Page 45 of The Summer Swap

“I thought I’d dilute the seafoam so that it’s more of a pale wash. You might fall in love with the place all over again.”

Was that what this was about?

“That isn’t going to happen.” Cecilia kept her voice gentle. “I don’t want you to go to so much trouble if that’s your objective.”

“It will be fun. And even if it doesn’t change the way you feel about the place, it will probably make it easier to sell if everything is freshly painted.”

“I suppose there is some truth in that.” Cecilia stood up and cleared the plates. “Stay there. You’ve had a busy day. I’ll make us coffee.”

“I’ll help.” Lily followed her into the kitchen. “The Girl on the Shore intrigues me.”

Cecilia stacked the dishwasher. “In what way?”

“It’s different from his later paintings. It’s more whimsical. Dreamy. His later works are bolder. I’m glad you left that one on the wall.”

She was probably a fool for doing so. She still didn’t know why Cameron hadn’t destroyed it as they’d agreed.

But Lily wouldn’t understand the significance of that particular painting, so the fact that she’d seen it didn’t matter. Still, Cecilia wasn’t keen to discuss it in any detail.

“The coffee is brewing so now would be a good time for you to show me your own paintings.” She saw the flicker of uncertainty cross Lily’s face. “I promise to say nothing. Nothing at all. I’ll just look.”

“But then I’ll be stressed trying to work out what you’re thinking. You were married to Cameron Lapthorne. You were surrounded by artistic genius. That’s pretty daunting for the rest of us normal mortals.” Lily looked anxious and then straightened her shoulders. “But if you’re sure that’s what you want. Probably best for me to hear the truth now, then I can give up dreams of being an artist before I waste as much time on it as I did medical school. Otherwise by the time I figure out what I’m going to do, my ability to do it will be long gone.”

Cecilia looked at her sweet, unlined face, the nose smattered with freckles, the dark hair that curled and tumbled. Today Lily was wearing a pair of denim shorts with a T-shirt in vibrant shades of turquoise and aqua that brought out the blue of her eyes.

“That T-shirt looks good on you. The design is unusual.”

Lily glanced down. “This is one of my more successful tie-dye experiments. There were a few disasters along the way, although I managed to salvage a few and turn them into hair scrunchies.”

Cecilia was fast learning that there were no limits to Lily’s creativity. “I want to see your work. Show me.”

She grabbed Lily’s arm and urged her through the living room to the studio at the back of the cottage. It was the first time she’d been in there since returning and she braced herself to be slapped in the face by the full force of memories.

Lily stopped dead at the door. “I’m really not sure this is a good idea.”

Cecilia wasn’t sure it was a good idea, either, although for different reasons.

She stepped past Lily and was pleasantly surprised to see the room almost empty. There were no traces of Cameron here. The sun beamed down through the tall windows, throwing light across the old, scuffed floorboards. Tall cupboards lined one entire wall. She knew they would contain paintings, but also paints, pastels, charcoal, old rags—everything. She remembered painting here in the early days, before she’d become part of the Cameron Lapthorne machine. There was an easel tucked into one corner and an old chair, paint spattered and with a spoke missing.

“I’ll show you the last one I did. The one I like.” Lily opened one of the cupboards and pulled open a drawer. “I know I shouldn’t have left it here, but I didn’t want to fold it and put it in my backpack.”

“I should hope not. Show me.” She stood over Lily’s shoulder and studied the painting on top. It was a watercolor of the Cape seashore, light and delicate, the colors soft and luminous.

Cecilia felt something stir inside her. A trickle of excitement. “Show me another.”

“If you hate that one then there’s probably no point in—”

“Let’s lay them out on the table.” Cecilia took the seashore landscape and placed it on the long table that ran along the length of the wall opposite. “I can’t see it like this. We need a frame.” She opened a different cupboard and stared at the frames. She and Cameron had kept a few for their own use. She pulled one out and dismissed it. Too small. She selected another, and then took a mount. “Let’s try this. Just to see how it looks.”

“It’s a beautiful frame, but it’s wasted on my—”

“Hush. I need to concentrate.” Cecilia flipped over the frame, inserted the mount and positioned Lily’s painting. “This is temporary, obviously.”

“Obviously.” Lily sounded faint.

Having secured the painting, Cecilia propped it against the wall and took several paces back so that she could study it properly.

She felt a thrill of excitement. Tears stung her eyes. It had been so long since she truly felt anything that she’d started to wonder if she’d be numb forever, but she felt something now. Something powerful and energetic that she hadn’t felt in a while.

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