19. Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
H er smile had been turned upside down.
The next day, Lily knew she should be in a good mood. Her shop had been busy all morning. And for a September weekday that was impressive.
The upcoming arts festival had Bluestar Island on people’s list of destinations. The festival was just a couple of days away. There was a buzz going through the town about the festival. People were very excited about it.
But all of the anticipation wasn’t enough to draw Lily out of her gloomy mood. She was still fuming over Tony and his insistence that she couldn’t enter the exhibition. He was being unfair. That was all there was to it.
Lily was just making room for a bunch of consignment artwork that had been dropped off the day before when she heard the jingle of the brass bell above the front door. She stopped what she was doing to go see who was at the door.
With a forced smile on her lips, she stepped out of the back room. As soon as she saw her sister Jenna, the smile slipped from her face. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy to see her sister; it was more that she didn’t want to have to put on a show for her.
“Hey,” Lily said. “What are you doing here?”
Jenna lifted her head and sniffed. “Is that window cleaner and...” She sniffed again. “And dust spray?”
Lily frowned at her sister. “You cannot smell them. I used them a while ago.”
Jenna smiled. “I can’t. But I saw them on the counter. So, I took a guess. Between the evidence here and the gossip going around town, it sounds like there’s trouble in paradise.”
Lily crossed her arms. “There is no paradise.” Then she braced herself. “What rumors?”
“Rumor has it that you rejected the mayor, and now he’s in all sorts of a bad mood.
Some have likened him to a bear with a thorn stuck in his paw.
If you go near him, he’s likely to snarl and growl.
I wasn’t so sure I believed it, but now I come here and find you’ve been cleaning, and I’m thinking you two got into an argument. ”
“It wasn’t exactly an argument, but I don’t want to talk about it.
” Lily turned and walked to the back room where she was writing up price cards for the artwork.
They were beautiful pieces of work. There was a sketch of a lighthouse and an acrylic painting of the night sky reflecting upon the darkened ocean.
There were also ceramics and a few knickknacks.
Jenna followed her to the back room. “What are you doing?”
“Getting ready to put these items on display.” She kept her back to her sister as she continued to work. Hopefully, her sister would take the hint that she wasn’t in the mood to talk.
Instead, her sister moved closer and peered over her shoulder. “Are any of those pieces yours?”
Lily shook her head. “They’re from local artists.”
“It’s a great idea you had about displaying their work.”
Lily nodded. “I like being able to help Bluestar’s artist community.”
“The question I have is why don’t you have any of your own work on display?”
Lily opened her mouth to answer her sister, but she didn’t have a ready response. Instead, she wordlessly closed her mouth. Why hadn’t she displayed her work?
Because she was afraid it would shatter her dream. It would crush her if someone told her it was awful. Or she imagined it hanging in the shop without selling day after day, month after month, and year after year. It would be demoralizing.
And yet, she knew if she didn’t put herself out there, her art would only remain a dream. After all, there was no reward without risk.
She glanced down to see she’d written the wrong amount on the back of a Lily Pad business card. She crumbled it up.
“Hey.” Her sister’s hand touched Lily’s upper arm. “It looks like you really need a break. Come on. Lunch is on me.”
Lily supposed a change of scenery wouldn’t hurt her. And there was no one in the shop at the moment.
“Okay,” Lily said, “Let’s go.”
“Do you need to let Tanya know that you’re stepping out?”
Lily shook her head. “She has the day off. It’s just me today.”
Jenna nodded. “Okay, then let’s go.”
Lily grabbed her bag and shut off the lights.
She hung the “Out to lunch” sign on the door.
She used to include the time she would return, but that put added pressure on her to make sure she was back on time.
In time, she learned to not be so exact.
After all, there had to be some benefits to owning her own business.
Her sister’s cart was parked in front of the shop. Jenna got in and then turned to her. “What are you in the mood to eat?”
“I don’t care,” Lily said. “Maybe someplace without a long line.”
“Well, the Lighthouse Cafe is out. And the Purple Guppy is probably pretty busy.” Jenna was quiet for a moment, as though considering other options.
Wanting to move things along, Lily said, “What about Hamming It Up?”
Jenna nodded. “Sounds good. I haven’t had one of their chef salads in a long time.”
On the short drive, her sister decided to talk about easy subjects like the weather, the upcoming festival, and business at the market. Lily didn’t know if her sister was purposely avoiding the subject of Tony or not. Either way, she appreciated her leaving that touchy subject alone.
A short time later, they had two chef salads and two iced teas. They chose a table in the corner, out of the way of foot traffic. The sandwich shop did a steady business, but most of it was for to-go orders. It meant that there was no one seated near them.
Jenna added a liberal amount of ranch dressing to her salad. “So, are you going to tell me what’s going on with you and Tony, or am I going to have to go ask the town gossips?”
Lily frowned. “You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, yes, I would. Something happened between you two, and it must have been big because both of you look like you lost your best friend.”
Lily hadn’t realized that her inner turmoil had transferred to her face. She’d thought she was holding it together but maybe not. Perhaps if she talked about it, she would feel better.
She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “He’s been withdrawn ever since we almost kissed.”
“You kissed!” Jenna’s eyes widened with surprise.
“Shh...” Even as Lily looked around to see who had overheard her very loud sister, heat was rushing to her cheeks. She felt like someone had turned a heat gun on her face.
Luckily, it didn’t appear that anyone had paid her sister any attention. The last thing she wanted was for that bit of news to make the rounds.
Lily sighed. Why did she think telling her sister was a good idea? Jenna always did have a hard time keeping a secret. She’d been that way since they were kids. She was always tattling on her siblings.
“We almost kissed. There’s a big difference.”
“Not that big of a difference.” Jenna waggled her brows as she grinned. “And now what?”
“Now, everything is a mess.”
“I’m sorry,” Jenna said. “But you’ll work it out. Everyone knows you and Tony belong together.”
Lily shook her head. “People don’t think that.”
Jenna nodded. “Ever since you two were trapped in the elevator, people are taking bets on when he would ask you out.”
The heat in her face returned. She shouldn’t be surprised. Bluestar’s rumor mill was alive and well. But still… “They are not taking bets on me—on us dating.”
“Oh. But they are. The part that surprised me was that you finally acted on your feelings. I was starting to think neither of you would make the first move. So, why was it an ‘almost’ kiss.” Jenna made air quotes.
“Because Neil walked in on us.”
“Neil? Ugh. That must have been awkward.”
“It was worse than you can imagine. But the part that bothers me is that Tony changed after that. It’s like…” She paused, trying to find the right words. “It’s like he’s put a wall up between us.”
“You’ve tried to talk to him?”
“Repeatedly.”
Jenna took a drink of her tea. “Then it sounds like it’s his problem. Maybe he just needs some time. In the meantime, you should focus on your art.”
“How so?” Lily stabbed at her salad, which she hadn’t eaten much of.
“I think you need to get your art out there.”
“You mean hang it in the Lily Pad?”
Jenna nodded. “I know you entered Bluestar’s art contest—"
“I can’t enter.”
Jenna’s brows drew together. “Why not?”
Lily sighed and then told her about her heated discussion with Tony about her not being eligible to enter the contest.
Jenna shook her head. “That’s not right. Ignore him and enter anyway.”
“I don’t know.”
“You should enter this competition and others. Bluestar can’t be the only art competition. Check the internet. I bet there’s some in Boston. And New York isn’t that far away. Push yourself outside of your comfort zone.”
Her sister’s words stuck with her long after lunch was over. Jenna was right. It was time that Lily started to push herself outside of her comfort zone. It wouldn’t be easy but nothing worth having ever was.