Page 68 of Sight Unseen

“Please, Cody. I want to know. I need to know.” His fingers grasped mine. “Maybe speaking to my dad last week sparked something off. Perhaps he had a change of heart.”

Ah—no. Duncan Powell had always been a bastard and I didn’t see him changing anytime soon. However, this was Nate’s decision to make.

I sighed. “Fine. Let me pop out and find a mobile signal because it’s shit in here. Then I can pull up the invoice and check the address for you.” I stood. “Be back in a sec.”

I left my man sitting at the table buoying himself up with hope that I was sure I was about to shatter.

A few minutes later I’d screen shot the invoice and the shipping note. I went back into the restaurant and sat down. Nate’s fingers drummed a nervous tattoo on the table. He looked up expectantly.

“Did you find it?” he leaned forward, face alight with hope.

God, please don’t hurt him with this. He’s been through enough.

I murmured assent. “I don’t know your folks’ address, so I’m not sure if it’s theirs.”

I reeled off an address in the affluent suburb of Canterbury in Christchurch and watched Nate’s reaction. It wasn’t hard to see the dawning pleasure filling his face and my mouth opened in shock.

“It’s your folks’ place? No shitting me?”

Nate nodded, eyes sparkling and mouth curving into a wide grin. “That’s where I’ve been sending cards the last twelve years.” His shoulders straightened and he almost bounced in his chair.

“This must mean something, right? If my dad paid that much money to buy my work, it’s a good sign, surely. Do you think he’s finally relented? Maybe that conversation we had brought things home that I’m not going to change who I am to suit him?”

I still didn’t like the whole vibe. Something was off. Nate’s father wasn’t the sort to relent to anything. I thought Nate was being naïve but I had to agree on one thing. Who the hell would spend twenty thousand dollars like that if they didn’t want the piece? What could their end game be?

The feeling of dread in my belly intensified and for a split second, I contemplated whether, by some miracle, I could abort the shipment and give Nate’s father his money back. That thought left me as soon as it arrived. Nate would never forgive me if I interfered. Besides, it was probably too late now to do anything.

I pulled my chair closer to my now beaming boyfriend and tried to play devil’s advocate without completely bursting his happy bubble. “Baby, it seems he definitely bought the piece. I don’t know what else to say. But…” My voice trailed off and Nate stiffened beside me.

“But what? Why would a man spend that kind of money if he didn’t care?” His tone had turned brittle.

I swallowed, choosing my words carefully. “I agree it’s something to consider. But if he wanted to make amends, why not give his real name? Why give an alias? He had to know I’d mention the sale to you, and you might ask questions and put two and two together. And this is your dad. He’s not the forgiving kind.”

Nate’s lips thinned. “He doesn’t know how I get about my art—how could he? I haven’t seen him in so long. And perhaps he used a fake name for tax purposes or something.” His tone hardened. “He didn’t know I’d care about where my pieces ended up, so chances are he might reach out later and tell me he’s got it. Maybe this is his way of extending an olive branch. Miracles happen.” He drummed his fingers against the tabletop, eyes staring down at the noise.

I still wasn’t convinced any miracle had occurred.

“Yeah, maybe. I guess we’ll find out.” My stomach clenched. “Nate, please tell me you aren’t going to call him and say anything yet. Let the piece get there, it’ll take a few weeks. Then we can talk about what happens. I’m still not convinced everything is as it seems, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Nate’s eyes remained fixed on the table. Then he shrugged, nodded and looked up. “Sure, let’s wait until it gets to the destination and is signed for. Then, I’m warning you, Cody, I’m going to speak to my dad again. Find out what’s going on.”

Nate’s tone brooked no argument and I rolled my eyes, glad to have staved off what I thought might be a cataclysmic and emotional event. Leopards like Duncan Powell did not change their spots, no matter what Nate believed.

“Sure, that’s fine. I hope it all works out, honey, I truly do. If there’s a chance for you to reconnect with your family, that would be awesome.” I nudged his shoulder with mine. “It would also mean a trip to New Zealand at some time. I’ve always wanted to see those houses the hobbits live in. Do you think we can visit them?”

Nate and I got into a heated and silly debate as he lectured me that hobbit houses weren’t real and I insisted they were because I’d seen them in the Lord of the Rings movies.

When we left the restaurant a couple of hours later, with an endearingly tipsy Nate clinging onto me and trying to feel me up all the way home, I was glad I’d taken his mind off who bought Conchious Effort.

I was sure when we got home I could do an even better job of distracting him.

Chapter 14

Nate

It was stupid, but the Christmas season was one of those times I felt the downside of being blind. I’d always been a big Christmas person. The colors, the sparkles, the shops decked out in their decorative cheer, the shop windows with their seasonal themes and glitzy baubles—it was like being a child again, in happier times.

Decorating the tree, putting it in the big front window and seeing it sparkle as I drove home or walked back from a stroll, had been one of the seasonal highlights.