“Yes, but you mentioned Kat’s paintings. As in my daughter?”
Thinking fast, Nick tried to cover, but he’d given himself away. “Yes. She’s very talented.”
“You’ve seen her work?”
“Yeah. Just a couple of pieces. I’m sorry, I don’t remember what was above the fireplace before.”
“How did you do that? See her artwork?”
Damn. He tried to change the subject, but Rebecca wouldn’t let it go. Nick took a deep breath before speaking. “I happened to see her in New York when I was there last week. We had dinner.”
Rebecca stared at him, arms crossed, brow furrowed. “You had dinner with my daughter?”
“Right.”
“And her art?”
“Ah, no, we had coffee with her art.” Apparently, she missed his attempt at humor. She didn’t even crack a smile.
“What does that mean?”
“After dinner she showed me a couple paintings she’d done.” He deliberately kept the details vague.
But her expression went positively glacial. “You had dinner then went to her apartment?”
Sweat beaded at the back of Nick’s neck. “Yes. We had coffee, and I saw some of her work. I guess we have a common interest.”
“I see.”
He wasn’t sure she saw at all, but he knew for sure she wasn’t pleased.
“How did you happen to meet up in New York?”
“I was interviewing for a TV segment on interior design. For HomeBuild–”
“And in a city of what, eight million people, you just happened to run into my daughter?”
Nick managed what he hoped sounded like a laugh. “No, it wasn’t an accident at all.” He tried to keep his voice smooth and matter-of-fact. “We’d texted a couple of times after I met her here, and she mentioned she lived in the city. Look, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I happened to be in town. I’m not very familiar with the city and asked her for some recommendations on places to eat. She graciously offered, and I invited her to dinner.”
“Ah. Very good. Well, I’m glad she was able to help.”
God, he was sweating all over. He picked up the contract before she could change her mind. “Let me put away my things, and I’ll get out of your hair.”
“No rush. Let me write that check. You know, it’s quite stressful having her so far away. We have to keep such a close eye on her. Sometimes she goes off her medica–” She broke off before giving Nick a brittle smile. “Well, she’s a little fragile, that’s all.”
Fragile? Kat was on medication? Is that what she was going to say?
“Can I expect a preview of the work before you install? A checkpoint as you go along?”
Before Nick could process her comment, Rebecca changed subjects again.
“Of course,” he told her. “When would you like to see it?”
“Before you stain anything, I think.” She held out the check—just barely—and he had the feeling she wasn’t a hundred percent keen on letting it go.
What was her problem? It forced him to take a couple of steps toward her. “Sounds good. I’ll get the materials and start right away.”
He took the check from her hand, reeled in his tape measure, and shoved it all into his bag.Whew. He couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
