn to town, drawn to their company and drawn to the safety and light of circling in Natalie’s orbit. She had worked her magic and he was no match for her emotional power.

  “Ready?” Nick asked, turning off the blowtorch before passing it over.

  Ronan grinned, his introspective thoughts pushed away by the reality of tools that cut through metal. “Always.”

  * * *

  BY THREE THE inventory was finished, Atsuko was no longer chuckling and Natalie had pretty much recovered from her unexpected encounter. On Monday she would be hosting lunch with her friends and she planned to get to the bottom of who might have mentioned her incredibly tentative thoughts on the baby front to total strangers. She was sure Edgar was a nice guy but jeez.

  She supposed a case could be made that if she wasn’t comfortable talking to Edgar about being a sperm donor, then she really wasn’t ready or maybe even interested in the entire process. Not that her reluctance was exactly news. She was starting to suspect her thoughts about having a kid on her own were symptoms of a bigger problem. She wanted more in her life. She wanted a sense of belonging. She wanted to fall in love and get married and have a family.

  She hadn’t figured out an answer to her question when a very sweaty, very happy Ronan walked into the gallery.

  “We did it,” he told her. “We cut up your car. It was great. The kids from the auto shop class had picked over it like vultures. They’d taken everything that wasn’t welded down. Mathias worked on the back half. He’s got it sectioned to the trunk and just a bit of the back door. Nick and I worked on the front. I think I’ve got that where I need it. We’ll have to check the final measurements. You’re going to want to weigh in on color. Something that will look good with the sky. Also, we have to talk about how stylized you want this to be.”

  He grinned. “You know, we could put wings on this thing.” His smile faded when she didn’t respond. “What’s wrong? What happened? Are you upset about the car?”

  “No. Of course not. I’m glad it has a new purpose and you had a good time and that progress was made.”

  “I’m not convinced. What is it?”

  She folded her arms across her chest. “A man stopped by. Edgar. He’s a scientist at the sleep center. He brought me his résumé.”

  “For what?”

  She drew in a breath. “I can’t even believe I’m going to say this, but to be a sperm donor. I have no idea who told him about my baby app. You know and my friends know, and that’s all. I did mention it the last time we had lunch, so it has to be one of them. Unless you told Edgar.”

  Ronan held up both hands. “I don’t even know the guy. It wasn’t me.”

  “I didn’t think so.” She doubted the man she was sleeping with would have offered her up for sperm donation.

  “What happened?”

  “You won’t believe it. He just walked in here and started talking about how he wants to improve the species.”

  Ronan’s lips began to twitch.

  “It’s not funny,” she protested.

  “It kind of is. Improve the species. Like he’s all that.”

  Not exactly the response she was looking for. “You’re not upset?”

  “You’re not going to take him up on his offer, so no.”

  He was far too calm, she thought, getting annoyed. An unusual state for her, but here it was and she was going to take advantage of it.

  “Interesting.” She studied Ronan. “He said I was attractive enough that he was more than happy to get me pregnant the old-fashioned way, if that makes a difference.”

  Ronan’s green eyes darkened, his mouth straightened and his shoulders went back, as if in an unconscious attempt to make himself look bigger.

  “What did you say?”

  His voice was low and controlled and just a little annoyed.

  “What?” she asked sweetly. “Are you concerned?”

  “That some guy you never met wanted to have sex with you? Yes, I’m concerned.”

  “Good. Because it wasn’t funny to me and you laughed.”

  He walked over and pulled her close. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I should have reacted differently. Do you want me to go beat him up?”

  “I’m not sure how that would help improve the species.” She snuggled close. Now that he was holding her, she wa
s feeling a whole lot better about things.

  “Screw the species,” he said right before he kissed her. “How can I make this up to you?”

  She smiled at him. “Maybe you could show me the cut-up car.”

  “Happy to.”

  “And let me use the blowtorch.”

  “Not even for money.”

  She was still laughing when he kissed her again.

  * * *

  NATALIE LIKED WHEN the gallery was closed. Yes, it was a retail establishment where goods were bought and sold, but that was only when customers were around. On the days it was quiet and empty of anyone but her, she couldn’t helping thinking the semilit space had a spiritual quality.

  She loved to walk through the silence, pausing to admire various creations. She wondered what the artist had been thinking and how close they’d come to their vision. She got caught up in swirls and lines and color and depth. Looking at the art recharged and inspired her.

  On this particular Monday she was a little more concerned with getting set up for her lunch than admiring the work around her, but she did pause to study a vase filled with elegant cut flowers. The piece was about three feet high and four feet wide and done entirely in glass. The true genius was how real the flowers looked, as if a leaf might fall off any second or a petal might droop.

  Ronan had created a series of the flowers in vases—each one representing a different season. Mathias had played on that theme with seasonal dishes. Atsuko had created a display combining their work. The everyday and the untouchable, Natalie thought briefly before returning her attention to the table.

  She had enough chairs, a place for their small buffet and the right amount of cutlery, plates and glasses. She’d bought a large superdeluxe chicken Cobb salad with extra avocado, tortilla strips and sesame seeds because there was so much yummy stuff on top there was barely any lettuce.

  Right at noon Silver knocked on the front door. Natalie moved the Closed sign to let her in, then nearly groaned when she inhaled the scent of freshly baked bread. Her gaze dropped to the two long baguettes her friend held.