Page 21 of Fallen Ink

“How do you know them?” Shea asked.

A sad look crossed over the other woman’s eyes before she blinked it away. “Oh, I know Murphy Gallagher, whose brother is married to Maya. Your cousin.”

“Small world,” Roxie said as the rest of them started talking about all the Montgomerys and their various spouses and babies. Adrienne could never keep up, and honestly, her mind was on what Abby had said and not what they were talking about.

She’d heard of Abby, and not just because she was part of the community Adrienne had moved into. But her story wasn’t one that Adrienne thought she wanted anyone else to know, at least not yet, so she kept it to herself. But her heart ached for the other woman, even as she tried to keep the expression on her face sweet so Abby wouldn’t know that Adrienne already knew some of the horrors she had faced. And Adrienne figured she didn’t even know the half of it.

Kaylee walked into the studio at that moment, pulling Adrienne out of her thoughts, and their evening of Blushes With Lushes finally began. Adrienne loved Kaylee. She was a few years older than Adrienne and had an air about her that said she’d been through it all, twice, and came out the other side stronger. Plus, she was a fantastic artist with such a depth of talent that if one didn’t realize that helping others enjoy art was important, they’d wonder why she was wasting her time with an evening like this.

“Welcome all,” Kaylee began with a smile. “I see the Lushes part of the evening is in full swing.” She winked, and everyone held up his or her decorated wine glass in cheers. Each glass held a hand-painted saying on it, as well as cute decorations along the stem. Adrienne figured that either Kaylee had had fun one weekend painting, or they were from another event where people left them for others to enjoy. Either was possible, knowing the artist. “Now, let’s get the Brushes part started.”

She took the lace scarf off the panting on the easel beside her and while others gasped, laughed, or starting giggling, Adrienne narrowed her eyes in study. This was the part she loved, and she wanted to make sure her art was the best it could be. While this wasn’t a competition and no one would be truly comparing his or hers to each other’s outside of joking, Adrienne was still an artist herself and didn’t want to screw it up. This wasn’t paint by numbers, and there was always wiggle room for originality as they went along, but Adrienne liked to get as close to the original as possible. It kept her skills up.

The moonscape in front of her was simple and beautiful. There were a few dark trees in the foreground, and the whites, purples, and blues would be fun to play with as they layered on. This was so much better than her failed knitting attempt. Meghan and Jillian might have thought she’d gotten the hang of it, but she’d had to practice hours and hours with no true progress, and she’d never been able to cast on correctly. Painting was totally in her wheelhouse, and so much fun to do when she was with her family and friends.

As everyone began, Shea and Abby bent their heads together, laughing at a joke at the end of their row, while Adrienne sat between a determined Thea and Roxie. Roxie had her tongue between her teeth as she tried her hardest to get the shapes right, and Adrienne knew it vexed her younger sister that, of the four siblings, she was the one who had the most problems with any kind of drawing or painting. Adrienne and Shep were tattoo artists, of course, but Thea was a baker who could decorate cakes and cookies like no one’s business. They each had their own strengths, but she knew Roxie hated that hers wasn’t the same as her siblings’.

“Why is this so hard?” Roxie mumbled, stabbing at her canvas.

“That’s what she said,” Thea and Adrienne said at the same time before breaking down into giggles.

Roxie’s lips twitched before she joined them. “Such mature ladies,” she said with a snort before setting down her brush so she could have more of her wine. “And can we do like a trivia night next time or something? I’d rock at that.”

“If we do that, we’d have to invite Shep,” Adrienne put in. “He only barely lets us have this night on our own.”

“True,” Shea said from the other end of the row. “He not only likes wine, but he enjoys painting, as well. It’s only because we’ve banned the men from our Girls’ Night gatherings that he’s not sulking behind us at this very moment.”

Adrienne couldn’t help but smile. After a decade of having her big brother living across the country—okay, New Orleans wasn’t that far from Colorado, but it sure as hell felt like it—she liked getting to know the adult Shep and all his idiosyncrasies.

“I’d still beat him,” Roxie said, her chin held high even as laughter danced in her eyes. “I need to beat him at something.”

Adrienne patted Roxie’s shoulder. “You don’t suck at this, you know.” She waved at her sister’s painting. “You just want things to be perfect, and something like this doesn’t always need to be perfect.”

Roxie stuck out her tongue before taking another sip of her wine and setting the glass down. “That’s what Carter says, yet sometimes it’s like none of you understand me.” She rolled her eyes, making it a joke, but Adrienne couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to her words—and not just about herself.

Adrienne turned a bit to meet Thea’s gaze, but neither of them said anything in response to Roxie’s statement. Whatever was going on with their sister and Carter wasn’t their business—yet. Of course, for all she knew, nothing was going on at all, and she was just looking too hard beneath all of Roxie’s words. After all, Carter was nothing but loving and caring when he was near the rest of the family, and even that evening, Roxie had come to the event looking wonderfully disheveled.

She took a sip of her drink, knowing she was only running in circles around her sister’s marriage because it was easier to do than wondering what the hell she was doing with her own relationship.

They painted some more while talking about nothing important until Shea asked how Thea’s best friend, Molly, was doing.

Thea set down her brush and frowned. “I don’t know. She doesn’t talk to me about Dimitri or how she feels about the divorce. She just acts like nothing is wrong and that this whole thing is just a new phase of her life.”

Adrienne winced. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“I know, right?” Thea gulped the last of her wine before setting her glass down on the cloth-covered bench a little harder than necessary. Thankfully, the glass didn’t break. “She’s just going about her business, and I can tell that Dimitri is truly hurting, but it’s not like I can talk to him about it or even be on his side because—”

“Because she’s your best friend, and that means you’re automatically on her side.” Adrienne had already finished her wine and was on her second glass of water since she liked to hydrate, so she drank for a moment before letting out a breath. “I’m sorry you’re in the middle.”

This was another reason she stayed out of relationships. Everything was so complicated. Every single woman at this table had a ton of baggage and history when it came to love and men yet, somehow, Shea and perhaps Roxie had made it through to the other side. Thea was perpetually single just like Adrienne, and Abby? Well, that wasn’t her story to tell.

“But I’m not in the middle, not really,” Thea said, her sad gaze resting on her painting. “I can’t be. Dimitri was my friend too, and now…well, now he can’t be anymore, not the same way, and that sucks.” She blew out a breath then went back to painting, the subject closed. Adrienne was fine with that. It wasn’t as if she knew what to say to make it better, after all.

She purposely didn’t bring up Mace and knew she was being a coward. It wasn’t as if she had any idea what she would or could say if someone brought it up. Her sisters saw far too much, and Adrienne had a feeling Shea and Abby were the same way when it came to ferreting out information. They’d all gone through their own levels of connections, and she knew they’d use that experience to see right through her. Or maybe she was being far too cautious and nervous about what they would say once she mentioned Mace’s name. After all, he was her best friend, and she was allowed to bring him up, especially since they also worked together. It wasn’t as if she had to tell the world she was sleeping with him.

Often.

And not really sleeping.

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