Painted On My Heart

~?~

Of course it looked like rain. No better way to end this craptastic day.

Running much later than he’d planned, Kellus pushed the back door buzzer and looked up at the sky, gauging the seriousness of the dark clouds gathering. He’d been too busy today; he hadn’t stopped to listen to the weather report, but honestly, with as turbulent as his life had become, a violent thunderstorm would be a perfect fit right now.

The gallery door opened. Kellus grabbed the side with his free hand, shoved it all the way open, and immediately began to apologize. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Come in!” Sara stepped outside, using the tip of her high-heeled shoe to lower the doorstop. She stepped out of the way, making room for the large piece he carried. She took a second to look up at those ugly clouds forming overhead. Apparently Mother Nature had a point to make. A gust of wind blew through, sending a cool rush of air across his skin.

“We had about a zero percent chance of rain this morning. I think they got it wrong,” she said, wrapping her arms over her chest as he navigated the canvas inside.

“I wondered. I didn’t remember rain in the forecast, but I’ve had a day. Someone vandalized my delivery van last night. It put me really far behind schedule. I’m sorry,” he said, his gaze moving all around the threshold, making sure nothing hit the piece he was carrying as he moved through. He didn’t relax his hold until he’d maneuvered his way fully inside.

“Oh no, I’m sorry to hear about your van. You don’t have to apologize, Kellus. It’s seriously not a problem. Gage had to leave for California. He said he texted you, but didn’t hear back, so I’m to tell you he’ll absolutely be back for the opening,” she said, trailing behind him. Kellus stopped dead in his tracks and looked back at Sara.

“Was he mad?”

God, that had been his biggest fear. He’d cut it too close today. The hotel was opening tomorrow, and although his show was still a few days away, they had wanted to open the gallery doors at the same time the hotel began filling with guests. Being late, inconsistent, or not showing up at designated times would gain him a reputation of being irresponsible. The worst reputation for his business in the crowds this studio would expose him to.

“No, he’s not mad at all. Do you have more help?” she asked while peeking out the back door.

“No, I’m alone.”

“Do you need me to grab anything?” There was hesitation on her pretty face. She was dressed as any curator might be in a designer suit, those heels alone would make carrying anything almost impossible.

“No, I’ll get it. Can I leave the door open or should I go through the front, so I don’t have to keep bothering you?”

The look of relief on her face made him smile. She turned back, knocked the metal doorstop up out of the way, and let the heavy outer door swing shut. He could hear the automatic lock clicking in place.

“We can put the stop down and leave it open while you’re bringing pieces inside. Come this way. We pushed back maintenance until the morning—they’ll hang everything. Gage has a system in place. They’ll just be much faster if they do it all at once,” she said, guiding him through the back office toward the display area.

“I’ll have to make another trip to get everything here. When are you planning to leave?” he asked, following behind her with the one canvas he’d carried in.

“Is your place close to here?” A loud clap of thunder echoed in the distance, causing Sara to jump. Kellus’s eyes instinctively lifted as though he could see the sky from inside the building.

“That was loud. I hope it doesn’t get too bad out there. I only live about thirty minutes away,” he said in answer to her question.

“I have a meeting in about an hour and a half, but I know they’re crazy out there in the hotel. The gossip’s running wild with Mr. Layne laying the law down today, so everyone’s here until he feels like they’re ready to open tomorrow. I can let the manager know and he can let you in if I’m not here,” she said, leading the way into the large display room.

“I’m really sorry,” he said again, hating how long it had taken him to get the van up and running again. Much like most of the day, his anxiety spiked, trying to figure out some way to make this right.

“No problem. Seriously.” She walked several steps ahead of him into the large exhibit space. Her well-manicured nails skimmed across sticky notes on the display wall as she continued ahead of him. “Gage has something special planned and marked walls before he left. If you can read his chicken scratch, he wants certain pieces in certain places. He put a lot of thought into the displays and placement. If you aren’t happy with what he’s done, you’ll need to take that up with him,” she said teasingly, looking back over her shoulder.