The Suitor by Michael Allegretto

Author:Michael Allegretto [Allegretto, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784083007
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2013-12-03T16:14:00+00:00

Chapter 21

BY MID-MORNING VALERIE was engrossed in her painting, detailing the dancer’s beads and feathers with painstaking care.

The studio seemed smaller now, with six huge, blank canvases leaning against one wall. They were lined up, waiting, constant reminders of the task ahead.

And so when the phone rang, she was reluctant to stop work. She crossed the room, then paused for a moment in the studio doorway, allowing herself a wide-angle view of the painting. She smiled, satisfied, then hurried downstairs to the kitchen.

“It’s me,” Greg said, his voice sounding hollow in the phone. “There’s been a fire at the shop.”

“What?” Valerie was stunned.

“My shop is…it’s ruined.”

Valerie didn’t want to believe what she was hearing. “My God, what happened? Was anybody hurt?”

“No, everyone’s all right. It happened last night. The fire investigators are there now. They still don’t know how it started—at least they haven’t told me.” He paused. “I don’t know yet whether it was arson.”

“Arson?”

“Believe it or not, that was my first thought,” he said bitterly. “And the first person I thought of was Leonard.”

“Oh God, Greg.”

“You can see why, can’t you? I intimidated him on the phone last night, and sometime later the fire started. Coincidence?”

“But do you really think…?”

Greg sighed heavily. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s just a convenient scapegoat. In fact, it could’ve been something electrical. The firemen said the doors were closed and locked, so apparently no one had broken in. And the fire was confined to the back room.”

Valerie was thankful for something positive, no matter how slight. “At least it wasn’t the whole shop.”

“It was the whole shop,” Greg said, suddenly angry. Then he spoke more quietly, “I’m sorry, I’m…”

“It’s okay.”

She heard him sigh again. It made her heart ache.

“The sprinkler system went on automatically,” Greg explained without enthusiasm, “and it kept the fire from spreading to the front. But the sprinklers turned on at the front of the shop as well, and everything got soaked. It looks like all the paper stock is ruined. There’s probably water damage to the printing equipment, too, although I haven’t had a chance to check everything out. And of course, the whole place reeks of smoke, and the carpet’s ruined, and…I don’t know, it’s…”

His voice trailed away. Valerie felt his pain. She searched for something to say.

“Won’t the insurance cover most of it?”

“Sure, it’ll pay for the equipment and the stock and any other damage. But I don’t know how long I’m going to be closed—weeks, at least. And most of my customers won’t wait. They can’t wait. They need their printing done now. And once they switch to a new print shop, well…I don’t know how long it will take to recover from this, Valerie, I…don’t know.”

He fell silent.

“Greg, we’ll get through it all right. We will.”

He hesitated. “I know.”

“It’ll take time, that’s all.”

“I know you’re right,” he said. “But at this point it’s hard to be objective.”

“Is there…can I do anything for you now?”

“Thanks, but no, not really.”

“Can I come to the shop?”

“There’s nothing to do there.

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