by R. L. Naquin
I smiled and snagged a glass of champagne from a wandering server carrying a tray. “Clever boy, Gordon,” I whispered into my drink .
As I wandered, I watched the people more than I looked at the paintings. The glow and excitement in their eyes would have made Gordon so happy. It hurt my heart that he couldn’t be here to see how much people loved his art. But it also soothed my heart knowing that he’d left behind this incredible body of work .
As I sipped and strolled, I nearly walked into Elizabeth. “I’m so sorry.” I stepped aside for her to pass .
Her eyes were red as if she’d been crying or hadn’t been sleeping well. But her smile was bright. “No, pardon me! I wasn’t paying attention.” She waved her glass around the room, indicating the paintings. “Have you had a chance to see everything yet? Are you enjoying yourself?” She was playing the hostess in her client’s absence .
“They’re lovely. I can’t get over how real the figures look, which is really something when you’re talking about dragons and unicorns .”
She nodded, and a little sadness peeked out from under her hostess exterior. “He was my most talented client .”
“I’m so sorry.” I wanted to hug her. I’d been present for their last exchange, and it hadn’t been pretty. The poor woman must be heartbroken .
She drained her glass and a little of the edge I was used to seeing on her face appeared. “He was also my most difficult.” She snagged a fresh glass and dropped the empty on a passing tray. “Enjoy the party.” She sauntered off toward a group of women standing by a window .
I was relieved she hadn’t recognized me from the time I bumped into her on the sidewalk in front of Gordon’s, but I wasn’t surprised. The exchange probably hadn’t even registered with her .
I followed the makeshift walls until I found what I most wanted to see—the enormous piece Gordon had been working on the day he died .
The scene was so real, I wanted to step inside and become a part of it. Charlotte and her dragon captured my immediate attention. The fine details in her hair, his eyes and the scales, and the curve of her lips were exquisite. Gordon had been far more gifted than I’d realized .
I took a sip of my champagne and took in the rest of the painting. The dancing nymphs in the background looked as though they might leap from the canvas. Even the sand at Charlotte’s feet had a depth to it that I had a difficult time grasping. I lifted my chin and took a breath through my nose, half expecting to smell the breeze blowing in over the water and the flowers threaded through Charlotte’s locks .
The bark on the tree in the foreground looked rough, and I longed to reach out and brush my fingers over it. Farther up, the angel stood watch from her perch. I sputtered and nearly spilled my champagne .
“Yeah. That was my reaction when I saw it , too .”
I turned, embarrassed and trying to recover from the shock of what I’d seen, then nearly choked a second time . “Mark !”
His lips curled up in a shy smile. He lifted his champagne glass to point toward the angel in the tree. “So, any idea why my brother put you in his painting ?”
I stared, feeling like I’d misheard him. “I’m sorry , what ?”
“My brother. You obviously knew him.” He gestured at the rest of the gallery. “He put you in several of his paintings, actually .”
My eyes filled with tears. “He did?” I craned my neck to look .
Mark put gentle fingers on the side of my face and pulled me to look up at him. “Wynter. What’s going on ?”
He glanced at his own fingers, then dropped his hand as if my skin had burned him .
I stepped back and gave him some room, afraid to look him in the eye for fear of what I’d see there. The last time I’d seen him, he’d been gruff and angry with me. He’d already moved on to someone else. Maybe. Probably .
Instead of looking at him, I returned my gaze to the painting, taking in the improbable sight of my own face staring out of the shadows of a tree, watching over Charlotte and her dragon. “I didn’t really know him. We may have met once or twice in passing.” Even I knew that sounded like a big fat lie. Then again, it was fairly accurate .
Mark stood next to me, silent. I could feel his gaze searing into me, yet he refused to speak until I gave in and turned to look at him .
He shook his head in disappointment. “I saw you standing here like my own private miracle, and I thought…I thought maybe Fate had sent you to me. That we could mend whatever the hell got messed up a few months ago. But I was stupid. You have so many secrets. You won’t let me in.” He dropped his head and fixed his gaze on his shoes. “There’s always going to be this weird distance between us .”
I took a step toward him, my throat tightening and making it hard to speak. “I came back, though. I tried to apologize, but you wouldn’t talk to me.” Now I dropped my head and looked at my own shoes. “You already had company. I didn’t mean to…interrupt.” I kept my attention focused on the gold buckle on my shoe, willing myself not to cry .
