Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
F rankie smiled as she read Beryl’s text back to them. Thank you so much for the lovely words. We’re going to do another episode! But not to worry, your chocolate chip banana bread will be along this afternoon.
Harper let out a soft laugh. “Those two are something else, aren’t they?”
“They are,” Frankie said. “I’m so glad they’re our neighbors. Didn’t we get lucky? No, not lucky. Blessed. Because that’s what this life feels like. A blessing.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Harper said.
Willa sighed, a happy, contented sound. “They’re literally the coolest.”
“Wait until you meet Prisha,” Frankie said. “Hey, why don’t you go to the next yoga class with me? You’d love it.”
“Yeah?” Willa sat up. They’d all been watching Lucas’s show streamed on the big screen in the living room. “That would be cool. I’m down for that.”
“I’ll let Prisha know,” Frankie said. “Now, I need to get back to work. See you people later.”
“Have fun,” Willa said. “I’m going to put a suit on and get some pool time while I still can.”
Frankie paused. “You know the paparazzi boats are still out there.”
“I don’t care,” Willa said. “If they want to take my picture and make me famous, not much I can do to stop them, is there?” She laughed.
Frankie chuckled, too. “Let me know how that works out for you.”
Harper got up. “Don’t either of you want to eat lunch? By the time we get something made it’ll pretty much be noon.”
Willa shrugged. “I’m good with eating later.”
Frankie shook her head. “So am I. I’m not that hungry.” They’d had a pretty substantial breakfast. “I’d rather spend the time on the painting. Besides, I know I’m going to be eating some of that banana bread when Beryl brings it over. In fact, I’ll be fine skipping lunch.”
“Okay,” Harper said. “Good painting.”
Frankie smiled and headed down the steps. “Thanks.”
Once the gesso had dried, she’d laid in a soft, neutral background, washing soft blues and tans over the canvas in preparation for the actual portrait.
Now it was time to start blocking out Arlington’s face, neck, and shoulders. She sat on the barstool pulled close to the canvas and used the edge of a narrow palette knife to draw the shape of his face into the background paint. She added another line for his jaw, more for his neck and shoulders, a few to indicate his hair and hairline, and the outline of his head.
On her laptop, set up on the two snack tables off to one side, she had a photo of him that she was using as her guide. She glanced at it now and then.
Willa walked into the room wearing her bikini, earbuds in, phone in one hand, towel draped over her shoulder, sunglasses on top of her head. Archie was with her. She tugged one of the earbuds out. “How’s it going?”
“Early days,” Frankie answered. “At this point, it might be the best thing I’ve ever done or the worst. Hard to say.”
Willa came over to look. Not that there was much to see. “You’re still trying to build your business, right? I know you’ve gotten some work lately, but you still want more, don’t you?”
“Yes, very much so. Why?”
Willa shrugged at the canvas. “You should be ’gramming this.”
“I should be what?”
“Posting this on Instagram. I know you have an account.”
“I do.” She’d been meaning to be better about posting new shop items there, but sometimes she wondered what the point was. She didn’t have a lot of followers. It felt like shouting into the wind.
“When’s the last time you used it?”
“Um…” Frankie glanced at her phone. “I don’t really know.”
Willa rolled her eyes. “Mom, how are you going to grow your business if you don’t do some social media?”
“Now you sound like Lucas.”
“You just proved my point. The man is a social media genius, hello.”
“But I’m not. I do have a Facebook page.”
“Mom.” Willa tipped her head. “It’s not that hard.”
Frankie sighed. “So what should I do?”
Willa gestured at the painting. “This is a pretty big deal. I’d start with this. Do some progress updates. Talk about the process. Make a video about it.”
“I don’t know. I’d have to ask Jack if he’s all right with that.”
“You don’t have to say who you’re doing the painting for. You can just say it’s a commissioned piece. I’m sure Jack would be fine with that. He understands the need for promotion.”
“Maybe. I’ll talk to him. But you’re right that I need to be doing more. I keep meaning to post the new items in my shop, but I haven’t.” Frankie let out a soft groan. “It’s a lot, you know?”
“Do you want help? I wouldn’t mind. It’s the least I could do for ruining your plans to live on your own.”
“Sweetheart, you didn’t ruin my plans. At best you threw me for a temporary loop.” Frankie smiled. She still didn’t love Willa’s decision to leave school in order to work, but she understood and respected it. “It’s all good now. I promise.”
Willa put her hands on her hips. “So do you want some social media help or what?”
“Is this a one-time offer or are you asking for a job? Because I’m not sure I can swing paying someone just yet.”
“I don’t need you to pay me. I just want to help, because you’re my mom and I want you to succeed. Besides, you’ve given your time and energy to me all my life. Why can’t I give some of that back to you?”
Frankie set the palette knife down and hugged her daughter. “Thank you. That’s so sweet. I would love any help you want to give me.”
“Sure,” Willa said when Frankie let her go. “Why don’t I do a post for you right now?”
“Really? But not about the painting. Not until I talk to Jack.”
“No, I’ll just post something from your shop. How’s that?”
“That’s great. What do you need?”
Willa held out her hand. “Your phone.”
Frankie unlocked the screen and handed it over.
Willa started tapping and swiping. “Hey, this new T-shirt is cool. The Blessed one? When did you add that?”
“Yesterday.”
“Okay, give me a second…” The tip of Willa’s tongue peeked out between her lips. Her thumbs moved over the screen with a speed Frankie couldn’t fathom. Finally, Willa looked up. “All right. All done. I added a link to your store in your bio to make it easier for people to find your shop.”
“Wow, that’s great. Thank you.”
Willa handed the phone back. “You’re welcome. We’ll work on that some more later, okay?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
With a little smile, Willa went out to the pool, taking Archie with her.
Frankie looked at what Willa had posted. It was the picture of the T-shirt from Frankie’s shop with a caption that read, “Feeling blessed? Let the world know with this brand-new tee I just designed.”
Willa had included a bunch of hashtags, something Frankie would never have thought about. She put the phone away and looked out the windows at Willa getting settled on one of the lounge chairs.
She’d been wrong to think having Willa here would negatively affect her life. Very wrong. Would Frankie spend more time worrying about her daughter? Probably. But so what? The very fact that Willa wanted to be here, with her mother and her aunt, spoke volumes.
Frankie smiled. She was blessed. In more ways than she could count.