Park Avenue Prince(79)

I didn’t have head space for this conversation. Seeing Sam but not being able to touch him, the thought of never seeing him again—it was all so exhausting. “It won’t work. I don’t have the right contacts to get the traditional art in the gallery. Or the money.”

“Remember you said you could never have a gallery of your own without your father’s money and look how that turned out.”

“But I had to sell my Renoir.” I started to cry again at the thought of losing that painting to some unknown buyer in the Middle East.

“You sold that painting to get Grace Astor Fine Art. Don’t take your foot off the gas now. If you let it, the gallery could be a great focus.”

She was talking as if what I was experiencing was a normal breakup, as if I just needed to take my mind off things, channel my energy, and I’d bounce back in no time. Didn’t she understand that I’d always love Sam?

“Don’t you think?” she asked.

I nodded. “Sure.”

“Maybe Max can introduce you to some of his rich clients. In fact, why don’t you start running parties in your gallery? Maybe Max can host something there?”

I shrugged. I understood Harper had my best interests at heart, but I couldn’t focus on anything other than what I’d lost.

I wasn’t ready to move on and I didn’t think I ever would be.





“Yes, bring it in this side,” I said to the two men who were delivering new pieces I’d bought from a couple of Max’s clients. He was happy for me to sell them on his behalf, taking a commission. Being as determined and stubborn as she was, Harper’s idea about Max throwing a client party at Grace Astor Fine Art had come to fruition three weeks after she’d first mentioned it. She’d been right to push me to focus on work. I’d made a ton of contacts and booked three more parties since.

It was keeping me busy, but despite it being seven weeks since I’d seen Sam, I still thought about him every moment.

We had our third business event tonight and I wanted this new work on the wall before people started to arrive. The aim of the parties wasn’t about the art at all. It was just a backdrop for a networking evening combined with a speech by a high-profile person in business or sports. Max had given me some suggested names and with what I was making on the venue hire, I used it all to pay the right person. Tonight it was some baseball player.

I waved at Scarlett as I saw her cross the street toward me, her almost-black hair so dramatic with her red coat. “Hey,” I said. “How are you? You look beautiful.”#p#分页标题#e#

“Stop it. You invented beautiful.” She glanced behind me. “I brought you lunch—I figured if I didn’t you wouldn’t eat.” She held up a paper bag.

“You’re good to me,” I said. “But I need to finish up with this delivery first.”

“No problem.”

“Hey, do I look cool?”

Scarlett frowned. “Cool?”

“You know, like it’s just another day and I’m not going to explode with excitement.” I grinned at her.

She laughed. “Yeah, babe, you always look cool. Are you excited?”

“Hell yes.” I nodded toward the delivery truck. “There’s a freaking Gauguin in this lot. Can you believe that?” All the incoming pieces were beautiful and a step up from the work I could normally stock, but a Gauguin? I was going to pee my pants. Art like this would put me on the map.

“Hey, I’ve heard of that guy. Isn’t he like in museums and shit?” Scarlett asked, smiling at me. “I knew that this place would be a smash.”

“Well, I’m not sure smash is the right word . . .” For the first time since I’d opened I felt like I had a bit of momentum.

“You should be so proud of yourself, Grace.”

“It was all Harper’s idea. She was trying to give me a focus after . . .” I shrugged. “You know.” I didn’t like talking about Sam. I tried not to even think about him. He ignored every single one of my calls and messages. He’d made his decision. Whatever his motivations, as Harper said, the outcome was still the same.

“Yeah, but you took it and ran with it. You made it all happen.”

What I hadn’t expected was that people would actually buy art during the events. I’d hoped to pass my card around and maybe people would think of me around bonus time or on their wife’s birthday. “I’ve gotten great sales on both the nights we’ve had these things—I hope we do again tonight.”

“Well, that’s because people can’t resist your good taste and charm. Speaking of, are any of the men dating material?”