Mark hesitated, then reached out and took my hand. “I am so sorry about that night. Gordon was there. He was having a meltdown about Charlotte, and I was trying to talk him through it. I didn’t mean to take it out on you .”
A half-strangled laugh escaped me. “That was Gordon in there? You were the reason for his drastic change the next day?” I looked back at the painting, remembering how much lighter Gordon’s mood had been the day after we’d gone to the cemetery for him to say goodbye. Something had happened to him between the cemetery and my next visit. Mystery solved. Mark had happened .
Mark tugged my hand so I’d look at him. His brows were drawn together in a frown. “How could you possibly know that? You said you’d met in passing. Gordon rarely went anywhere, and certainly not without Elizabeth or me driving him there.” His expression was intense, almost desperate for an answer .
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then I drained my glass for good measure. “If I promise to tell you everything, will you promise not to ask questions until we can talk privately ?”
He nodded. “Is this related to your job? Are you sure you can tell me? I thought it was all super-secret government agency stuff .”
“I’ll tell you everything. But you’ll have to trust me and be willing to believe some crazy things .”
He shrugged, though the gesture didn’t come off as casual as it was probably meant. “You’re in my brother’s paintings without having met him. I’m ready to believe anything .”
I smiled. “I may have screwed up a lot of things between us, but I’ve never lied to you. Except about eating the last donut when you’re not looking. I do lie about food sometimes .”
Mark’s dark chocolate eyes sparkled, and when he nodded, his hair fell over one eye—much the same way his brother’s had. “If I try to kiss you, will freak out ?”
I shook my head. “No.” He smelled so good, I wanted to close my eyes and stay there forever .
He moved closer and pressed his lips against mine in a feathery kiss that left my insides shaking. He pulled back and smiled. “Do you want to get out of here ?”
I nodded. “I’m ready .”
W e curled up together on Mark’s couch with a bottle of wine and a long night of telling the truth .
At first, Mark had an understandably difficult time believing that I was a Muse and that there was a place called the Mt. Olympus Employment Agency. But he came around when I gave him details of things in his apartment that I shouldn’t have known about .
“Stalker. Wow.” He ran his fingers down my arm, then brushed them through my hair. It seemed he couldn’t stop touching me. Even when his hands were still, they rested on my hand or my arm or my leg .
I didn’t mind a bit. “Well, mostly I was looking for ways to help you finish your project .”
“Uh huh.” He leaned in and kissed my neck. “Stalker.” He pulled back. “Okay. So, say I believe this crazy story. How does my brother play into it ?”
“No, wait. First, explain to me why I didn’t know you had a brother .”
“Okay. Well, to be fair, it never came up. But that’s mostly because he liked his private life to be separate from his celebrity life. He was always kind of weird .”
I was quiet for a moment trying to decide how to say what I needed to tell him. I cleared my throat and sat up, facing him. “I was…I was with him when he died.” He tried to respond and I held my hand up. “Let me get this out, first. I was there with him. It was the first time we actually had a conversation—thought not our last, and I’ll tell you about that later. He told me to tell you he loves you.” I frowned, remembering. “And he told me to tell his brother to stop being an ass. I have no idea what that means. A private joke, I guess. But I didn’t know who his brother was, so I couldn’t pass on the message until now .”
I waited, expecting Mark to be overcome with grief or angry that his brother’s dying words had been hurtful. His reaction was neither of those .
Mark threw his head back and laughed. “You. He was talking about you. He was furious at me for turning you away the night he was there. He didn’t see you, but he heard what I said. And he knew how much I missed you.” He chuckled, and a tear rolled down his cheek. “He was looking out for me, even with his last breath .”
We sat in silence for awhile, holding hands, sipping wine, and sifting through our own thoughts .
I couldn’t get over the coincidence of Gordon and Mark being brothers. What were the odds? Then Mark’s words from earlier echoed in my head. He’d thought Fate had sent me to him .
All the threads came together at once .
That was what Trina had meant about Gordon’s thread being tied to mine. Every stupid thing the Fates had done to manipulate me had been to bring me here to this moment .
My throat constricted and made it difficult to speak. “It was you .”
“What was me ?”
“All of it. It was all you.” I stopped, appalled at how I’d very nearly thrown away the whole thing. “I am so sorry I ran away from you .”
He pulled me close in his arms. “You’re here now. I think this is where we both belong .”
I smiled . “Fate .”
He nodded, moving closer. “Fate.” His lips brushed mine, soft at first, then more intense .
