When I arrived at the gallery, I parked in the adjacent lot and then walked toward the front door. On the window was a flyer for Kade's show that would be starting in two weeks, with a special preview in a week. There were samples of his work on the flyer and a short bio about his incredible rise in the art world. This was going to be a big deal for him, and I really didn't need to get in his way.

I was about to turn around when the door opened and Kade walked out.

"Brynn," he said in surprise. "I thought that was you. What are you doing here?"

"I'm not entirely sure," I admitted. "I called you, but you didn't answer."

"Sorry. I was in a meeting with the owner." His gaze narrowed. "What happened?"

His concern brought tears to my eyes. I furiously blinked them away. "I shouldn't have come."

"Hold on," he said, moving closer to me. "What's going on? And don't say nothing."

"Someone tried to run me down when I was leaving the hospital. I'm okay. I just didn't know where to go, what to do next. I shouldn't be here. You're busy."

"Someone tried to run you down?" His gaze swept the street. "Come in. Let's talk inside."

"I don't want to bother you. We can talk later."

"It's fine. I was about to take a break, anyway."

He ushered me into the gallery. There were a few people perusing the main showroom, but Kade moved past them, taking me into a large workroom where I could see multiple pieces, one of which had been in his apartment the night before.

"This is what you were working on last night," I said, looking at the sculpture that was a mix of bottles, caps, and wire, with crushed pieces of glass glued to wood. "You got so much done." I paused. "But I don't really know what it is."

"What does it feel like?"

"It feels like someone smashed up a bar in anger."

"What does it make you want to do?"

"Break some glass," I said.

He smiled. "Maybe I'll let you help me do that later."

"I can't think of anything better right now than breaking a few things." I looked back at the piece. "I thought you said you were stuck last night, but you got unstuck."

"Your music helped me figure out what I wanted to do."

"My music?"

"It's a small apartment. It played through me, and it inspired me. I wasn't really thinking about breaking glass in anger, though. I was thinking about how the pieces of glass create a different picture than the bottle. It's like the sum of the parts doesn't always add up to the end result."

He'd gone much deeper than I had. "So, you can make lots of different things with the same pieces," I murmured.

"Exactly. Kind of like life."

"You really are talented, Kade, and a deep thinker."