Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
“That was a spot of bad luck that you didn’t catch me this morning,” Gideon said, plodding up the spiral stairs ahead of Lily. “At least Len finally came in useful, even if it was passing on messages.”
Lily stepped up into the art studio, which was flooded with afternoon sunlight. “I’d imagine keeping your windows clean is pretty helpful too.”
“Yes, but the attention to detail isn’t always what it could be.” He pointed to the corner of the window. “Look at that streak.”
Lily pursed her lips as she fought to make out the tiny smudge at the very edge of the pane. It was on the tip of her tongue to suggest he should pay him more if he wanted a better service, but she kept the thought to herself.
“I believe you’ve got some paintings to show me,” she said instead.
“I have.” He moved to the end of the room, where canvases leaned against each other like tightly packed dominoes. “I’ll be honest, I’ve been into your ice cream shop, and I have to say I’d never have thought you the type to be interested in high-quality artwork.”
“It’s not for the shop. I keep the decor purposely generic downstairs. I’m looking for something for my flat.”
“It seems I misjudged you, that’s all. I suppose I’ve just got used to the locals not appreciating my art.
They all want stuff that looks like photos of local scenery.
Makes no sense to me. If you want something that looks like a photo, take a photo!
” He rolled his eyes beneath his thick dark eyebrows and tugged at his brightly coloured neckerchief.
“I used to have a studio in London, you know. In the heart of the art scene. It’s a different life when you’re surrounded by people who appreciate your talent. ”
“What made you move back here?”
“In the end, city life wasn’t for me. I need tranquillity to create. I get that here.”
“Absolutely,” Lily said, looking pointedly out of the window.
“Anyway, I don’t know if you’ve looked at my collection online…”
“I had a little look.”
“My personal favourites are the ones of the local landscapes.” He began poring through the paintings. “Somewhere here I have one of the view from Porthcressa Beach which might take your fancy given it’s your neck of the woods.”
Lily actually wouldn’t mind a nice seascape, despite the fact that she only needed to look out of the window for the real thing.
“Here we go.” He pulled out a large square canvas with several thick swaths of yellow and some chaotic blue and black squiggles.
Tilting her head, she wondered which way up you were supposed to look at it to see the view from Porthcressa Beach. Maybe it was like those magic eye pictures where you had to squint a certain way.
“My interpretation of the view, of course.”
“Hmmm.” She fought for words. “Fascinating,” she murmured.
“Thank you.”
“Could you show me some more?”
“Yes, yes.” His eyes sparkled, and she felt a pang of guilt for making him think he had a chance of a sale.
As he showed her more of the same in varying colours, she nodded and murmured appreciative words.
“It’s hard to choose,” she said eventually. Moving to the window, she tried to give the air of pondering, but her eyes drifted to the door among the bookshelves, and she was suddenly desperate to get into his private rooms. “I wonder if you have anything else,” she said, as an idea hit her.
“How do you mean?”
“I saw all these pictures on your website. And while they really are special, I wonder if you have anything that you don’t put on general display.” She wrinkled her nose. “Those pieces artists create purely for themselves and keep hidden away.”
He hesitated long enough for Lily to think she’d taken the wrong tack.
“Maybe there is something.” A muscle in his cheek twitched as he withdrew a single bronze key from his pocket. “Wait here and I’ll have a look.”
“I can come with you,” Lily insisted, hot on his heels as he unlocked the door.
“No.” His voice was commanding, and he turned and pulled himself to his full height – a head taller than Lily. “Please wait here. I’ll just be a moment.”
With the door being closed in her face, Lily wanted to get inside even more badly. Surely people with nothing to hide didn’t slam doors in people’s faces. Or even just shut doors firmly after politely requesting people wait.
Lily wasn’t great at waiting. Or at doing as she was told.
Not when she was investigating, anyway.
After a couple of minutes, she pushed the handle and stepped inside. Confused by what she saw, she didn’t get very far.