I pressed against him, breathing in the scent of the cologne I’d loved since the day we’d met. He pulled me onto his lap, and I brushed my fingers in hair that I’d always longed to touch .
The kiss grew more demanding. Our lips parted and I tasted the wine on his tongue. Our hands roamed, mine finding his tie and pulling the knot loose, his grasping the zipper on my dress and lowering it .
In one swift movement, he rose from the sofa, carrying me in his arms toward his bedroom .
He paused in the hallway. “We can wait, if you want. I don’t want to rush you.” His voice was rough and unsteady .
I trailed kisses down the side of his neck. “I think this project has been neglected long enough. I don’t like to leave anything unfinished .”
<<<<>>>>
A Note from Rachel
D ear super-awesome reader friend ,
Thank you for sticking with Wynter and me to the end of her story. Though Wynter is finished, we’ll see her again in the future. There are so many more stories at the Mt. Olympus Employment Agency. Jilly Bean’s dispensing justice as a Fury, Phoebe’s an Oracle with the future in her hands, and Trina’s watching it all from the Fates department. Patrice the gorgon receptionist is still up to shenanigans after hours, and there are at least two more Cupids who need straightening out .
Mt. Olympus is far from settled .
This final Muse book took a bit longer than I expected it to, so I’m grateful to you for waiting and not giving up on me. Series endings are hard for me. I hate to say goodbye, and I always want to be sure that what I set out to say to you on page one of the first book has all been said by the last page of the final book. I think I managed to do it here, but if not, the Mt. Olympus world is still open. I’ll get it all in there eventually .
While I wrote this series, I also had to say goodbye to my dad. If you followed my blog at all—before it went quiet for a year—you probably saw a little of all that unfold. But mostly, I kept it to myself. It’s another part of why this book took so long to finish. I’ve never lost anyone before, so the grieving process was new to me. It took way longer than I’d penciled in on my mental calendar. Now that I’ve experienced this massive grief thing—and continue to work through it, to my constant surprise—I want to go on record as saying I do not care for it. Nope. Not one bit. As life experiences go, it was not one of my favorites .
I’ve signed up on the no-repeat list. I hope it’s more reliable than the no-call list, because that doesn’t appear to work at all .
So. Thanks again for sticking with me. Look for lots of things to happen now that I’ve crawled out of my hole and rejoined the world. Watch for my blog to come back from the dead. Make sure you’ve signed up for my newsletter so you don’t miss extra stuff and release announcements. Follow my Facebook page because that’s where I live. Come see me and hang out when I’m at a convention . I’m super friendly. Honest .
If nothing else, know that I’m thinking about you when I’m writing, hoping with all my heart that my words will entertain you for a few hours. Say hi to your mom for me. Wave at me on Facebook on your way to the next cat video. I promise I’ll wave back .
See you real soon !
Rachel
May 2017
About the Author
R.L. Naquin
R achel writes stories that drop average people into magical situations filled with heart and quirky humor .
She believes in pixie dust, the power of love, good cheese, lucky socks, and putting things off until the last minute. Her home is Disneyland, despite her current location in Kansas. Rachel has one husband, two grown kids, and a crazy-catlady starter kit .
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Also by R.L. Naquin
F ind R.L. Naquin’s current and new books on her website at www.rlnaquin.com/books
Published by Bottle Cap Publishing:
Short Story Collections
Transmonstrified , Stories from Monster Haven
and Other Places Close to Home
The Mount Olympus Employment Agency : Muse
Unfinished Muse , Book 1
Unamused Muse , Book 2
Uninspired Muse , Book 3
Undercover Gorgon : A Mount Olympus
Employment Agency Miniseries
“Episode #0 - Becoming ”
“Episode #1 - Witches War ”
“Episode #2 - Lost & Found ”
Dallas Fire & Rescue Kindle World /
Mt. Olympus Employment Agency
Crossover Novellas :
Emergency Cupid , 1
Counterfeit Cupid , 2 ( July 2017 )
Runaway Cupid , 3 ( October 2017 )
Published by Carina Press:
The Monster Haven Series
Monster in My Closet , Book 1
Pooka in My Pantry , Book 2
Fairies in My Fireplace , Book 3
Golem in My Glovebox , Book 4
Demons in My Driveway , Book 5
Phoenix in My Fortune , Book 6
The Djinn Haven Series
To Catch a Stolen Soul , Book 1
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