“Your fiancé never brought you?”he asked, sounding sarcastic.It was enough for Sal to give him a wry look.
“He would if he had time, but he’s very busy, and I’m very busy with this…” Sal said, waving her hand at the loggia, as Harmon had called it.
“That’s a shame,” he said under his breath.
“Why so?”
“Well, if it were me, I’d make time to bring you wherever you wanted to go.”
Sal felt her cheeks go warm.“A practiced charmer, I see,” she said, trying not to sound too taken with his appeal.
He bowed his head as he grinned again, and a pair of dimples emerged.This was terrible.Sal loved a handsome man with dimples.“Do you need company?”he asked.He leaned against the marble wall, hands in his pockets, while the moonlight illuminated his attractive face.
“No, I’m the only company I need for now.That and the moon,” she answered with a smile.“But you’re welcome to stay.”
After a moment of silence, Harmon spoke again.“I saw a painted piece from the collection of Ms.Liang.Were you two very close?”
“Like sisters,” she said, still looking up at the moon.
“I’m sorry for your loss.But something tells me that’s not the reason you’re alone out here.”
Sal gave him a knowing look.“A charmer and an empath.”She grinned with a slight chuckle.“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Nah, I’m just nosy,” he joked.“But you were brilliant up there during your speech.I hope nothing anyone says makes you forget it.”
“Okay, I’ll take that, Mr.Moon.”
“Harmon,” he corrected her.
“Sal,” she responded.
Harmon blinked.“Sal…” he breathed, and her heart skipped a beat at hearing him say her name.“I’ll leave you to your thoughts and with your moon then,” he said, pushing himself away from the wall and departing from the corridor.
She remembered he had wandered there by mistake.“Do you know your way back?”she asked, but when she turned, he had already gone.
***
A few moments after she left the moonlit corridor, Sal found Rafa in the crowd, speaking with Willow and Auden.
“You two should really check your phones more often,” Willow said with a sigh as Sal approached them.“We need a toast!We’ve officially soldThe Art Cards from Nowhere.”
“So soon?”Sal gasped.“It’s only been a few hours.”
“Who was the buyer?”Rafa asked.
“The buyer wishes to remain anonymous until the collection’s delivery,” she recalled.“It was sketchy at first.I was apparently talking to a representative—but they offered to pay in full after signing the paperwork, and they did.”Willow pulled out a check for an enormous sum.
“My God, Willow, that’s three times the asking price!”Sal said.
Willow nodded.“It’s a manager’s check,” she revealed, “which makes me wonder what type of person can request a manager’s check to be drafted at this hour and this quickly.”
“Who indeed,” Rafa agreed, looking lost in thought.
Willow clicked her tongue.“Are you sure none of your rich eccentric friends were just feeling a little generous tonight, Rafa?”
Rafa gave an awkward smile.“Not sure any of them would bethatgenerous.Looks like this person really wanted the collection.”
“They could be my worst enemy for all I care, and I’d still be relieved,” Sal exclaimed.This was such great news; now Sal wouldn’t have to worry about keeping Autumn Town afloat without Rafa’s help.
