20. Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
S he’d done it.
She’d ignored his order.
She’d entered the exhibition.
The following morning, Lily had dropped off her painting. She had been amazed at how many locals had been in line to enter their artwork as well.
As she stood in line, she looked around for the mayor. She wasn’t going to hide from him. She was doing this in the light of day for all to see. But he was nowhere to be seen.
After dropping off her artwork, she’d walked over to the community hall where they’d been hard at work since seven o’clock that morning.
She was overseeing the construction of the labyrinth of display walls. People would enter through one door and then be guided through rows of artwork until they reached a different door designated as the exit.
The rows were not straight. There were angles and zigzags to give the viewer more visual interest. This had been her idea. And she hadn’t bothered to run it by Tony. She was certain he would find some rule or regulation that she was disobeying. And at this point, she didn’t care.
Just like she didn’t care when she’d dropped off her painting for the competition. Tony was going totally overboard with his interpretation of the rules and saying that she couldn’t enter. At least it seemed that way to her.
The plan was for the perforated wood panels to be assembled that day. Hooks would be inserted and the art would be hung that evening. The judging was to commence the following morning. The exhibit would be open to the public Friday afternoon with a big awards presentation that evening.
There was so much to do, and the town was already filling up with anxious festivalgoers.
She wished they’d have thought of that when they were setting up the schedule.
They could have had deliveries of materials arranged for much earlier in the day.
She would make a note of her observation for Aster to use the following year.
Because from the looks of things already, the festival was going to be a huge success.
It was nearing the end of the day, and the community hall was almost set up for the volunteers to carefully hang each piece of art.
Lily thought she’d be excited to see all of the paintings, but she couldn’t muster a smile.
She told herself it was just exhaustion—that it had nothing to do with her fallout with Tony.
And then, as though her thoughts had beckoned him to her, he appeared before her, looking as handsome as ever—even if he was wearing a blue bowtie.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Hello to you too.” His gaze moved to the row of wood panels. “They aren’t very straight.”
She sighed. “They aren’t supposed to be.”
His dark brows rose high on his forehead. “Why not?”
Was he being serious right now? Or was he just giving her a hard time? She wasn’t about to ask. She would give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was giving her a hard time.
Still... “With the panels set up this way, it will give the viewers more of an experience than just walking down a straight hallway with some pictures hung on the wall. Their eyes will be drawn to the nooks and crannies to see what has been hung in there. They will wonder what is just around the next corner.”
Tony was quiet as he stepped farther into the building. He slowly walked, taking in the non-conventional setup.
Her instinct was to say more to defend her vision, but she held her tongue. After all, he was the one who had decided to reject her entry into the exhibition.
Tony turned to her. “It’s not a bad idea.”
Really? If that was his version of a compliment, it definitely needed some work.
It was not easy to get this formation. It wasn’t like the boards came with hinges.
All of the wood pieces had edges that were ninety degrees.
Therefore she had to call in some extra help from Ethan Walker, who was available to cut some of the posts in varying angles.
Again, it was something she would make notes about, even though she was certain Aster would have her own thoughts on the matter.
Tony shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Lily, I, uh...I just want to say that this didn’t go at all how I imagined. I, uh…I need to explain.”
Buzz-buzz.
It was her phone, but she didn’t want to answer it. She wanted to hear what Tony was about to say. For a man who was normally a smooth-talker, the way he was stumbling over his words had her extremely curious to hear him out.
Her phone continued to ring. She had the sound turned up so she wouldn’t miss any calls with this being the last day before the festival kicked off.
“Shouldn’t you get that?” Tony said.
He was right, even though she didn’t want him to be. She was reaching for her phone, which was in her back pocket. “This will just take a moment.”
She didn’t want him to wander off before he finished what he had to say. She had a feeling it was important.
She pressed the phone to her ear. She hadn’t even finished saying hello when she heard, “Lily, I need your help.”
She recognized the voice. It was Sam. Her pulse immediately started to race. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Aster. My mother...she’s sick. And Hannah isn’t on the island. She went to a conference.”
Lily recalled Hannah mentioning a baking exposition in New York. She’d been excited to spend some time with like-minded people.
