Silver Linings

of other people. More accepting of their little foibles and weaknesses. More approachable.”
    “So I'm an easy touch. What do you want from me now?”
    Ariel raised her head, her eyes tragic. “I want some advice, damn it.”
    “Advice? You're asking me for advice?”
    “Please, Mattie. Don't make me grovel. Help me. I don't know where else to turn. You seem to understand men so much better than I do. They feel comfortable around you. I've never worried about making a man feel comfortable. I've never needed to worry about it. But now I want you to give me some pointers on handling Flynn. I don't want to lose him, Mattie. I'm scared. And I'm pregnant.”

CHAPTER

Fourteen

    “You're pregnant?” For a long moment Mattie could think of nothing else to say. “Does Flynn know?” she finally asked.
    Ariel shook her head. “No. I've only just realized it myself. I haven't told him yet.”
    Mattie considered the matter. “Is there a problem here? Do you want a baby?”
    “Yes, but Mattie, I'm scared. I told you, I'm not like you. I can't take things in my stride the way you do. I don't cope well. I stopped taking precautions because Flynn kept talking about having children and how my biological clock was running out. But now that the inevitable has happened, I don't know what to do next. I'm starting to do stupid things like fight with Flynn and accuse you of sleeping with him. I can't paint. I feel like I'm floundering. It's just awful.”
    “When are you going to tell Flynn?”
    “Don't you understand? I'm scared to tell him. I'm scared to death that when he finds out he's going to be a father, he'll be more determined than ever to get into the commercial mainstream with his painting. I don't want him giving up his art for me, Mattie. I can't let him make that kind of sacrifice.”
    “Because you know deep down inside that if the situation were reversed, you wouldn't do it for him?” Mattie suggested quietly.
    Ariel froze, an expression of shock on her face. “Oh, Lord, you're right of course. You're absolutely right.”
    Mattie examined her fingernails for a long moment. They were blunt, neatly curved nails with no polish on them. “You want advice? I'll give it to you for what it's worth. From what I know about Flynn, I would say that underneath that trendy facade, he's really a decent, old-fashioned guy who needs to feel he's doing the right thing as a man. So let him do it. Tell him about the baby. Encourage him to go ahead with his more commercial style of painting. Let him know you respect him as a man, not just as an artist, and that you need him. Let him feel he's holding up his end of the marriage.”
    “I'm afraid he'll be seduced by success,” Ariel whispered.
    “What's wrong with that? What's wrong with finding out he can do stuff that will sell like hotcakes? I think it's what he really wants, Ariel, so stop trying to force him into a different mold.”
    “But, Mattie—”
    “These days a lot of artists are beginning to be a lot more personally ambitious again. They want success in their lifetimes, not posthumously. It hasn't been fashionable to be artistically ambitious for the past hundred years or so, but things are changing. Very soon it's going to be just like the old days, the way it was before somebody got the notion that the only good art was art nobody understood.”
    A sound in the doorway made Mattie glance up. Shock Value Frederickson stood there, her hair tinted silver and black. She was holding a large metal object in her arms that was very nearly as large as she was.
    Mattie smiled slowly. “Speaking of great art. Lord love us, Shock Value, what have you got there?”
    Shock Value glanced diffidently at Ariel. “Am I interrupting anything? Suzanne out front said you weren't busy in here.”
    Mattie was already out of her chair, circling the desk for a better look at the metal sculpture Shock Value was holding. “You can interrupt me anytime as long as you've got something like this in your hot little hands. This is fantastic, Shock. Absolutely fantastic.”
    Shock Value grinned, looking enormously relieved. “I'm calling it On the Brink . You really like it?”
    “I love it. I always knew you had talent, Shock, but this is unbelievable. Take a look at this, Ariel.” Mattie took the soaring, powerfully worked metal from the artist's hands and placed it on the floor in front of her desk.
    Ariel studied the piece thoughtfully. “You're right, Mattie. It's really