Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
KIKI EMMERSON
S avannah pats the seat next to her. “You can sit here. I’m so glad to meet you. Josephine and Ellie have told me so much about you.” She smiles at me. She looks like a Disney princess, with large green eyes, a cute button nose, and lovely blonde hair that stops just past her shoulders.
I plop down, and Ellie asks if I would like some sweet tea or water. I take the tea and set it on the table next to me on a floral coaster.
Ellie hands me an almost completed quilt already equipped with a needle and thread. She showed me on Sunday how to do the stitches, something about a stitch in the ditch, so I get started. “What do you do, Savannah?” I ask, making small talk.
“I’m working at Peachy Keen, the diner on 12th street.” She crosses her ankles, and for some reason it makes me feel like a heathen, because I’m kind of man-spreading right now. I sit up straighter and bring my knees together.
“Peachy Keen, that’s a cute name. What’s your favorite thing about working there?”
Josephine grins at her. “She likes it when a certain someone comes in to get some pie. Isn’t that right, Savannah?”
Savannah blushes. “Oh, Miss Josephine. You really know how to tease, don’t you?”
I pull my needle through the fabric. “Who is it?”
Savannah shakes her head. “Josephine wants to set me up with her nephew, Donald. She keeps sending him in for our famous peach pie.” She looks at Josephine. “And don’t you think I don’t know you’re the one sending him over. But really, he’s not my type.”
I can’t resist the opportunity. “And what is your type?”
Savannah laughs. “I’m not looking for a relationship. I’m working on getting my own business up and running. That’s taking all my time.”
I pull the thread. “What kind of business?”
“I’d like to be a photographer. I’m taking online classes, and I’m converting my guest bedroom into a studio for portraits. As soon as I finish my classes, I’m going to open up my own business.”
“That’s wonderful,” I say as I stab the needle into my finger. “Ouch.” I shake my hand.
“You’re improving if that’s the first one of the night,” Ellie says, laughing.
I grin. “You’re right. I’m getting the hang of this.”
Savannah giggles. “Where are you from, Kiki? I can tell it’s not the south.”
“I’m from Iowa.”
“Really? What part?”
“Des Moines area.”
She nods, like she knows where Des Moines is, but I’d bet a million dollars she doesn’t even know Iowa is next to Nebraska. “It’s boring there. I much prefer it here.”
“Kiki is Skyler’s nanny,” Josephine says, smiling like she knows some sort of secret that no one else does.
“Really?” Savannah says, leaning back and raising her eyebrows. “How long have you been doing that?”
“I got hired on Sunday.”
“That Tobias, he’s a real catch, isn’t he?” Ellie shifts the quilt on her lap.
“And that little girl is just adorable, don’t you think, Kiki?” Josephine adds.
A blush rises to my cheeks. “You two are just terrible.”
“Aren’t they?” Savannah tsks . “They’re not happy unless they’re playing matchmaker.”
“Well, I’m not going to argue about Tobias’s good looks.” I grin and the three ladies give me knowing nods. “But like Savannah, I’m not in the market for a man either.”
“Oh? Why not?” Savannah asks.
I open my mouth to say something but realize I don’t have a good answer for that. I certainly can’t tell them the real reason I’m on Willow Shade Island. “I’m not at that place in my life.”
Savannah slowly nods. “I see.” But it’s an “I see” that’s loaded with all kinds of unsaid questions I’m not going to answer.
We quilt in silence for a few moments before Savannah speaks again. “Tobias is a good man. I know he can be kind of…” She searches for the right word.
“Grumpy?” I provide.
All three of them laugh. Savannah raises a finger. “Maybe passionate is a better word for him.”
“Yes, I can see that,” I say.
“But he loves his brothers fiercely. He’s very protective of them. I should know. I dated his brother for a while.” Savannah looks down at her stitches.
“You dated one of his brothers?” I ask, pretending not to know. “Which one?”
“Noah.” She doesn’t look up from the quilt.
“How long did you date him?” I’m too curious not to ask about it.
“A year. But that was a long time ago.” She smiles and waves away the memory. “It’s old news now.”
“Why did you break up?”
Sadness fills her eyes, and she blinks. “It wasn’t meant to be.”
“Maybe not then, but who knows what the future holds, right Ellie?” Josephine says.
“Exactly.” Ellie smooths out the quilt on her lap. “Time has a way of changing things.”
Savannah forces a smile. “Time won’t change this,” she says quietly. And now I really want to know what happened between her and Noah.
Ellie clears her throat. “Kiki gave me a great idea earlier. She thinks we should get a well-known artist to come to the gallery, and I think I know just the person.”
Josephine looks up from her quilt. “Oh? Who?”
“I’ve been taking an online watercolor class, and the painter who teaches it has been in the news lately. I guess her work is starting to gain recognition. I can email her and ask if she’d be willing to come to our gallery.”
“You paint?” I’m surprised, but I shouldn’t be. She and Josephine opened an art gallery. It only makes sense that they’re into art.
“I do.” She points to the wall. “That’s one of my pieces.”
I look at the mountain range painted in pinks and purples, a sunset in the background. The colors bleed together, but in a pleasing way. “That’s gorgeous. Do you have any in your gallery?”
“Yes, I do. So does Josephine. Her medium of choice is acrylics.”
“I’d love to see them.” I take a sip of my tea. “I could help plan an event to get people interested in the gallery.”
Savannah nods. “I can help, too. My aunt owns the vineyard on the south side of the island. I bet we could get some of her wine and do some kind of wine tasting night at the gallery.”
I get excited. “That’s perfect! And if you can get this artist you know to come, maybe we could do a class on watercolor at the gallery as well. Would there be space for that?”
Josephine grins. “Yes, there’s a large room we can do that in. We’ll just have to bring in tables. What a great idea, and I love the wine tasting, too. A class and a wine tasting would pair up nicely.”
“Another idea could be a photography contest,” Savannah says. “I know a lot of young people on the island who are into photography. That might help draw attention to your gallery for the younger population.”
“Great idea,” Ellie says.
We spend the evening talking about the art gallery and how to get more publicity, and events we can hold there. I grow more excited about helping these ladies, and I can’t wait to tell Tobias about our ideas. For the first time in my life, I feel like I belong somewhere. It feels good, and yet, at the same time, I’m going to have to leave, and I don’t want to think about that.