Page 89 of Redeeming Harmony

“Nope,” he said. “It’s takeout from Thai Delight.”

“Ooh, I love Thai Delight,” Harper said before inhaling again. “I thought the food smelled familiar. It’s their chicken with coconut, chili, and lime dish, isn’t it?”

“That’s the one. It’s my favourite.”

“Mine too.” She took a big bite, the look of bliss on her face giving him a semi. He sat down, pulling discreetly at his crotch, and took a sip of his half-finished beer. “Did you want something stronger than water?”

“Water’s fine,” she said as she ate another mouthful.

“How come you didn’t eat dinner?” he asked. “Tell me it wasn’t because you were putting up reward posters.”

“Nah, I finished that by three,” she said. “I don’t suppose anyone captured Lady Nakia and brought her to the clinic, huh?”

“Not yet,” he said. “Thank you again for putting up the posters. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.” She ate another bite of food. “Anyway, after I finished, I went over to Addison’s and hung out with her. She eats late because Preacher doesn’t close the tattoo shop until seven. I probably would have had dinner with them but -”

“But I texted you,” he said.

“You did, and,” she wiggled her eyebrows at him, “I’m happy you did. How was your day?”

“Fine. Not busy, but I - Katy Purry, no, get out of there.”

The tabby cat had nosed open Harper’s bag and climbed into it. The cat glared at him when he made a shooing motion and smacked his hand when he reached down. He nudged her head, and she growled before leaping out of the bag. It fell over, and Harper’s sketchpad slid out onto the floor. Her tail flicking back and forth, Katy stalked from the kitchen.

He picked up the pad, staring in surprise at the sketch of Katy on the page. “Holy shit, Harper.”

She made a face. “It’s a work in progress and not a very good one.”

“Are you kidding me? You drew this from seeing Katy Purry once,” he said. “It’s crazy good.”

“Thank you.” Her pleased look made him happy.

“Do you mind if I look through this?” he asked.

She hesitated and then shook her head. “No, go ahead.”

He flipped through the pages. She drew a lot of animals. Some he recognized as clinic clients, some were unfamiliar. He grimaced when he got to the one of Lady Nakia and quickly flipped to the next page. “Harper, you have some serious talent. You know that, right?”

“I’m slightly above average,” she said. “But thank you.”

“You’re much better than slightly above average,” he said.

“Honestly, I used to think so too. I was totally full of myself,” she said with a grin. “Then I moved to New York City and quickly learned I was a tiny, moderately talented fish in a ginormous pond of insanely talented sharks.”

He continued to flip through the sketchpad. The newer stuff was all animals, but further in, he found sketches of Central Park, the Empire State Building, and other landscapes he didn’t recognize. There were cool drawings of people standing on street corners and one of a family having a picnic in Central Park.

There was a sketch of Hal and her father and a truly spectacular one of Addison sitting on her couch and knitting.

“This one of Addison is incredible,” he said.

“Thank you. I’m thinking of submitting that one and the one of Hal and my dad to an art gallery in New Cassel. They’re accepting submissions for a show they’re doing called ‘Average Joes and Janes’. Isn’t that the worst title ever?”

He laughed. “It’s not great. You draw a lot of different things, huh?”

She nodded. “It drove my art teacher crazy in high school. She knew I wanted to do this for a living and said if I wanted to make that happen, I needed to pick one subject and stick to it. Said I couldn’t be jumping from people and animals to landscape and buildings and then detouring into fruit - I went through a fruit drawing phase in high school - but I like drawing all those things, you know? I don’t want to be pigeonholed into one certain thing.”

“Do you only use pencil as your medium?” he asked.

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