Page 98 of Second Round

“I guess.” There was still a creeping darkness on the edges of my days and especially my nights. I had been occupied with the move, the new house, getting the kids settled in their new school, and then the art show. Now that it was all done, I would have too much time to spend inmyhead.

“So, how early are you going? Is Sid pickingyouup?”

“Oh, did I forget to tell you? I broke up with him a couple ofweeksago.”

She frowned at me. “That didn’tlastlong.”

“Yeah. It wasn’tworkingout.”

At first, dating Sid was the perfect way to move on. He was smart, considerate, and funny. He brought me flowers on our first date and planned every outing with care. But the more I got to know him, the worse he got. He was too possessive and needy. And he tried to act like a father to my kids, which theyhated.

The final straw was the night that Leo showed up at the game. Sid had insisted on leaving right away to go to some fancy bar where I was going to be underdressed and bored. As I was leaving, I turned around and saw Leo in profile—leaning against the wall, his hands jammed in his black coach’s jacket, and I felt this pang that was almost audible. I wanted to stay with Leo at the rink. But since that was impossible, my second choice was to go home with Tristan and hear his excitement as he relived the game and his goal. I’d ended things with Sid that night. My immediate relief was proof it was the rightthing.

But men weren’t important at a time like this. My first art show was the realaccomplishment.

Idrovethe paintings over first thing the next morning. Darlene was the woman curating the space, and she helped me hangtheshow.

“Thanks so much for all your help,” I told her. It was such a thrill to see all my work properly hung on whitewalls.

“No problem. At least you only have eight big paintings. One show the woman did a hundred tiny paintings, which took hours to arrange. I still have nightmares of that installation.” She pulled a ladder out of a closet. “Next we have to readjust thelighting.”

“Oh, I thought we were done,”Isaid.

Darlene laughed. “Nope. We still have to do the lighting, the labels, and set up the table for theopening. “

There was a lot more to hanging a show than I expected. We worked steadily for another hour and a half until Darlene declared everything looked good. I took in the whole gallery and agreed. There was energy between the colourful paintings that animated the whole room. I felt both accomplished and humbled. The paintings looked bright and cheerful on the surface. Yet each painting reminded me of my struggles: Brent leaving, selling a house I loved, my sleepless nights, and everything that happened with Leo. I begantearingup.

“Jackie, are you okay?” Darleneasked.

“It’s such a huge moment for me. Painting’s been my therapy, and I feel like my whole soul is laidouthere.”

She walked over and hugged me. “Then your soul is a very beautifulplace.”

37

Colour MyWorld

Jackie

“There’sa man here who wants to buy one of your paintings,” Darlene’s soft voice could barely be heard, and I pulled the phone closer to my ear. I was back at home, showered and getting ready for an opening that was still hours away. But I was too nervous to doanythingelse.

Wow, my dream was coming true. “Really? That’s fantastic. But why are youwhispering?”

“Because he’s in the next room. But he said he’d really like to talk to the artist first. I told him that you’d be here at seven, but he has to go before then. Since you live pretty close, I wondered if you could come over. After all, it’sasale.”

“Sure. Tell him I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” I needed to get dressed up for a potential client and try to look successful. At Sharon’s urging, I had raised my prices a little. If I made this sale, it would basically pay for all the materials I’d used in the show. Of course, that didn’t include all my labour, but selling something meant painting was more than just ahobby.

I put on a pair of black pants and black top with a deep V in the front and back. Maybe it was too sexy for this early in the day, but I was an artist, right? People expected flamboyant. I added a dramatic necklace made up of chunky golden shapes on a twisted satin cord. That looked sufficiently artistic. For my makeup, I did a smoky eye and a neutral lip. The false eyelashes might be overkill, but I wouldn’t have to redo my makeup for theopening.

I speed-walked to the restaurant. It was late afternoon so there were few customers and Darlene wasn’t in sight. I went straight to the back room. There was only one personthere.

It was Leo, sitting in a chair and looking at hisphone.

He was formally dressed in a dark grey suit, bright white shirt, and pale pink tie. His hair was neatly brushed back, and his angular face looked like a gothic sculpture in the afternoonlight.

“Leo. What are youdoinghere?”

He stood up and smiled. My insides did a little flip-flop. It was magical and unreal that he was here. “I came to seeyourshow.”

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