More than a Phoenix by Ashlyn Chase

Author:Ashlyn Chase
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2018-08-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Dante hadn’t seen his troublesome brother for several days. Of course, they’d had seventy-two-hour shifts, and after that, he’d spent a lot of time with Mallory. That’s what happened when people fell in love. They spent every spare minute together. He’d even been sleeping at her town house when he wasn’t at the station.

To her excitement and horror, the gallery owner had loved her work when she’d stopped by to show it to her. Now her big gallery show was coming up, and she was terrified. Despite assurances to the contrary, Dante was terrified for her, knowing she could turn into a monkey at any moment. It seemed to be her way of escaping stressful situations.

In her basement studio, Mallory lifted a heavy canvas and walked to the stairs. Before she carried it up and out to her car, she stopped. “Dante, I’m not sure I can go through with this.”

Dante set down the two canvases he was carrying and leaned them carefully against a concrete post. He walked over to her, took the canvas out of her hands, and placed it next to the others, then he braced her with his hands on her arms and looked her straight in the eyes.

“I know you’re scared. You don’t need to be. I’ll be right there with you, and I won’t leave your side. No matter what.”

She sagged. “I know. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even consider this. Who wants a monkey bouncing around their gallery?”

Dante enfolded her in his arms. “If I had a gallery, and you were the monkey, I’d want exactly that. What better way to attract attention?”

She laughed. “You’re nuts.”

“Maybe. But I’m only telling the truth when I say you can handle it. You’ve got this, honey.”

They shared a reassuring kiss and returned to the task at hand.

Mallory lifted her canvas again and shuffled. “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…” She made the chugga-chugga-choo-choo sound of a train.

“Now who’s a nut?” Dante chuckled.

Mallory looked over her shoulder and grinned as she preceded him up the stairs.

The large canvases wouldn’t fit in Dante’s car, so he’d borrowed a van from one of his firefighter buddies. He’d actually trusted the guy to take care of Joanna while they traded vehicles.

As soon as they had the paintings draped in clean sheets and stabilized in the back of the van, they went back for more. They repeated the procedure three times, loading the van with nine paintings total. When everything was ready to go, Mallory stood before the open van doors, closed her eyes, and clasped her hands in prayer. Dante sensed the need for some respectful silence, so he simply waited beside her.

When she opened her eyes, he saw a sparkle in them. She seemed happy—not that she hadn’t been—but he could tell there was a sense of accomplishment just by making it this far.

“I’m proud of you, Mal.”

She smiled. “I’m kinda proud of me too.”

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.

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