Free Star Promise by G. J. Walker-Smith Page B

two buyers had shown interest in another. Bronson was over the moon. “Exceptional, darling.” He clapped his hands together. “Find me more art. Buy me more art. More, more, more.” He didn’t give me a chance to reply. He was out the door before he’d finished his theatrical ramble.
    I closed up shop soon after, managing to make it out on time for once. I wasn’t the only punctual one. Adam beat me home, which had never happened before. He greeted me at the door with a huge hug that wasn’t the least bit romantic.
    “What’s going on?” I wedged my elbows between us, trying to break free. Adam didn’t release me until he’d walked us out into the foyer and pulled the front door closed.
    “You’re beautiful,” he declared, lurching forward to kiss me.
    I held him back. “Adam, what have you done?”
    His tight smile led me to think it was nothing good. I didn’t wait for him to string an answer together. I pushed past him and barged back into the apartment, stopping dead in my tracks at the edge of the living room.
    “It’ll only take a few days,” he promised. “A week at the most.”
    I barely heard him. I was focused on the shabby green dresser taking up valuable space in the living room. “You have ten seconds to explain.”
    Adam couldn’t tell the time in less than ten seconds. His long explanation wasn’t that interesting. Bente’s ugly drawers weren’t to Ryan’s snobbish taste, and he wanted Adam to fix them. The part that interested me was the pure excitement in his voice as he laid out his plan for restoring them. “It’s Victorian – cherry wood, I think.” He ran his hand along the top of the dresser, chipping off flecks of green paint in his wake. “It’s solid and gorgeous – and they want me to paint it pink.” He screwed up his handsome face as if the whole notion was ridiculous. “It should be lacquered and left alone.”
    It had been a long time since he’d talked carpentry, and I couldn’t ever remember him doing it while wearing a tie. It threw me back to the cold winter afternoons we’d spent together in the shed in Pipers Cove. I could sit and watch for hours as he worked on boats. That was Adam at his very best, and seeing his joy while he talked about working on the drawers made me realise that I hadn’t seen him at his best for a long time.
    “You miss working on boats, don’t you?”
    “I can live without boats,” he replied making his way back over to me. “I can’t live without you.”
    I’d spent years being riled by the way he dodged my questions. I used to demand a straight answer. I didn’t do that any more.
    “I just want you to be happy,” I mumbled.
    “Seeing you find your feet in a job you love makes me happy,” he replied, edging closer. “Having conversations with my kid about sea dogs makes me happy.”
    I wondered if that meant that the good outweighed the bad, then realised that he was the only one who could decide. “You thought it would be different, didn’t you?” I asked.
    His arm slipped around me. “New York never changes, Charli.”
    “No, I meant your job,” I clarified. “It’s not what you thought it would be.”
    It was impossible not to feel his angst, even though I wasn’t supposed to. The be-all and end-all had always been a career in law. He’d studied for years to get his degree, then put his career on hold for a life in Australia with us. A great job in a prestigious law firm was supposed to be the reward, but for Adam, getting up every morning and going to the office had become a never-ending punishment.
    He just wouldn’t admit to it.
    “We’re okay, Charli.” He smoothed his fingers through my hair. “For as long as you want to be here.”
    I bunched up the sides of his shirt in my fists, pulled him closer and kissed him hard in reply. I wasn’t going to argue. Ryan had been the one to remind me that Adam was a grown man. When he was ready to call it quits, he would. But for now, he’d take a