Lily’s thoughts returned to Sam. His panic seeped through the phone with every syllable he spoke. Lily didn’t have a clue what the problem was, but she knew it was serious.
“Sam, slow down. Take a breath.”
“I can’t. Aster. I have to get to her.”
By now Tony had stepped up to her side with a worried look on his face. Lily would have told him what was going on, but she didn’t know herself.
Lily decided to try a different approach. “Sam, what do you need me to do?”
“Watch George.”
She nodded. “I can do that. Are you at the farm?”
There was silence. Had the signal dropped? It was known to happen on the island, especially the farther out you were from town.
“Sam?”
“Uh, yes. Please hurry!”
“I’m on my way.” When the phone went dead, her gaze moved to Tony. “That didn’t sound good.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure.” She was already moving toward the place she’d dropped her belongings. “It’s either Aster or his mother.”
“His mother? I hadn’t heard there was anything wrong with her.”
“Neither had I until now. He said something about her being sick, but he didn’t give any details.
With Hannah in New York and Emma touring in Europe, he really needs help.
Whatever is going on, it has him completely rattled.
” She slipped on her jacket. And then, realizing that she couldn’t just abandon things, she turned to him. “Can you handle this until I get back?”
He nodded. “I’ve got it. You just do whatever it is that you need to do.”
Her instinct was to reach out and give him a hug for being so understanding, but she resisted the urge. Even though they were finally talking, they still weren’t in a good place.
Instead, she said, “Thank you. I’ll phone you as soon as I figure things out.”
Tony nodded. “Let me know if there is anything I can do for the family.”
“I think you’re already doing it by helping me.”
And then she was out the door. Luckily, she’d decided to drive her cart that morning. She didn’t know if there would be supplies to haul around, and she wanted to be prepared. She certainly hadn’t anticipated an emergency.
She jumped into her cart and headed out of town.
The Bell farm was due south, just beyond the edge of town.
It was normally a short drive, but today it felt like it was taking forever to navigate through the throng of tourists and their rental carts that weren’t even properly parked on the sides of the roads.
As she worked her way out of town, she replayed the conversation with Sam. She was inclined to think the problem was with Aster. Maybe she’d gone into premature labor. Maybe he was just being a nervous father.
At last, she pulled to a stop at the farmhouse. She went to the backdoor because that was the one that family and friends used. It led right into the kitchen—the heart of the home.
She knocked on the screen door. “Sam?”
Nothing. She was certain he was there because she’d parked next to his cart.
She opened the screen door and stepped inside. Louder, she called out, “Sam, it’s Lily.”
Then she heard footsteps on the stairs. The next thing she knew, Sam appeared before her with George in his arms. Sam’s hair was scattered like he’d been running his fingers through it a few too many times.
His face was pale and drawn. His eyes had dark circles under them, like he hadn’t been sleeping or not sleeping much. His clothes were disheveled, like he might have fallen asleep in them.
“Thank you for coming.” He held George out to her. “He won’t need to eat for another hour.” Sam patted his pockets, as though he were looking for something. He moved to the kitchen counter where he picked up his phone.
Lily stepped up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Sam, what’s wrong? Is it Aster?”
He nodded as his eyes grew shiny. “Yes. She’s having complications. They’re going to take her for a C-section. I have to go.”
She was worried about him. The only other time she’d seen him in such a state was when his first wife had tragically died. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she banished it. That wasn’t going to happen this time around. Aster and the baby would be fine.
“The neighbor said she would drop off Nikki after school. Thank you. I don’t know how to repay you.”
“Don’t worry about that. Just go and let me know how things go.”
With a quick glance at the toddler, he said, “Call me if you need me.”
And then he was out the door. The screen door went swinging shut behind him with a whap, whap, whap sound as it bounced repeatedly off the door frame.
The sleeping baby briefly opened his blue eyes, looked at her and then immediately went back to sleep in her arms. He felt good in her arms.
Still, as she gazed down at the innocent face, she could see herself holding a toddler of her own someday. But that would require her finding the right man and so far, she’d found all of the wrong men.