Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
F rankie had watched the rather amusing show Willa had put on for the paparazzi. She’d also seen Mitch’s boat go by. At least she thought it was his. Could that be where Harper and Jack had gone? They hadn’t been visible on board, but if Mitch was trying to get Jack away without the paparazzi knowing, it would make sense that he was down below.
Good for them. A day out on the water would probably do Jack some good. Poor man. He was such a nice guy. The treatment he was getting from those gossip sites wasn’t quite as bad as what Harper had gone through, but it was still ugly. And a lot more intense.
Did those vultures really not have better things to do?
Frankie wiped her hands on a rag and sat back to study the work she’d done so far today. After cutting in the rough outline of Arlington’s face, neck and shoulders, she’d started with his hair.
That was just how she worked. Top to bottom, once the background was done. She’d taken photos of her progress all along the way, too. It didn’t mean she planned to post them on Instagram as Willa had suggested, but at least this way she had them if she wanted to.
Jack would have to weigh in first. Even if she didn’t mention his name, he was paying her to do this painting. If he didn’t want anyone else to see it, that was perfectly within his rights. The last thing she wanted was to ruin her burgeoning reputation by upsetting a client.
She probably should be more active on social media. Especially if she wanted to build her business. In a perfect world, that wouldn’t be necessary. But the world was far from perfect. The boats anchored off the property proved that.
Her background music, being played from her laptop, was the soundtrack to the movie Sojourner . Seemed fitting.
She was mixing up a little more paint to capture the right silvery tones of Arlington’s hair when movement outside caught her attention. She looked up from her palette and saw Archie at the door. Apparently, he was ready to come in.
She set the palette down and opened the door for him. He trotted past her and up the steps. She stood in the open door, watching the paparazzi get temporarily excited that someone new was visible.
That excitement quickly died down when they realized she was nobody. That made her laugh. It was good to be a nobody, at least where those idiots were concerned.
Willa was still on the lounge chair, but she was laying on her stomach now. For all Frankie could tell, Willa might have been asleep. Good. She hoped Willa was having a nice nap filled with lovely dreams. Her downtime was about to disappear. Being a teacher was hard work for little money.
Frankie prayed her daughter wasn’t disappointed with her decision. More than anything, Frankie wanted a nice, easy, happy life for her child. Jason, Willa’s brother, seemed to have everything figured out. She’d talked to him before bed last night. He’d had all sorts of good news and funny stories.
He’d always been that way. A golden boy who somehow made the right choices without even trying, the one things always worked out for, the class president, and prom king, and everyone’s best friend.
Willa, for all her beauty and sweet personality, had floundered some in life. Not because she didn’t work as hard as her brother. She worked harder. But she doubted herself at times. It was human nature. Frankie understood that.
But those previous instances of self-doubt were part of what made Frankie question the speed and certainty with which Willa had decided to leave school for work.
Would she really be able to finish her degree online? Frankie hoped so. It would impact her future. She’d be more promotable and be able to earn more money with that degree. It was no surprise that the field of education rewarded those with more education.
Frankie closed the door and went back to her canvas. Stroke by stroke, she applied wisps of paint. Hair was tedious, but also greatly satisfying when it came out right. The beauty of oil was that it remained malleable for so long.
It took almost an hour for her to use up the paint she’d mixed. Her back was a little achy from leaning in toward the canvas. She put the palette down and stretched. Her plan had been to work all day, pushing forward to get as much painting done as possible.
That no longer seemed liked the best plan. Wearing herself out wasn’t going to accomplish anything. Maybe she should take a break.
The door opened and Willa came in, pushing her sunglasses onto the top of her head. Her brow was furrowed with concern. “Hey, have you seen Archie? I think he’s run off.”
Frankie shook her head. “No, he’s fine. I let him in earlier. He went upstairs. Did you nap?”
Willa smiled, obviously relieved. “Yeah. Something about the warmth of the sun, the breeze, and the sound of the water just puts me out. It’s so nice.”
“Hey, take advantage of it while you can. You know, we should put a hammock up out there. Under the covered part. Wouldn’t that be cool?”
“It would be. One more place to nap.” Willa laughed.
“I’m all for that.”
Willa came over to look at the painting. “Wow, you made a lot of progress.”
Frankie frowned as she looked at it with her daughter. “You think so? Doesn’t feel that way to me.”
“That’s because you’ve been looking at it all day. I’m going to get something to eat. Any chance Joyce or Beryl came by with that banana bread yet?”
“No, and that’s not lunch anyway.”
Willa pursed her lips. “Hey, bananas are healthy, and chocolate is basically a fruit, so…”
“Go eat some protein, smarty-pants.”
Willa grinned and headed for the stairs. “How about some tuna sandwiches? You want one?”
Frankie’s plan had been to not eat until dinner, but her stomach was putting up a pretty good argument. “Hmm. How about some tuna melts?”
Willa stopped on the first stair. “I don’t know how to make those.”
“How about I show you? I just need a few minutes to clean up here.”
“I was going to take a shower first anyway. Meet you in the kitchen in ten?”
Frankie nodded. “Done.”
Willa jogged up the steps. Frankie organized her area, then wiped the excess paint off of her brushes before dipping them in safflower oil and setting them on a rack to dry. That way they’d be ready to use tomorrow. All she’d have to do was wipe off any remaining oil.
She went up to the kitchen and started getting out ingredients for the tuna melts. She didn’t want to start until Willa came down, so while she waited, she grabbed her tablet from the office.
She sat at the kitchen counter and began roughly sketching out her concept for Allan’s first book cover. He’d sent her the titles and the rough outline of the series. The first book was called Starfall and the premise was intriguing, although perhaps just a little over her head. That was all right.
She didn’t need to understand all the intricate details to give him a cover that would set him apart. She’d researched photographs of space. Stars, nebulas, planets. It had been very inspiring.
Her stylus moved across the tablet’s screen with speed and purpose as she sketched out her idea. She’d been thinking about this cover a lot. She knew the key to making it pop was color, something space seemed to have plenty of despite how much it was ignored on the standard sci-fi cover.
Color alone would make this cover different from its competition. Allan had told her he was all right with color, but she wondered if he’d still feel that way after he saw her design. Only one way to find out, really.
“Hey, that’s cool. What is that?”
Willa was looking over Frankie’s shoulder. “Concept cover design for a new client. He writes science fiction.”
“Even cooler.” Frankie got up to get started on the tuna melts, but Willa stood there, looking at the tablet. “You’re really good, Mom. I mean, really good. You should be famous. I hope you get so busy you have to turn people down. Or put them on a waitlist.”
A knot of emotion clogged Frankie’s throat. She cleared it and sniffed. “Thanks, sweetheart. Me, too.”