“Are you kidding me? How in the world did they find out about me?”

“The curator was in Boston to give a presentation at the Museum of Fine Arts. I convinced her to come take a look at my gallery. She saw some of your works there. I have to say she is quite enamored with your paintings, Jon. One thing led to another, and eventually she made the offer. So what do you say? Annie could use a vacation after what just happened here. Florence is magnificent—the birthplace of the Renaissance. Don’t tell me you haven’t dreamt of going there.”

Rafter sighed. “I would love to visit Florence, Cam. But I can’t accept the offer. My place is here. We have a newborn. I can’t pack up Annie and Grace and move them to Florence. Grace will need checkups. We already have a pediatrician for her picked out. It would just be a little too crazy to attempt right now. But anything you can bring here to my studio I will work on.”

Ross patted him on the shoulder. “I knew you would turn it down. And I admire you for putting your family first. I’m disappointed, but I’ll get over it, years from now.” Ross suddenly pointed to a painting over the fireplace. “I just noticed it, Jon. That’s the painting you made for Annie but never gave to her. The one you had covered up in the studio.”

“Yeah, as you can tell I altered it a bit.”

Ross nodded. “Now that you painted yourself into it the value has gone down. It was the next Mona Lisa, but not anymore.”

“That’s okay. It’s not for sale. It’s a gift to Annie.”

“I was just teasing, Jon. So what does Annie think of it?”

“She loves it. Every time she walks through the parlor she stops and looks at it.”

Ross admired the painting depicting the Rafter family for several moments. He then shot Rafter a sly look. “But what happens if your family expands? You’ll have to start all over on another canvas.”

“That would be a nice problem to have. But I’m not going to worry about it now.”

Grace suddenly let out a cry. Rafter pulled his daughter away from his shoulder and looked at her. Grace’s beautiful pink face contorted into an ugly scowl. And then she started crying insistently.

“What’s wrong with her, Jon? You want me to go get Annie? She’s talking to some women out on the gallery.”

“No, I think it’s just a gas bubble. She can’t be hungry. I just gave her a bottle. I’ll try burping her.” Rafter sat Grace up in his lap. He gently held her chin with one hand and started patting her back with his other hand. A half minute later Grace let out a large belch. Spit-up poured out her mouth. “Can you hand me that burp rag, Cam?”

Ross looked around frantically for the rag. “I don’t see it, Jon.”

“Never mind, Rosie is handling it.”

Ross turned around and watched the big Newfoundland lap away the spit-up from Grace’s mouth. “That’s disgusting, Jon. You really should get rid of that dog. Maybe I’ll tell Annie about this. Maybe she’ll force you to get rid of it.”

“That will never happen, Cam. Rosie is a bona fide hero. She went to the neighbors to get help when the Charbonneaus held us hostage. That’s how the police showed up here. Besides, she’ll be a great companion for Grace. I can envision Grace riding around on Rosie like she’s a horse.”

“But she rips up your paintings. We can’t have that happening.”

“Rosie is over that. She didn’t eat the Bertocchi while it’s been on the floor leaning up against the wall.” Rosie lifted her broad head. She looked over at Ross and woofed gently.

“Well, okay. But if it was me I’d keep her out of the studio and chained up. But then again I’m a cat person. Dogs are just too unrefined for me. They’re classless.” Ross stood up. He placed his Bible under his arm and scooped up the Bertocchi with his other hand. “I must be going, Jon. Congrats on your new daughter. And I’m so glad you and Annie are safe.”

“Stay in touch, Cam. Come visit anytime.”

“I will. And I’ll put the word out in the art world about your restoration abilities. I’ll bring you some work.”

“Okay. Goodbye, Cam.”

After he heard the front door shut, Rafter nestled his head against Grace’s body. Her body heat on his chest made him drowsy. And before long his eyes closed and he drifted to sleep.

Chapter 60

Rafter felt a tug on his arm. Startled, he snapped open his eyes. He saw Annie smiling at him. He yawned and blinked several times. “How long have I been sleeping?”

Annie looked at her watch. “I’d say about five minutes.”

“Oh, that’s good. I was afraid I’d been out for awhile.”

“I hated to wake you. You and Grace looked so innocent sleeping together. But there are some people out on the gallery you should meet.”

Rafter scooted forward to the sofa’s edge, and then stood up slowly so as not to wake Grace. “Cameron said you were talking to some ladies out there,” he said quietly.

“Yes. They’re mother and daughter, and they’re good people.” Annie held up her hands. “Do you want me to take her?”

“Sure, she’s like a little furnace. I’m burning up.” Rafter handed Grace over to Annie. He waited for Annie to secure Grace to her breast and shoulder, and then followed Annie out the front door. A woman in her mid to late forties sat with a teenager on a swing on the gallery.

“Jon, this is Lorelei Charbonneau and her daughter Alisha,” Annie said.

For a split second he couldn’t speak, but thankfully he found his voice. He stepped forward and extended a hand to Lorelei. “Hello, Lorelei, I’m Jon Rafter.” The woman took his hand and shook it warmly. He then offered his hand to the girl, a pretty young woman who bore an unmistakable resemblance to Arcadias. “Hello, Alisha, good to meet you.” The girl shyly took his hand and shook it.

“And this is our daughter, Grace,” Annie said proudly.

“How old is she?” Alisha asked, her shyness forgotten.

“She’s two weeks old today.”

“Can I hold her?”

“I don’t see why not,” Annie said. She bent down and carefully put Grace in Alisha’s outstretched hands.

“So I take it you are Arcadias’s wife,” Rafter said to the woman.

“I’m his ex-wife. Alisha is our daughter we had together.”

“May I ask what brings you here?” Rafter said, eyeing Grace in the girl’s arms. He was a little unnerved by the whole scenario.

“I came here to apologize for the terrible thing Arcadias did here. I am so sorry he brought violence into your beautiful home. I never would’ve dreamed he would do something so horrible.”

“How long have you been divorced from Arcadias?”

“Almost seven years. And we haven’t talked for two years. Had I any inkling he planned to do this I would’ve reported him. You must believe me, Mr. Rafter.”

“If you haven’t talked to Arcadias in two years there is no way you could’ve known. You shouldn’t feel guilt for something he did on his own.”

Lorelei shook her head. “I feel partially to blame because I’m the one who introduced Arcadias to relic hunting. I even bought him his first metal detector. My father was a Civil War buff. He used to relic hunt quite a bit. So I thought since Arcadias was a history major he might enjoy looking for Civil War relics with my dad. You know, have something in common. But I greatly underestimated how much he would enjoy relic hunting. He quickly became obsessed with it. And he even vowed to me he would one day hold Jean Lafitte’s gold in his hands. I told him he was crazy and that it would never happen. But I’m afraid I only made Arcadias more determined to prove me wrong. Eventually he abandoned Alisha and me to treasure hunt around the clock.”

“He made his own bed, Lorelei. Arcadias chose to break the law all on his own. You didn’t play any part in this,” Annie said.

Rafter continued to watch Alisha. She was a pretty girl, and seemed down to earth, even modest. He didn’t understand how Arcadias could discard his wife and daughter so thoughtlessly. Rafter never wanted to be selfish like Arcadias and take Annie and Grace for granted. He couldn’t imagine missing a moment of Grace growing up.