Page 50 of Isabella and the Slipper

She said goodbye and hung up the phone. It would have been nice to have Chase’s help, but she didn’t want to risk anyone finding out. Elenore did show up at the gallery sometimes.

Isabella sat down at her computer and started removing Elsa’s artwork from the website. It didn’t take long, and she spent the rest of the day standing behind the counter while customers walked around. When the gallery was empty, she went into the office, finished her homework, and watched the clock.

As soon as seven o’clock rolled around, she flipped the Open sign over and locked the door. She hurried to the largest display Elsa had and started dismantling it—a series of six paintings that formed one large painting when hung together. It was a brilliant set of art. One of Isabella’s favorites. She’d be sad to see it go.

A knock sounded on the glass at the front door, and Isabella grew nervous. Who could be there after hours, knocking? She was suddenly aware how alone she was in the dark gallery. She peered out the front way to see if she could tell who it was.

Chase stood at the door, his hands up to the glass, looking in. His backpack was slung over one shoulder. She smiled in relief and went to let him in. She turned the lock. “What are you doing here?”

“I ran into Delilah and Ava at the mall. They were dress shopping for the fall formal with your mom. Looked like they’d be at it for hours, so I thought I’d come help you.” He peered into her eyes. “That’s why you said not to come, right? You didn’t want Delilah to see us hanging out together.”

She nodded, the butterflies in her stomach going crazy. “Yeah.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure they’ll be tied up for quite some time. I told her she’d look good in silver. That was the one dress color I didn’t see there.”

Isabella giggled. “You’re awful.”

He grinned. “I know. Now, what can I do to help?”

“I was just starting to take down the first display.” She led him back into the showroom and showed him how to carefully take down the art and remove the metal hooks.

Chase leaned his backpack against the wall and picked up the container of hooks. “This doesn’t look too bad.”

“No, this part will go fast. It’s the rearranging the rest of the pieces to make the gallery look full that will take a while.”

“I see.” He glanced around. “Together, it should go faster.”

She smiled. “Definitely.”

He gave her a cocky, crooked smile that made his dimple show. “My curfew isn’t until midnight. I think we can get it all done.”

She tried to calm her nerves and just nodded. They worked at taking down the pieces of art and wrapping them in butcher paper to be crated for shipping. Isabella wasn’t in charge of the crating process, she just had to get the butcher paper on them and stack them in the back room; Paco would do the rest. He was good at making sure the art would ship without damage.

After an hour, all of the pieces were down. Isabella wiped her hands on her jeans. “Now we need to reposition the spotlights and start moving around the other pieces.”

Chase looked up at the lighting. “Do you have a ladder?”

She motioned to the other room. “In the back.”

He followed her into the storage room. She picked up the small folded step ladder and turned to leave, not realizing he was right behind her. She collided with his chest, dropping the ladder. He grabbed her so she didn’t fall.

“Sorry,” he said, his voice low.

She stood there a moment, pressed up against him with her heart pounding a thousand times a second. He gazed into her eyes, and then he did something she would never have expected. He slowly removed her glasses. She blinked up at his face, now blurry.

“Have you ever thought about getting contacts?”

If she had been drinking, she would have spit on him. Luckily, she was saved from that humiliation. She coughed and tried to smile. “No,” she managed to say.

“You have pretty eyes, but your glasses hide them.”

Isabella’s knees grew wobbly and breathing became difficult. She swallowed. “Really? I always thought they were so plain. Just brown. Like the color of mud.”

Chase let out a hearty laugh. “I’d say more like chocolate.”

Heat rose to her cheeks. Why had she said that to him? It was always something she’d thought, but not said out loud. “Well, that’s way better.”

He tilted her chin up until their lips were just a breath apart. “Why don’t you have more confidence?” His voice was almost a whisper.

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