“No, not really. I’ve really thrown you to the wolves this last few days, and I’m truly sorry. I thought I’d be able to do a little more of the planning than I have, but a bunch of things came up for the show all at once. It should be better this upcoming week, though. Tomorrow should be my last busy day.”

“It’s fine, Stuart.” She gave him a warm smile. “So tell me about your show.”

He spent a long while regaling her with details. His show at the Denver Art Museum began in May and lasted through the summer, but he had it on some authority that it might be picked up for a traveling exhibition at some other museums around the country after that. Right now, he was in the middle of a major planning stage for moving the pieces from storage to the museum, and he and Jai were also working together with the museum’s PR firm on promotions. He told all of this in high, gossipy spirits, making her laugh harder than she had in a long time about the various petty bureaucrats he’d run into in the museum, and the young intern that couldn’t seem to stop flirting with Jai.

When he wrapped up, she leaned forward and squeezed his knee. “I’m so proud of you, Stuart.”

“Oh, thanks. I mean, it was kind of inevitable once I got the position here. Almost everyone who works here gets a piece in the museum, at least temporarily, but I’m really happy about having an actual show.”

He was doing that deflecting thing again, the same thing Maddie had done, the same thing she’d heard him do a hundred times before—dismissing his hard work and efforts. She squeezed his knee a little harder.

“Stop it. It’s amazing, Stuart. I mean it.”

His eyes teared up a little before he blinked them away. “Thank you.”

“I hope I get to see some of your new work while I’m here.”

He perked up. “Oh, totally—let’s go tomorrow. And you should see Maddie’s, too—her booth is right next to mine. She’s doing these really cute dogs right now, and they’re incredibly lifelike. Every time I see them, I keep expecting them to start barking.”

“Sounds nice,” she said, looking away. When Stuart didn’t respond, she risked a glance his way to find him staring at her.

“What?” she asked.

“Uh, you went like ten shades of red when I mentioned Maddie’s name. Seriously—what the hell is going on between you two?”

“Nothing!” she said, a little too quickly.

He narrowed his eyes. “It’s not nothing, Ryann. You’ve been squirrely about her for a while now. Erin told me—”

Her temper flared. “What did she say?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Uh, just that you two seemed really…friendly. She said you guys were cute together yesterday.”