Matthew sighed and studied his fingers for a moment. “Ramona and I—we wanted to keep it up until all the pieces sold—I had a few things that didn’t fit into the show, and people were buying anything and everything. We didn’t want to rock the boat. I could have taken the fender off of my bike and called it sculpture, and a Chinese millionaire would have dropped a cool two hundred K on it.”

“How cynical.”

“She’s actually a complete psycho, Ramona. Decent painter. Impossible person.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Aren’t you supposed to be convincing me to work with her? And I’m not sure that she’s crazy. She’s intense. She knows what she wants and she’s ruthless about getting it. I wish I could be more like her.”

“All the more reason for you to take the money. You deserve it. You have a goal, something you’ve been waiting to do with your life. And not just because of all that bullshit with the show.”

“I’m staying here.”

“Here? What the hell will you do here?”

“I’m working on something. A project I really care about, actually.”

“What kind of project?”

“Portraits.”

“That’s great, but why does that mean you need to stay here? Lily, you think these people are interested in art? I’ve been here for twenty-four hours and let me tell you, all they care about is getting their rewards points on their stupid players’ cards. They wouldn’t know a Kandinsky from a Klimt.”

“I think they will be interested. In the right subject, presented the right way. They need art here more than anywhere. They’re losing their jobs. The casinos are failing. They’re still dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane, still waiting for money from the state to rebuild their houses. Their kids are dying of heroin overdoses. You tell me they don’t need art?

“During World War II Londoners lined up outside of the National Gallery for hours, in the rain, to see one painting. One goddamned painting a month, for just a few seconds at a time. They need something more than to be written off by people like you. Art won’t pay for their kids’ braces or new shoes or the rent on their houses. It won’t stop people from shooting up. It won’t bring jobs back. But I still think it’s important. I think it will matter.”

“I don’t know, Lily. These people …”