LITMIR.BIZ

       TWELVE

      Scott strolled into the boardroom at Elstrom in the bright March sunlight and was immediately leapt on by Freya, who gave him such a warm hug that all of his fears and apprehensions for this day instantly vanished.

      Holding her at arm’s length, Scott moved his head slowly from side to side to check that they were the only two people in the room.

      ‘I know that Dad is still in Italy because I spoke to him this morning. But where have you hidden Travis? I thought his ugly face was bound to turn up at any boardroom meeting where money would be involved. Do I need to look under the table? That’s the only place he would be out of reach of my fist.’

      ‘Now don’t be like that,’ Freya scolded and wagged a finger at him. ‘Travis sent me a very sweet email yesterday, telling me that he had decided to leave Elstrom behind for good and move on to pastures new.’

      Freya must have caught the look in his eyes because she gave him a quick nod. ‘Yes. That’s right. Travis has sold all of his shares. And no, before you ask, I don’t know who he sold them to. It certainly wasn’t anyone in the family because I asked around. So don’t give me that look. Who knows? It might be someone who has a real interest in the business. Think positive for once!’

      ‘Positive! Right. Well, I can’t say that I’m sorry to see him go. But I don’t like the idea that we have an unknown investor. That makes me nervous.’

      Freya hooked her arm through the crook of Scott’s elbow and tugged him towards the back of the room.

      ‘Then here is something to put a smile on your face.’ She nervously licked her lips and Scott saw it.

      ‘What’s going on? I thought that you’d called me here for a board meeting?’

      ‘I have.’ Freya nodded. ‘With my office manager hat on, I can tell you that everything is going splendidly, the building is booked for the next two years with more enquiries coming in every day and the finances have never looked rosier. The full report is on your desk. There. Done. Now, on to much more exciting stuff.’

      She stepped back and slowly angled her head towards the wall behind the head of the table. ‘Notice anything different?’

      Scott rolled his shoulders back and followed her gaze, then blinked.

      The full-length portrait of his uncle had been moved to the left, creating a gap which was occupied by a tall gold frame which matched the other portraits perfectly. What was inside the frame was covered by a plain grey dust sheet held up by a piece of tape, hiding the painting below.

      It took a second for his brain to register what he was looking at.

      ‘Toni finished my painting. Wow. I wondered about that.’

      ‘Wonder no longer. That girl works fast! I have already seen it and paid the rest of her fee,’ Freya whispered, then stepped to one side and kissed him on the cheek. ‘This is your very own personal unveiling. Call me later. Love ya.’

      With that, Freya swung her handbag over her shoulder and strolled casually out of the room, leaving him standing there with his back against the table, staring up at the dust sheet.

      Something close to nerves ran across his shoulders. This was so ridiculous! This was only paint on canvas. Why did he need a personal viewing?

      He took a couple of calming breaths. Who was he kidding? This was paint brushed on to one of her father’s canvases by the same clever fingers which had stroked his face and made him feel alive only a few weeks earlier. Until he blew it.

      She had probably made him look like his grandfather. Complete with morning dress, sideburns and a handlebar moustache.

      He deserved the worst.

      Forcing the air from his lungs in one short blast, Scott tugged on the dust sheet and then gathered it up on to the floor.

      Only then did he stand up, lift his chin and focus on the painting hanging on the wall in front of him.

      What he saw took his breath away and Scott quickly pulled out a chair and collapsed down into it. Suddenly his legs were not quite as steady as they should be.

      His portrait was astonishing.

      Toni had painted him standing at the mullioned window of the office. His legs were braced and he was wearing cold weather gear and the fur-lined boots he had arrived in from Alaska. It was a side view and his left hand was resting on a wide decorated chart spread out on the mapping table in front of the window. Survey equipment and a dog sled harness were right there, on top of the map.

      But that was not where the eye was drawn to. Scott’s gaze was riveted by the expression on his face. He looked tanned, unshaven, with swept back hair but, with his chin up and his back straight, he looked the equal of any of the other Elstrom men captured on these walls. Strong, powerful and in control. Even down to the grey in his beard and stubble.

      But this portrait was different.

      Toni had seen something in him which nobody alive had ever truly noticed before.

      Yearning. It was in the way his blond eyebrows came together in concentration as his eyes stared out of the window where gentle snowflakes blurred the hazy outline of the tall buildings opposite Elstrom. His mouth was curved into a small warm smile as though he was dreaming of somewhere else. She had painted his eyes a shade of blue that he knew from his reflection in the mirror every morning. The exact perfect shade.

      Tears pricked the corners of Scott’s eyes and he left them there.

      Freya was right. This painting was intensely personal. Every single brush stroke screamed out to him that the hand that had painted his image cared about him so deeply and intensely that it was impossible to conceal.

      It

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