Fire After Dark by Sadie Matthews

Author:Sadie Matthews [Matthews, Sadie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Adult
ISBN: 9781444765502
Google: vUzrLzFLM64C
Amazon: 1444765507
Publisher: Hodder
Published: 2012-05-15T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

‘No, I’m fine, really, Mum.’ I make a face at James, who’s putting a cup of coffee down on the desk for me, telegraphing that I won’t be long. He makes a ‘take as long as you like’ gesture and goes off to a discreet distance so that I can talk freely.

‘Are you sure, darling?’ My mother sounds anxious. ‘I worry about you on your own in that big city.’

‘I’m really all right. And I’m at work now, so I can’t talk . . . ’

‘Promise you’ll call me later? And I can catch a train to be with you any time if you need me.’

‘There’s no need for that, but I’ll definitely call you soon. I better go now.’

‘All right, then. Take care. Goodbye, I love you!’

‘I love you too, Mum. Bye.’ I put the phone down, comforted by the talk with my mother. Even though I didn’t tell her what’s happened with Dominic, her sharp mother antennae picked up some of the gloom I couldn’t quite stop from coming into my voice.

James comes back over to see how I’m doing with the catalogue proofs. I show him that they’re nearly finished.

‘Good,’ he says. ‘You’ve got an excellent eye for detail, Beth. That takes a weight off my shoulders, I can tell you. I’m not very good at that myself. Sometimes I get Erlend to double-check for me, but his written English isn’t perfect, and he can matters worse by putting mistakes in instead of taking them out.’ He shakes his head, laughing. ‘We’re a right old pair. Now – once the proofs are done, I’ve got some things we need to start dealing with.’

We go through some tasks. I’ll be helping to organise the next private view, which is happening in two weeks’ time, and sorting out the taking down of the current exhibition and the installation of the next. There’s plenty to keep me busy, and James has more time to deal with clients, which is his forte. I’ve already witnessed him at work, approaching a customer who came in off the street and talking to him about the art on the walls. Wary of a hard sell at first, the customer took a while to relax but with James’s gentle guidance, he found a picture he liked very much and before long, a deal was struck.

I was impressed. It can’t be easy to persuade someone to part with five thousand pounds just like that.

‘In these difficult financial times, people are seeing art as an investment,’ James explained. ‘I spent a while reassuring him that this artist is going to hold his value and probably go up. That’s what customers are most concerned about now – but, of course, they must love the art as well. It’s an investment that can bring a great deal of pleasure.’

Now he looks me in that wise way he has, peering over the top of his spectacles and reminding me of an owl in a storybook. ‘You just don’t seem yourself today.

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