Silver Linings

when he meets Evangeline.”
    “You're going to have an interesting little group out there on St. Gabriel.”
    Hugh turned away from the window with a smile. “You'll have to come out and pay us a visit.”
    “I'll do that. You'll take good care of our Mattie, won't you?”
    “Mattie is my life,” Hugh said simply.
    “All she's ever really wanted is you. Since the day she met you.”
    “All I ever wanted was her. It just took me a little time to realize it, that's all.” An image of Rainbird dying on the point of a sword flickered in Hugh's mind. “You know, Charlotte, unlike some people I could name, I'm getting smarter as I get older.”
    “That's what makes you a survivor. You've got good genes, Hugh. So does Mattie. When are the two of you going to have a baby?”
    “As soon as I can talk her into it.”
    “Think that will take long?”
    Hugh laughed. “No, ma'am. Not long at all. She thinks I'll make a terrific father. Told me so herself,” he added proudly. A real home. The way it was supposed to be .
    “I think you will, too. The world needs more good men like you. Mattie saw your true potential the day she met you.”
    Hugh hid what he feared might be a telltale red in his cheeks by glancing at his watch. “I'd better get downstairs to my office. Time for another batch of bug juice. You know, I'm actually starting to like the stuff.”
    “You like it because you know Mattie spends an inordinate amount of time and energy concocting it just for you.”
    “That's how I knew for certain that she still loved me,” Hugh admitted. “I figured she wouldn't go to all that trouble to feed me right if she didn't care about me. You'll be at the wedding?”
    “Wouldn't miss it for the world. Evangeline is designing the bridal gown, I hear. Should be a sight to behold. I wonder if it will be in red.”
    Hugh was still laughing when he got off the elevator and walked into his office to pour himself a glass of bug juice.

    Mattie paid for her cup of herbal tea and carried it over to the table where two extraordinarily good-looking men in their early thirties were waiting for her. Both men were wearing expensive Italian-cut linen jackets over their equally expensive designer shirts and trousers. Both had an air of casual, urbane elegance. Both also had physiques to die for. Mattie smiled to herself. It wasn't every day a woman got to sit down with a couple of hunks like this.
    “Gentlemen,” she announced as she put her tea down on the table and seated herself on a delicate wire-frame chair, “do I have a deal for you.”
    “We're listening,” one of them said equably.
    “You've got our full attention,” the other murmured, sipping cappuccino with languid grace.
    Mattie proceeded to lay out her plans in precise detail. She ran through the bulk of her proposal and then added a rider. “There's just one other thing.”
    “Anything for you, Mattie, you know that.”
    “I'd like a guarantee that for the next two years you will agree to show the works of Flynn Grafton.”
    “Don't be ridiculous,” the first man drawled. “You don't have to ask us for a written guarantee. We would kill for Grafton's work. Saw it at the opening the other night. Fabulous. Absolutely fabulous.”
    Mattie nodded. “Good. I thought you'd agree. Then you like the overall arrangement?”
    “You've got a deal, Mattie,” the second man announced. He glanced at his friend. “Right?”
    “A deal,” the first man agreed, putting down his cup.
    Mattie started to say something else but paused when the hair on the nape of her neck stirred. Instinctively she turned her head to see Hugh striding through the small espresso shop. His gray eyes simmered with a vaguely annoyed expression.
    “Suzanne told me you were down the street having coffee with a couple of collectors,” Hugh said, surveying the two exquisite young gods sitting on the other side of the table. “Just what do you two collect?”
    “Anything Mattie says we should.” The first man returned Hugh's gaze with interest. His eyes started low and traveled slowly upward to Hugh's broad shoulders. “She has absolutely fabulous taste, you know. We've never gone wrong when we've been guided by Mattie. Do feel free to join us.”
    “Thanks. I was going to do that,” Hugh declared, sounding thoroughly disgruntled now. He dropped onto the seat beside Mattie and glowered at everyone.
    Mattie grinned. “Hugh, I'd like you to meet Ryan Turner and Travis Preston. These