Page 51 of Saltwater Promises
Chapter 21
The days ticked by. After the hike at Lake Twenty-Two, Lynn didn’t hear much from Mike. He sent texts now and again, but he had to be brief. The day after their hike, he sent a simple picture of a praying mantis.
She was puzzled by it at first, but then wrote back, “Bugged?”
He sent back a text with a winking face.
That made her laugh. Mike had style, there was no denying it. Yet now that Lenny was keeping him busy again, he wasn’t able to call her. His texts were more sporadic, too, though he did say that he had “a big breakthrough,” and that the “net is wider than expected.”
Clearly, he couldn’t spell out exactly what he meant, but the suspense was killing her. In some ways, it was exciting to get these messages from him. Yet, despite not being much of a worrier, whenever she thought about it too deeply, the worries crept in and it stopped being fun.
What happened if she didn’t get a text for a week? Two weeks? Was that when she was supposed to start worrying?
After a month, should she alert the authorities? Lynn could kick herself for not thinking of discussing this with him sooner. It didn’t occur to her until later – and besides, they’d had such a nice time on the hike…
For now, at least, she wasn’t panicked. She got at least one text from him a day. In the end, all she could do was try to have faith in him and hope for the best.
And to stay out of it, like she’d promised. But Lynn wasn’t satisfied being the only one who had to keep to a promise. She made up her mind that once Mike was done with all of this – if he was ever done with all of this – that she was going to lay it all out on the line. And not like she had at the winery, trying to guess what he was thinking and being too afraid to say what was on her mind.
It was undeniable how she felt now, especially when they were apart. She thought about him all the time. It wasn’t just worrying about him, though she had her fair share of nightmares.
For whatever reason, this man had waltzed back into her life. She had a second chance to tell him the truth. Lynn made up her mind. She was going to do it. She would tell him how she felt, even bringing up that ancient kiss, and put it out on the line. If he felt the same – that was a big if – she was going to ask him too consider giving up solo investigations for good.
That was a lot of if’s, but it was all she had to work with for now.
In the meantime, she tried to focus on her routines. She chatted on the phone with her daughter June every other day or so. She painted, went for walks, went to museums and galleries, had lunch with friends…whatever she could do to feel like she wasn’t living in suspense, waiting on a cryptic text message.
Most excitingly, about a week after the hike, Lynn got a wonderful distraction. Miguel, an assistant curator from Stormy Gallery in Pioneer Square, contacted her with the good news that one of her paintings sold.
Not only had it sold, but there had been a sort of bidding war over the painting, and the other buyer, who walked away empty-handed, was now requesting to see more of her work.
Miguel suggested they meet to discuss an exhibition of her paintings, and Lynn agreed to meet the following week at a restaurant in Seattle.
She felt slightly nervous getting ready. She knew it was silly, but she felt it nevertheless. When she’d first started getting her work into galleries, she was surprised that she was even accepted.
The fact that someone had bought one of her works was delightful enough. And now this? Her own exhibition? She had truly never expected it and wasn’t entirely sure how to handle herself.
She talked to a more successful friend to get some tips before the meeting and reported to the restaurant promptly at one o’clock, as agreed.
“Welovewhat you do, you really have a special touch,” Miguel said as he put his glass down.
“Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate that.”
“Our idea is to have an exhibition of your work, nothing crazy, maybe twenty paintings?”
Lynn took a sip of her water. Her throat was so dry today. “Oh, that would be lovely.”
“I hope that you have twenty paintings you can provide.”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I do. It’ll be no problem at all.”
Miguel clasped his hands together. “Excellent. I’m sure that our jilted buyer will be pleased. We already have some others interested in the idea. The director is very excited – he thinks your works are going to fly.”
“That’s just remarkable.”
Lynn smiled, taking a bite of the crab cake appetizer that had just arrived. Success was new to her, and she didn’t know how to respond to any of this. Even at the FBI, though she was a good employee and felt appreciated, she never actually got what she wanted. She never got to work undercover and recover paintings and sculptures from museum heists.
In a way, that made her feel like a failure. And now that she was having just a taste of success, she didn’t know how to handle herself.
