Nothing In Common Read online

"Partnership," Rivka corrected, "but yes."

  Lila didn’t know what to say. The idea frightened and flattered her. "I don’t know anything about running a gallery, Rivka."

  "You don’t need to, hon. You just need to know everything about running me."

  "What about Mick? Can’t he handle it?"

  Rivka’s snort was so loud Lila had to pull the phone away from her ear. "My Mickey? That blarney-tongued charmer? C’mon Lila! When’s the last time I let Mick handle anything but my left—"

  Lila laughed out loud. "I get the picture." Mick was a wonderful husband and brother-in-law, but Mr. Responsible he was not. Mick’s idea of keeping things straight was knowing which of his guitars needed tuning before he went on stage.

  "So you’ll do it?"

  Although she was flattered by her sister’s offer, Lila had been burned too many times by the fire of Rivka’s enthusiasm. Honor or no, she wasn’t about to agree to the partnership before she’d asked a few more questions. "What do I have to do exactly?"

  "Oh, you know. Make sure things happen. Keep my head on straight. Make sure I do what I say I’m going to do. You’re good at that."

  "Who else is in this partnership?"

  "Me and Mick, of course. We’re the creative angle, though I can see that causing one of us to sleep on the sofa more than a few times. You know I love my Mickey, Lila-love, but the man can be so stubborn!"

  Lila laughed silently. Rivka calling Mick stubborn was the clearest case she had ever seen of the pond calling the ocean wet. The pair of them were both of artistic temperament, prone to the ecstasy and agony of creative successes and failures. Their marriage was one of the most volatile, passionate, yet loving marriages Lila had ever seen.

  Still, Lila couldn’t help but envy Rivka a little. Her sister had found her soul mate, what Orthodox Jews called the baschert. The one person in the world so perfect for you, no matter how you met, you knew he was the one. Rivka had met Mick at a concert. The Roving Ramblers, Mick’s band, were well known throughout the area for their unique blend of traditional Celtic and Cajun music. A slight man with a mop of ink-dark hair and a face creased from smiling, Mick had decided not to return to Ireland after meeting Rivka. They’d been married three months later.

  With a sudden shiver, Lila thought of Tom Caine’s last words to her. What had he meant by, "We marry them?" Had he been implying something? Obviously not, since he hadn’t called her. The showing had been more than a week ago. She hadn’t given him her phone number, but when did that ever stop anybody? She was listed in the book. Then again, she hadn’t called him either. Lila sighed. She just couldn’t seem to get him out of her mind.

  "Hello? Earth to Lila Lazin!"

  "What?" She was embarrassed to admit she hadn’t been paying attention. "What did you say?"

  "I’m just telling you who else is in the partnership. Of course, I’ve asked Martin. He’s the business angle. If he can’t market my stuff now that I have my own gallery, I don’t know who can. Then you, dear sister. You’ll be the fire under all our butts, of course. And there’s also an investor, for the financial side of it—"

  Lila didn’t wait to hear about that. "Fire under your butts, huh?"

  "Don’t get your panties in a twist." The grin was clear in her voice. "You know you love that stuff. I’ll come up with the ideas, Martin will market them, and the investor will pay for them. You just have to be the one who makes sure we all do our jobs on time."

  Lila sighed. "It sounds like a lot of work, Riv. I do have a job of my own, you know."

  "Ah yes, the high and mighty production manager of Deerkiller magazine." Rivka was teasing again. "And what’s that other one? Dollhouse?"

  "Archery Hunter and Doll Collector," Lila replied dryly. Her sister knew exactly what she did for a living. "Don’t forget Early Colonial Crafts and British Life."

  "Will you do it, Lila-love?" Rivka sounded serious. "I don’t trust anyone else."

  She couldn’t say no, and she didn’t really want to. Working with Rivka would be as close to being an artist as Lila would ever get. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t like being a part of her sister’s work. It gave her a taste of what creativity was like.

  "I think I’m setting myself up for a whole lot of headaches, but of course I’ll do it. When have I ever let you down?"

  "Never, Lila-love." Rivka clapped her hands gleefully, like a child. Lila could hear her through the phone. Rivka’s bangles clamored and jangled like an out-of-tune calliope. "So you’ll be at the meeting tonight, at the gallery? It’s Thursday night. You don’t have any hot dates tonight, do you?"

  Lila flipped through her appointment book. All clear, as usual. She hadn’t had a date since she’d gone for tea with Tom Caine. Darn! Now she was thinking of him again. Resolutely, Lila pushed the memory of his face from her mind, though the sound of him saying he wanted to kiss her refused to be banished.

  "I’ll cancel Keanu," Lila said wryly. Before she could stop herself, she found herself thinking that Tom was handsomer than any movie actor. "Buy me dinner, though."

  Rivka chuckled. "No problem. The investor’s treating us all to dinner."

  "Fair enough. See you tonight."

  As soon as she had slung the phone back into its cradle, Lila heard Darren’s trademark double tap on the door. Before she could say anything, he’d entered the office with another set of papers filling his hand. He set them down on her desk, then flopped down into the chair across from hers. "What’s up with Rivka? How’s the gallery?"

  "Almost done. She wants me to take a partnership in it."

  One of the things Lila appreciated most about Darren was his ability to convey entire conversations with little more than a glance. He was doing it now, she saw, raising his eyebrows and pursing his lips to signify being impressed. He smoothed one coffee-colored hand over his head, tousling the tight cap of bright yellow curls.

  "Wow," he said. "That’s like her kid or something."

  "Yeah, I know."

  "The last time my brother asked me to help with anything it was to enter a fantasy football league. As if! Like I care about football." He snapped twice in the air over his head. "Now, if he’d asked me what stockings to wear with the sequined, red cocktail gown, that I might’ve been able to help him with."

  Lila laughed, shaking her head. She knew no one else in the company shared such a casual work relationship with their assistants, but she didn’t care. Darren was more than her employee; he was her friend. Some days, he was the only source of humor she had.

  "What stockings might that be, Darren?"

  "Nude, honey." Darren drew the word out nasally. "Nude."

  Rolling her eyes, Lila signed the first paper on the stack. "Darren, you make my life so interesting. What would I do without you?"

  Darren grinned. "Spend a lot more time working, less time disco dancin’, honey!"

  He got up from the chair and did a back-and-forth bump and grind that had Lila giggling like a madwoman.

  "Enough!" She glanced furtively out the open doorway of her office. Spying one of the more notoriously nosy coworkers passing by, she made her voice stern. "I’m paying you to make copies and bring me coffee, Mr. Ramsey, not to disco dance!"

  Darren grinned. "Shoot, Lila, if you were paying me to dance, you’d never be able to afford my salary."

  He’s right, too, Lila thought as she scribbled her name on another endless stack of papers. He was good enough to be on stage instead of working behind a desk as her assistant. She’d seen him dance once in a local talent show, and he’d brought the house down.

  "I really don’t know what I’d do without you, Darren." She was serious.

  "If I’m the man in your life, honey, something is seriously wrong."

  And the sad thing is, Lila thought as she watched him bump and grind his way out of the office, closing the door behind him, he’s right about that, too.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t want a relationship. She just didn’t want to date