In contrast with the other rooms in the house, there was no neatness and order. Books and magazines were stacked against every wall in the small hallway. She spotted two vacuum cleaners and a toolbox amid assorted furniture that had no business being in the hall.
“I said wait out there.” Gideon appeared with a couple of small frames under his arm and ushered her back the way she’d come. He sounded more embarrassed than anything. “It’s a mess, I know. I’ll get to it eventually, but for now I just keep the door locked so no one has to see it.”
“That’s a lot of stuff.” Her mind tried to untangle things. That could have been his horde from any number of burglaries, but somehow she got the feeling it was more like a lifetime’s worth of accumulated junk.
“When I converted the place for the retreats, I shoved all my personal items up here out of the way, to keep a minimal vibe for the retreat. But there’s too much for the space, and I know it looks like junk, but a lot of it holds sentimental value, and I can’t bring myself to get rid of it.”
“I didn’t mean to intrude,” she said weakly, though that was exactly what she’d intended.
“Anyway.” Gideon pulled the door closed behind them, leaving them in the bright and calm studio. “I wouldn’t usually show these to anyone, but you seem to appreciate my style of art, so I’ll let you have a look. They are a little different from my usual style. I’ll warn you of that.”
She drew in a steady breath as he turned the paintings to show her. To be fair, they differed from the other paintings, but as far as Lily could tell, only in the colour scheme. What with these being black and grey rather than the brighter colours.
“It gives the sense of a storm,” Lily said.
“Precisely. I knew you’d get it. Not a storm in the literal sense, though.”
“Of course not,” Lily chimed, as though she had a clue what on earth they were talking about.
“I knew you’d like these.” He held one up and gazed at it. “That’s partly why I was hesitant to show you. I’m not sure I can part with them, you see.”
“I can understand that.” Lily really didn’t want him to part with them either.
“I’m sorry if I got your hopes up, but I don’t think I could even put a price on them. What about the one of Porthcressa Beach? I’d do you a little discount on that one. The online price is six thousand pounds, but I could knock off a couple of hundred for you.”
Her throat spasmed, and it was an effort not to choke.
“I’ll have to think it over. I’d need to measure the walls too.”
“It’s because you’ve seen these, isn’t it?” He sighed as he looked lovingly at the paintings in his hands.
“Gideon!” a female voice called before Saffron appeared at the top of the stairs. “We’re all downstairs waiting for you.”
“Whatever for?” he sniped.
“The charcoal workshop.”
“That’s not until four o’clock.”
“It’s four now.” Saffron thrust her watch out as proof.
“Well, I’ll be down shortly. I’m just in the middle of a meeting.”
Saffron smiled. “Hi, Lily.”
“Hi. Have you had a good day?”
“Excellent, thank you. I’m just excited to learn about working with charcoal now. Roland tells me it’s his speciality.” Her smile vanished. “I mean… I’m sure he’s not as good as Gideon, but it’s his favourite type of art, so he’s got me all excited.”
“I was just going anyway, so I’ll leave you to get on with it.”
If only there were a way for her to sneak into the guest accommodation while they were all busy with their charcoal lesson. The fact that every wall downstairs was comprised mostly of glass would make that fairly difficult.
She waved to the group as she exited through the French doors and only then noticed that the retired schoolteacher was sitting on a large log by the unlit fire pit. Lily fought to remember her name as she approached from behind her.
Martha.
She only realised she was on the phone at the last minute, and Martha was so focused on the conversation that she didn’t register Lily.
“I can’t figure out how to switch it to a video call,” she was saying, with the phone pressed to her ear. “I’m trying, but I can’t get it to work. I don’t know what’s wrong with it.”
“Need some help?” Lily asked.
Martha’s fierce gaze whipped around to Lily, but she only clutched the phone more tightly as she stalked away.
“I’ll take that as a no then,” Lily muttered.