Artistic License to Kill by Paula Darnell

Author:Paula Darnell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Campbell and Rogers Press
Published: 2020-08-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

My heart sank. Just as I was beginning to get established at the gallery, it might go under. I knew that the possibility was very real. Judith had called the offer “exceptionally good.” She was a businesswoman who'd sold her Texas gallery for a pretty penny, so she should know. I wondered whether she was truly tempted by the prospect of a quick, lucrative sale. Maybe she was considering the offer because she thought the Roadrunner's members were ungrateful for all her sister had done for the gallery. After all the years of Janice's donating the gallery space to the co-op, perhaps they took it for granted, maybe even felt entitled to occupy the first floor of Janice's building.

Although those were both possibilities, I suspected that it had more to do with Judith's realization that the members wouldn't miss Janice much, despite Pamela's assertion that they felt her loss keenly. Even though the sisters had had a long estrangement, that knowledge must rankle. I doubted that Judith would have mentioned it if it hadn't.

“I don't know what we're going to do if she sells this building,” Pamela said. “It wouldn't make any sense to move to the First Street location when many of the tourists never leave Main Street. As far as I know, there's no Main Street space available for lease or sale right at the moment. One solution would be for the co-op to buy this building, but, of course, we can't afford it. Each member would have to contribute thousands of dollars to make that happen. It's just not practical.”

“I don't think it is, either. I know I couldn't afford to pay any more than I'm paying for the wall rental.”

“I suppose my husband and I could buy the building, but I know I wouldn't be able to donate the gallery space. I'm sure my husband would agree only if it's a genuine investment. We'd have no problem finding a tenant for the apartment upstairs, but the co-op would also have to lease the gallery space. Even though that model could possibly work, we'd lose quite a few members because we'd have to raise the wall rental fee and take a commission on every sale. Perhaps we could attract some new members, though.”

I could picture my future profits from sales in the gallery decreasing substantially if Pamela bought the place, but the alternative of moving the Roadrunner into the Brooks Miller Gallery would be even worse. Without the Main Street traffic, sales would undoubtedly dip considerably.

“How serious are you?” I asked Pamela.

“Dead serious. Can you imagine Brooks Miller's art in here? That's the only reason he wants to buy the building. He wants to take over the Roadrunner's space for his own gallery. I shudder at the prospect. When Judith comes back, I'm going to try to find out if she really intends to sell. If so, I'm going to ask her to allow me to top Miller's offer.”

“What if she asks him to top your offer? From what you've told me, he has very deep pockets.

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