"I think he said two thousand pounds. Or maybe it was three." She shrugged as Shannon stared at her. "Of course he wants twice that."
"Twice-" She choked, then certain she'd gotten the joke, shook her head. "You almost had me."
"He's greedy, is Rogan," Maggie said with a smile. "I'm forever telling him he asks outrageous prices, and he delights in forever proving me wrong by getting them. If he wants six thousand pounds for it, he'll get it, I promise you."
The logical part of Shannon's brain calculated the exchange into American dollars, and banked it. The artist in her was both flustered and grieving.
"All right, boy-o," Maggie said to the squirming Liam.
"It's your da's turn." She marched out with him, leaving Shannon staring at the painting.
"When I sold the yearling," Murphy began in a quiet voice, "it broke my heart. He was mine, you see." He smiled a little when Shannon turned to him. "I'd been there at the foaling and watched through until the first nursing. I trained him to the lead and worried when he bruised his knee. But I had to sell him, and knew that in my head. You can't be in the horse business without doing business. Still, it broke my heart."
"I've never sold anything I've painted. I've given it away as gifts, but that's not the same." She took a long breath. "I didn't know I could feel this way. Exci
ted, overwhelmed, and incredibly sad."
"It may help to know that Gray's already told Rogan he'll skin him if Rogan sells your Brianna to anyone but him."
"I'd have given it to them."
Murphy leaned close to whisper in her ear. "Say it soft, for Rogan's got good hearing."
That made her laugh, and she let him take her hand and lead her into the next room.
It took more than an hour before she could be persuaded from the first floor to the second. There was too much to see, and admire, and want. The first thing she spotted in the upstairs sitting room was a long sinuous flow of glass that hinted at the shape of a dragon. She could see the spread of wings, the iridescent sheen of them, the curve of the neck, the fierce turn of head and sweep of tail.
"I have to have it." Possessively she ran her fingers along the serpentine body. It was Maggie's work, of course. Shannon didn't have to see the carved M.M. under the base of the tail to know it.
"You'll let me buy it for you."
"No." She was firm as she turned to Murphy. "I've wanted a piece of hers for more than a year and know exactly what Rogan gets for her. I can afford it now. Barely. I mean it, Murphy."
"You took the earrings." And she was wearing them still, he saw with pleasure.
"I know, and it's sweet of you to offer. But this is important to me, to buy for myself something of my sister's."
The stubborn look that had come into his eyes faded. "Ah, so it's that way. I'm glad."
"So am I. Very glad." Her lips curved when his came to them.
"I beg your pardon," Rogan said from the doorway. "I'm interrupting."
"No." She went to him, hands extended. "I can't begin to tell you how I feel seeing my work here. It's something I never thought of. Something my mother always wanted. Thank you." She kept his hands in hers as she kissed him. "Thank you for making something she dreamed of come true."
"It's more than a pleasure. And I'm confident it will continue to be, for both of us, for years to come." He saw her hesitation and countered it. "Brianna's gone to the kitchen. You can't keep her out of one. Will you come have some tea?"
"I've just started on this floor, and actually, I'd like a minute of your time."
"Rogan, there you are." With a smug smile on her face, Maggie strode into the room. "I've dumped Liam on Gray. I told him it would be good practice for when Kayla gains her feet and never stops running on them." She hooked an arm through Rogan's. "Brianna has the tea ready, and bless her, she brought a tin of her sugar biscuits from home."
"I'll be right down." He gave her hand an absent pat. "Should we go into my office, Shannon?"
"No, it's not necessary. I want to discuss the dragon."
He didn't need for her to gesture toward the sculpture. "Maggie's Breath of Fire," he said with a nod. "Exceptional."
"Of course it is," Maggie retorted. "I worked my ass off on it. Started three different times before it came right."
"I want it." Shannon was an excellent negotiator, had bargained with the best of them in the diamond district, in the little galleries of Soho. But in this case her skills had no chance against sheer desire. "I'd like to arrange to buy it and have you ship it back to New York for me."
No one but Maggie noticed that Murphy went suddenly and absolutely still.
"I see." Considering, Rogan kept his eyes on Shannon's face. "It's one of her more unique works."
"No argument. I'll write you a check."
Maggie looked away from Murphy and squared her shoulders for battle. "Rogan, I'll not have you-"
It amused Shannon to see Maggie seethe into silence when Rogan raised a hand. "Artists tend to have an emotional attachment to their work," he said mildly while his wife glared at him. "Which is why they need a partner, someone with a head for business."
"Fathead," Maggie muttered. "Bloodsucker. Damn contracts. He makes me sign them still as if I hadn't borne him a child and didn't have another in the womb."
He only spared her a brief glance. "Finished?" he asked, then continued before she could swear at him. "As Maggie's partner, I'll speak for her and tell you that we'd like you to have it, as a gift."
Even as Shannon started to protest, Maggie was sputtering in shock. "Rogan Sweeney, never in my life did I expect to hear such a thing come out of your mouth." After a burst of delighted laughter, she grabbed his face in both her hands, then kissed him long and hard. "I love you." Still beaming, she turned back to Shannon. "Don't you dare argue," she ordered. "This is a moment of great pride and astonishment for me in the man I married. So shake hands on the deal before he comes back to his normal avaricious senses."
Trapped by kindness, Shannon did what she was told. "It's very generous. Thank you. I guess I'll have that tea now, and gloat, before I finish the tour."
"I'll take you down. Maggie, Murphy?"