The Dangerous Curves Series

Chapter 96

The next morning, Naomi stared at her work laptop in complete, total, utter shock. The bank balance in front of her made not one lick of earthly sense.

What the f**k?

She had checked the bank account before leaving work yesterday, and it had contained just under ninety thousand dollars, thanks to an art gallery in Colorado Springs sending payment for a few sold items. But now? It stood at just under ninety thousand dollars – plus another million.

What the actual f**k?

Naomi picked up the phone and called Ryan Chang, the organization’s accountant. As she waited for his assistant to put her through, she stared out the window at the Rockies, her thoughts a jumbled mess.

Matt – did you do this?

There was a click. “Good morning, Naomi.”

“Hi, Ryan. I’m calling because –”

“Oh, I know why you’re calling, believe me.”

“Yeah. Where the hell did this money come from?”

“I followed up the second I got the e-mail alert and it turns out, it’s an anonymous donation. It was made yesterday through the accounting firm of Silvers and Edelstein, and they refuse to divulge their client’s name.”

Goddammit, Matt.

“They can do that?” she said. “Refuse us the name of the donor?”

“Oh, yes. Absolutely.”

“And we can still take the money? That much money?”

“I double-checked with legal this morning, and yes, you can. No problem.”

“Wow.”

“Congratulations, Naomi. That’s an amazing contribution. You’ll be able to do a lot with that, huh?”

“Yes.” There were tears in her eyes now. “I would have been able to do everything with it.”

What a shame I won’t be able to accept it.

****

King glanced in the rear view mirror, carefully observing the back seat of the SUV. It was very quiet back there, which wasn’t a big surprise, but the level of emotional tension was.

Callie and Noah may not have been looking at each other – they were both studiously staring out their respective windows, actually – but their body language interested him. For two adults who had a hard time connecting with others and expressing emotion, they were doing all kinds of silent communicating.

Well, well. This is intriguing.

He pulled up in front of the Art With Heart Center. Despite his exhaustion from being at the hospital with Freddie's parents all night, he felt a bubble of excitement in his stomach. He hoped, with everything that he had, that Naomi was there now. After last night's ugliness and the stress of the past week, he needed to lay eyes on something bright and beautiful – even just from across the room, and even just for a few seconds. That’d hold him for the day.

The three of them went in. Callie and Noah hung up their coats in the closet area, changed out of their outdoor boots. Callie gave King a peck on the cheek and scuttled away, and Noah watched her go.

“Noah?”

Noah’s blue eyes jerked back to King’s face. “King?”

“You ready to get to painting, man?”

“Yes. I have my own workspace, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. You’re lucky.”

“Want to see?”

“Sure I do. Show me.”

They walked into the massive open space area, and King was relieved when every single staff member nodded at Noah and greeted him by name. Noah didn’t really respond – he had reverted to his old habit of clenching his hands over and over and avoiding eye contact – and King felt worry move in his chest. He hadn’t seen Noah this unnerved in a while, and he hoped that the younger man would be OK.

Noah led him over to the far corner, next to a massive arched window. King watched as Noah took off his backpack and set it on a stool.

“My workspace.” Noah sounded proud and goddamn, he should be. Just by standing there, he’d blown away most every expectation that every health care professional had ever laid down on him. Sarah and her mother Annie had worked their asses off for years to help Noah be more flexible with changes in routine, and now the result was standing here in front of King.

Noah was in a brand new place, surrounded by brand new people – and Sarah was nowhere in sight. Noah had insisted on doing this himself, and although his twin sister had tied herself up in knots about it, she’d agreed in the end. This whole thing was, after all, about Noah’s increasing independence, and he had to start sometime.

King thought about what Annie had said that morning, when King had picked Noah up at his house. Noah had been packing his backpack with his beloved baseball cards, Sudoku puzzles, pencils, and juicebox, and his mother had stood there wringing her hands.

She had turned to King. “It’s like the first day of school.”

He’d grinned a bit. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“No, really. Noah’s never gone to regular school, and back when my ex-husband was around and we had money, we had home help and care and babysitters. Then Sarah took over, as you know, and it’s been Sarah here with him ever since. We had Helen for two days a week, and now we have Garrett who comes every day. But Noah leaving the house, going to a place and staying there for the whole day? That’s never happened, King. Not until today.”

He’d paused. “That’s true, huh?”

Annie had brushed away the tears in her eyes. “First day of school at the age of twenty-five, I swear. I’m scared to death for him.”

“Hey, now,” King had said gently. “He’s going to love it, Annie, and it’ll be good for all of you. You'll be nervous and worried until he comes home this afternoon, then you’ll see how great it all was.”

“Yeah.” She had smiled at him, and a rare flash of beauty had moved over that tired, strained face. “Yeah, you’re right.”