Page 9 of Lakesides and Longing

She glanced around the room full of over a hundred of her half-done paintings. She hadn’t finished a single one since the car accident.

She pulled out a blank canvas and squeezed black paint on her hands. She rubbed them together and stuck them down onto the canvas in a random pattern. Then she got up and washed her hands and went on the hunt for dry canvas.

There was one with an imprint of her leg and foot. She took a small brush and painted a flower coming off the top of her foot. She created more swirling flowers around the picture. It was nice, but definitely missing something.

“Nice studio.”

She closed her eyes. Her solitude was once again ruined, thanks to Lukas. Maybe she needed to put a sign up that saidDo not enter.

Blake would make fun of her art like he’d made fun of her interest in astrology. She didn’t really have a psychic—she had to draw the line somewhere. She just said that because he was being so obnoxious about things. Sometimes when she wanted to get her brother off the phone, she did the same thing—started rambling about what her psychic said.

But she did put a lot of stock in the zodiac, her crystals, and her daily tarot card. Today she’d drawn the emperor card, which she hoped meant that she’d have more stability in her life. It could also mean a person who will bring balance and support, but there was no way a Virgo would do that. They’d never get along.

A dog nose pressed against her thigh, and Paige reached down and scratched Tria behind her ears.

She kept her eyes on the dog as she spoke. “Look, you can leave. You don’t need to stay. We just won’t tell Lukas.”

“I’m staying. Lukas had a point. It’s not safe out here for you by yourself. Plus I could use a few months of R and R. So, I know you don’t go out, but do you have people visit you?”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “You mean do I have friends?”

“I guess, yeah.”

“I do. But they are snowbirds, so until they come back, no, I don’t have friends.”

“When do they get back?”

“Next week, I think. We spend a lot of time together in the summer. I can walk to their house.”

She wondered what Blake was thinking. Maybe she could convince him that with Phil and Ida around he wouldn’t need to stay. That didn’t work with Lukas though and she had no reason to think it would work with Blake.

“Do all of your pictures have body parts in them?”

“Yeah, it’s my signature. Body parts in every picture, though at times very well hidden. There are a few pictures that have left people unable to figure out exactly what is there.” She missed finishing her pieces. But somehow, just as she got close, she could never figure out how to end them.

“Found your ear.”

She turned around and looked at him. She was never comfortable around men like Blake. He was undeniably handsome, but it was his bulk that she couldn’t stand. Emery worked out, but he had lean muscle. Blake was built like a bodyguard. Which she supposed now he was, but still, with muscle like that came overconfidence and usually a slight snobbery over artists and free spirits. His house was probably modern and city-like.

“It’s easy when they aren’t finished.”

“Fine, show me one that’s done.”

“They’re all in storage right now. But you can find pictures of them online.”

He whipped out his phone. “And your name is?”

“Paige Heart.”

“Using your married name, I see.” Her stomach clenched. She should’ve used her maiden name when she started out, but she had really thought she and Emery were forever. It was too late now that she made a name for herself.

His fingers raced across his phone.

“Unfortunately.”

He scrolled through a few pictures, but she couldn’t read his face or tell what he thought.

“You’re good.” He squinted at a picture. Zoomed it in and zoomed it out. He spun the phone around and thrust it into her face. The painting was a bouquet of balloons, a simple picture, and she had made no attempt to hide that particular body part. “Are those your boobs?”

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