Chapter 18
Eighteen
After Theo got dressed and left for the shop, I moved outside to the porch and painted most of the day.
There was another market the day after Halloween in a neighboring town I was planning to attend.
The arrangement at the café was still going well, I’d sold nearly everything I’d brought in.
If I didn’t start painting faster, I might actually run out of pieces, which was unfathomable considering how many I’d brought with me.
Some people might find working as an artist somewhat soulless. Churning out works to sell to the masses.
I never saw it that way.
If I could make a living doing what I loved, why shouldn’t I?
I never had it in me to work a traditional job.
I’d tried and failed numerous times over the years, which culminated in the ultimate embarrassment of landing a cushy office job and getting fired my first day for spilling an exceptionally large coffee order on the vice president’s desk, ruining not only his laptop but also sending him to urgent care for minor burns.
Nope. Art and creating was the way forward for me.
I always felt lucky any time someone was willing to part with their hard earned money for something I created. For me, the process of creating had always been the most rewarding part.
My stuff was all about emoting and feeling. Nostalgia, love—I wanted to light that little spark inside me or someone else.
So I was always happy sending my pieces on their way to their new home. I never got sentimental having to part with a painting. I’d always been eager to give away nearly anything I’d ever created.
Goodbyes weren’t emotional. Not in art and—thanks to my father—not in my life either.
Yet as thoughts of the previous evening filled my head—Theo wrapped around me, holding me close—a pit formed in my stomach.
He was perfect. There was no other word for it. My feelings had barreled straight past “crush” and were well into deeper territories.
There was no way I could tell him that, though.
He was leaving soon.
He was headed back to his real life and he’d be able to finally leave behind this realm that had caused him so much pain. I couldn’t cry and make it any harder on him. This wasn’t about what I wanted.
No, goodbyes had never been hard for me.
But how was I possibly going to say goodbye to him?