Page 22 of Built of Illusions

Josie didn’t wake until the morning was half gone, but she felt lighter and ready to take on the day. Despite a few nightmares, she’d slept fairly well as her other dreams had balanced those out.

It would have been better waking with Nico in her bed, but she hoped that wouldn’t be too far down the road. Unless the regrets he’d felt when he’d got the phone call had grown stronger.

She wasn’t going to push for a relationship if he didn’t want it, but she really hoped he wanted one. Which was a complete one-eighty switch for her. She’d never wanted a relationship; she’d been too busy surviving and creating art.

It was funny how that quick trip to Vermont had changed her. Nico had asked her to go along with them to help the friends he considered family. And the motley group living at Midnight Lake was a family.

A brilliant scientist and the man behind the creation of Midnight Security. A carpenter and mechanic. A firefighter and arson investigator. Another FBI agent turned Midnight Security expert and a woman who’d lived through hell and was now studying the effects of climate change on animals.

Both Nico and Joe Cheveyo were part of that family as well. They didn’t live at the lodge full-time, but they were integral parts of the group.

After experiencing a week or so at the lodge, Josie’s entire perspective had changed. For so long, her goal had been to own her own place, to be safe.

Now she wanted more. A relationship with someone who gave a shit about her. She wanted to think about someone during the day and wonder how their day was going. To make art with him in mind.

She wanted to laugh with someone and commiserate when things were tough. Cuddle on the couch with him while they watched a movie. The last thought had her smiling. She’d need a couch for that. And space for that couch.

Which was part of the reason she’d never had a relationship. Her entire adult world had been about leveling up to a place where the bill collectors weren’t nipping at her heels and she was in a place that was all hers.

Unable to help herself, Josie spent the next hour sketching Nico. Those hands. Lips. Smile lines. Sexy smirk. Spiffy suit and flashy tie.

Finally, she forced herself to hide the sketchpad again and get serious. She had a few pieces to take down to the N20 gallery where she displayed her work. She’d see if Shane Simkins had sold any of her pieces. He refused to do anything as bourgeois as email her about her sales. Shane loved to chat, and he only conducted business in person.

It would have been smarter to drop off the new pieces before she’d moved, but she hadn’t had time since the return from Vermont. At the last minute, she remembered Nico’s request that she not use the bus.

Had she agreed? She wouldn’t break a promise, but it was a waste of money. The crack of thunder overhead seemed to be a sign, so she used an app and called for a ride share.

When she arrived at N20, she had to admit the cost had been worth it in saved time, even if she couldn’t make it a habit.

N20 was near the intersection of N Street and 20th Street. Shane’s husband Ang had come up with the name and it worked.

The gallery was a bright and open space where large art pieces served as room dividers, along with movable screens that acted as walls for displays.

Every time she entered the gallery, the layout was different. Shane and Ang had a flair for matching the layout to whatever mood they were trying to convey with their current pieces. They rotated the pieces on whims, which brought people back regularly to see what was new. A brilliant strategy.

“Josie, you must be drenched. Ang, can you put on the kettle? Here, let me take the box. You didn’t let anything get wet, did you?”

Laughing, Josie followed Shane to the back of the open space where there were a few counters where some of the business of running a gallery took place. Sales counters, artist drop offs, and worktables. Josie had designed more than one sculpture here while people roamed the gallery.

She smiled at her friend. “At least your concern was about me before the pieces.”

Shane waggled his eyebrows. “If I don’t worry about you first, you’ll find somewhere else to take your wonders.”

She reached up to kiss his cheek. “Never.” In fact, she’d have to talk to Nimii from Vermont at some point and find out if she wanted to sell her work here. Shane and Ang would love the authentic Ojibwe work. But Josie would talk with the artist first. One look at the painting in the lodge and the two men would be on the first flight out to meet her.

Josie’s heart panged at that. She missed the Midnight Lake group. Missed the lodge and the ridiculous two-mile hike to reach it from the road.

Any money leftover from paying her mortgage would go into her savings account. She had no idea how much flights cost, but that would be her next goal.

Knowing she had to play the game before talking business, Josie hugged Ang when he entered and took the tea from him. Something with ginger that filled her with warmth. As did chatting with these two men.

Shane was the gossip guru and had her laughing while Ang showed her all their new pieces and told her the history behind each one.

When tourists walked in, Josie continued the tour alone. She loved seeing what other people created, trying to figure out the Why and How behind the work.

She knew several of the artists and was pleased to see one pair of tourists walk away with a sculpture created by someone she knew. On one set of shelves, Josie found two of her own sculptures. She’d been in a mystical mood when she’d created them.

White and shimmery. Reaching for the sky and for the future. There had been five in the original set, but she didn’t know if they’d been sold or if they’d been rotated out for a bit.

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