12. Chapter Twelve #2
Lily quietly listened to her sister until she had her say. It was easy to see where her sister’s frustration was coming from.
“So, what do you think I should do?” Jenna asked.
This was a difficult question to answer because Lily didn’t want to be drawn into family drama. But she didn’t want to leave her sister hanging. She wanted to give her some helpful advice.
“I think you have some really good ideas for the market. And I’m sorry he wouldn’t hear you out.
Could it be that Neil is reacting to losing Dad?
Maybe he just wants everything to remain the same just a little longer as a way of remembering Dad.
” She didn’t know for sure. It was more of a hunch, considering how close Neil and their father were.
Jenna frowned as she thought about it. “Now that you put it that way, I feel awful.” She sighed “Of course, that’s what he wants. Am I a bad sister slash daughter for wanting change?”
Lily shook her head. “Dad understood change. He would be proud of you for stepping up and trying to implement things to help the market.”
Jenna’s eyes shone with unshed tears. “You really think so?”
“I do.”
They talked a few more minutes about the store before Jenna asked, “So, how is your entry for the art competition coming?”
Her sister was the only one she’d told she was going to enter the competition. She didn’t want to tell her family and then fail to get the attention of any of the agents or collectors who Aster had arranged to judge the competition.
Every time Lily thought that this might be her chance to dip her toe into the big pond of the art world, her stomach shivered with nerves. Sure, she loved running the Lily Pad, but her real dream had been to be a fulltime artist.
When she was a kid, she talked about devoting her life to being an artist, but her father, in a loving way, had told her that her art wouldn’t put a roof over head. He would say that art was important, but so was paying the bills.
Little by little her father’s words of advice chipped away at her confidence that she could make it in this world as an artist. So, she did the next best thing. She opened a craft store. It was practical as her father would say, and it paid the bills.
But it took a lot of her time and energy.
When she was done for the day at the shop, she was too tired to be creative.
So her artwork had suffered. It was only recently that she’d been pushing herself to find balance between her work and her dream.
She still hadn’t found the exact balance, but she kept striving for it.
“I’m not as far along as I’d like.” The truth of the matter was that she hadn’t started her entry.
“How far are you?”
Lily’s gaze lowered to the carpeting. “I haven’t started.”
“Lily”—there was a shocked tone to Jenna’s voice—“shouldn’t you be started? The arts festival is only a few weeks away.”
Lily nodded. She’d had plenty of ideas sketched out, but none of them leaped off the page at her. She knew “good” wouldn’t be good enough. The painting had to be eye-catching as well as moving. “I just don’t have the right concept yet.”
“I wouldn’t know anything about that. You know I’m not artistic.”
“I wouldn’t say that. You just never gave it much of a chance.”
“I guess.” Jenna stopped as though she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure she should.
“What is it?” Lily asked.
“Nothing.” Jenna sent her an innocent look. “It’s not about you.”
“But there’s something you aren’t saying.”
“It’s just that I feel guilty.”
Lily’s ears perked up. “Guilty about what?”
Jenna sighed. “I just can’t imagine working here the rest of my life.”
“And why does that make you feel guilty?”
“Because of Mom and Dad. They created this business to take care of us. Now all I can think about is what I would be doing if I wasn’t working here.”
“Oh, Jenna. You shouldn’t feel guilty. I don’t think Mom or Dad would want you to feel obligated to work here. I walked away, and they weren’t mad at me.”
“But that’s different.” The anguish showed in Jenna’s eyes.
“What’s so different?”
“You opened your own business. Dad was so proud of you. He used to brag about you being a chip off the old block to anyone who would listen.”
“He didn’t—”
“Oh, yes, he did.”
“Well, he used to tell me that you had a way with people.”
“He did?” When Lily nodded, Jenna said, “I had no idea.”
Lily didn’t know her father was proud of her either. She struggled not to smile. Her dad really had been proud of her. The knowledge did her heart good.
It made her all the more determined to go all in on the upcoming art competition. In fact, she would get started that evening. In the next heartbeat, she recalled she had plans with Tony. She got a warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest when she thought of dining with him.
Speaking of which, she had to get a move on. She looked at her sister. “Hang in there. I think the family just needs some more time before any of us make any big changes.”
Jenna nodded. “I guess so.”
Lily gave her sister a hug before she slipped out of the market while her other siblings were busy with customers.
She thought about making a detour to the hospital on the way back to the Lily Pad, but she’d already been gone a lot longer than she’d planned. And Tanya had been managing the shop all on her own.
Maybe she’d have a couple minutes to swing by the hospital after the shop closed and before Tony showed up for dinner.
There was that fuzzy feeling again that she chose to ignore.
The special moments in the elevator with their fingers entwined had just been two friends comforting each other. She refused to read more into it.