Page 50 of The Wrong Side Of Us

Nathan always said that was the beauty of art, the various interpretations possible for one painting. It was true. I understood it now.

Whether it be music, or paintings, or writing, interpretation varied according to your beliefs. Your thoughts.

“Do you paint?” Derek asked. He turned to face me, placing his hands in his pockets.

Snorting, I replied, “Nope. I don’t paint, and I don’t draw. I’m not really sure what I do.”

His brows pulled together at my statement. “Why is that?”

“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully.

Truth was, I wanted to go back to school but didn’t know what to major in. I wanted to do something I enjoyed, not just for the sake of having a career. The problem was finding out what that was. Now that I was having a baby, figuring my life out was much more important.

“You’re young.” He smiled warmly. “You have time.”

“Everyone always thinks they have time.” I shook my head as we continued to walk throughout the gallery. “They hold on to that ‘time’ and then let it pass them by, and in the end, they end up doing nothing. I don’t want to be like that. I want to do something, something for others, something to make a change.”

Derek’s expression changed. I could see his jaw working as he pondered my words; he’d even taken a step back after I spoke, as if the words had caught him off guard and he didn’t know what to say.

I’d spoken too much.

“Sorry.” I wrinkled my nose, feeling like an idiot. He was a stranger, and I was overwhelming him with my issues. “Sometimes I just talk, even if I shouldn’t.”

He shook his head, relaxing his shoulders. For some reason, he’d gotten tense and was now struggling to go back to his normal self. “It’s okay. It seems like something that you needed to get off your chest.” Derek cleared his throat, looking away briefly. “You’re Hannah’s sister, aren’t you?”

The gallery suddenly felt colder, the tension between us at an all-time high. Knowing who I was meant him knowing what I did, the video out there. That was something that I’d tried to avoid at all costs, not because it was my fault but because of the embarrassment that followed.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” I heard him say softly. He placed his hands on my shoulders, turning me around to face him. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Evelyn.”

My eyes met his green ones and saw the guilt etched all over his face, true guilt. Like he’d done something wrong, something horrible. “It’s not that,” I finally said, swallowing past the lump in my throat. “It’s just a lot of memories come back, but yes, I am Hannah’s sister.”

“You’re very different from her,” Derek noted.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” I smiled.

“That you should.” He chuckled, relaxing a bit more. “I don’t understand. Maxwell was her husband, and now you’re…with him.”

“Yeah, but that’s a long story.”

“Which brings us back to you going out for coffee with me,” Derek said, raising his eyebrows pointedly.

I laughed, a real laugh this time. “You will not let that go, will you?”

“Sad to say I won’t.” Derek grinned. “Just coffee, no strings attached, no commitment. I know you’re involved with Maxwell, and I respect that. We’ll be out in a public place. Hell, you can even tell a friend to come along. I don’t mind.”

Just then, Nathan and Jesse came out from the back office, Nathan clearly unhappy when he saw me with Derek, and Jesse amused.

“Unless the boyfriend is pissed,” Derek whispered. I rolled my eyes, letting Nathan pull me into his embrace when he was close enough.

“Everything okay?”

Nodding, I sighed. I could have ten thousand friends, a million acquaintances, but Nathan was my home, my source of comfort.

“I was just asking Evelyn out for a cup of coffee, Maxwell, if you don’t mind, of course?”

“Oh, of course he doesn’t mind,” Jesse said, nudging Nathan with her elbow.

Nathan glared, speaking up. “We’re going to the office. Excuse us.”

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