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“Ouch, I’ll tell him you said so.” Declan grinned. “He told me he likes you.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“I’m just reporting the news,” he said.
“He was always stomping or snapping whenever I came around.”
“Gallagher men? That’s kind of our thing. Take away our bad attitudes and what do we have? Nothing.” He snapped his fingers. “Except Clark designated me as the responsible one for the bachelor party. Apparently he’s worried about his brother getting crazy.”
Holly laughed. “That sounds about right. You’d never guess Clark was the younger brother of the two.”
“I guess that will make him fun into his seventies. Young at heart.”
“Unlike you,” she said, then regretted saying it aloud. The last thing she wanted was to offend him and ruin what was probably the easiest conversation they’d ever had.
Declan swung the stool her way, putting his knee between hers. “What was that?”
Holly relaxed when she saw the playful gleam in his eyes and continued, “You’re more of an old soul. Like you’ve lived a thousand lives and all of them filled with tragedy. I think that’s what makes you such a talented artist. All the great ones have a tortured past.”
Declan’s lips curved into a small smile. “Unfortunately, that isn’t true. I’ve lived a rather charmed life. Two parents who divorced after I graduated high school. I attended my dream college, graduated, and got a job at a little art studio down the street from my apartment. Until my dad got hurt and I came back to help him, but all in all, nothing too terrible.”
“Then why do you sound so sad?”
He seemed startled by her question. “I don’t think of myself as sad. Frustrated. Mad at the world. Bitter.” Declan took a drink from his soda and set it on the counter. “I guess I’m just like Ebeneezer Scrooge. A miserable old miser. Pretty sure you’ve called me that a time or two.”
“Among other things,” she said softly. “What will you do if your dad closes the store? Will you stay? Or go back to what you were doing before?”
“I left everything behind two years ago, and while I could find something else, I wouldn’t want to be far from my dad.”
“Is he all right? No one sees him around town much. I know he broke a hip and that’s why you came home, but I always wondered why you stayed.”
Declan didn’t answer right away and Holly was afraid maybe she’d pushed him too far. He finished off his last taco and grabbed a napkin from her holder on the counter, wiping his fingers and mouth.
“My dad’s okay now, but he’s getting older, so if I did move I wouldn’t want to go farther than Sun Valley or Boise.”
“Oh.” Disappointment flooded her, but she silently scolded herself. Everyone and their mother was right about her lusting after Declan Gallagher. But him leaving town made anything that happened between them the perfect affair, so why did she feel disappointment at the thought of him leaving town? They could hook up, burn a few weeks of energy, and go their separate ways. She wouldn’t have to bump into him afterwards and make things awkward.
That is, if Declan even wanted to. He’d been pleasant, easy-going, and slightly flirty tonight, but he hadn’t said a word about her earlier proposal.
And while she’d gotten more out of him in ten minutes than in the two years prior, she still wanted more.
“Sun Valley and Boise would be good choices for an artist. I doubt you’d be satisfied with displaying your paintings in the grocery store.”
“It’s more that I wanted to give back to the arts. Educate people. I thought about getting my master’s and applying to be an art professor somewhere.”
“So, college? Not high school?”
Declan shrugged. “I’d be all right with high school, but the people of this town care more about sports than the arts.”
“If you really feel that way, change their minds, but I think you’re wrong. We have crafters, and Clark’s wood working business is doing well. It might not be highbrow impressionistic works, but I believe art is in the eye of the beholder.”
“That’s true. I’ve seen some of your sister’s blankets. They’re intricate and gorgeous.”
“Which reminds me…you haven’t found Santa Johnson yet, have you?”
Declan stared at her. “What is that?”
Holly grinned, pulling out her phone to show him a picture. “I’ve hidden this guy in your store somewhere.”
