Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The wind swirled against the house as Dahlia sipped the remnants of her late-morning coffee.
The French doors were open, and there was a chill that seeped through her knit sweater.
She wrapped her arms around her body, walking closer to the water and the railing on Lil’s upstairs porch.
She wrapped it tighter, walking closer to the water and the railing on Lil’s upstairs porch.
The trees were decorated in ochre and spice.
The air was void of summer scents like sunscreen and salt, but replaced by a sweet-earthy aroma courtesy of the blanket of leaves covering the ground below.
A cool breeze drifted across her face, bathing her in the most delicious fall flavors.
This was precisely where she was supposed to be.
After three months, it felt good to be finally settled.
Her phone buzzed in her back pocket. She lifted it to eye view, feeling her face beam.
She swiped swiftly, answering the FaceTime.
“G, what are you doing up this early?” Dahlia smiled, looking at her handsome grandfather on the screen.
From what she could see, he was wearing a thick white robe that matched his hair and was sitting poolside on his California patio. “Look at you all fancy, FaceTiming me.”
“Well, thank heavens for my tech-savvy great-granddaughter. I think I’m finally getting the hang of it,” he said, his voice laced with tiny fissures. She’d gotten used to the tone of his voice, and she found it quite comforting since he was the one elder she had left.
“Well, you’re better than me. It took me years.” She laughed, walking into her bedroom. It had taken some time not to call it Lil’s, but day by day, the house was feeling more like hers.
“Dahlia, I couldn’t sleep. Please tell me you’ll come to California for Thanksgiving. I have so many people I want you to meet.”
He was the sweetest man alive, and she still had so much to do before the gallery opened, but how on earth could she say no? “I will under one circumstance.” She slipped on her suede booties.
“What is it?” he asked.
“That you’ll think about coming here for Christmas and Hanukkah and stay longer this time.
” Her breath was caught in her chest, waiting for his response.
It would be so nice to host a holiday there again.
And she’d never celebrated Hanukkah. Dahlia couldn’t think of anything better than to honor his faith in Lil’s house, which was now hers.
“Yes, of course, I’d love to come and celebrate with my girls.”
“Okay, good, then it’s settled. Daisy will be here too.” All Dahlia could think about were the Christmas lights. The ones she hadn’t thought she’d be here to see and enjoy.
“You can fly into Burbank and stay at my place when you come in November,” Gene said. “And bring Noah. We’ve gotten pretty close these last few months.”
“I know you have, but I’m not sure I want to share you, G.
” She laughed. She didn’t care that he was one of the most beloved actors of all time.
To her, he was just G, short for Gene, and now Grandpa.
She felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
“Listen, I’ve got to run. I have lots to still do before the big day,” she said, closing the bedroom door.
“Okay. Good luck, honey.”
“Wait, G?” Dahlia stood still in the hallway.
“Yes?” His voice cracked.
“I love you,” Dahlia said, feeling her heart expand into the ethers.
“Oh, sweetheart. I love you too.”
“Bye, for now.” With that, she ended the call.
She held the phone against her chest and beamed. The feeling of having people never seemed to get old.
Dahlia walked down the creaky, wooden stairs, admiring her gallery wall of framed botanicals. She ran her fingers across the climbing yellow roses, feeling taller and wiser. Harry was sitting by the door with the leash in his mouth, ready to go.
Dahlia chuckled. “Aww, Harry. You coming today, boy?” Dahlia walked into the crisp, bright kitchen and stopped to admire the changes.
I did this, she thought. She gazed at all the updates that transformed this outdated space and brought it into the current century.
“I think you would approve, Lil. I’m finally living a life of color.
” Dahlia scanned the white marble countertop and freshly painted green cabinets with a satisfied smile.
Willow Leaf had turned out to be a solid paint choice, Noah was right.
Dahlia grabbed her jacket from the chair and stuffed her tote with a few manila folders and the lunch Noah had made for her in the morning before he left. She poured coffee into a to-go and reached for a lavender scone off the counter. “The last thing on your bucket list, Lil.”
On the way out, she passed her mother’s watercolor birthday cards framed on the wall.
In all the twenty-two containers, they found eight still in good condition, untouched by the elements.
Dahlia felt goosebumps and a tingling in her nose.
Her only regret was that her mother wasn’t there to witness this evolution and that she’d never know the truth of her parents’ love story.
The one that, after all these years, had a conclusion and a happy ending after all.
Her phone buzzed. Have I told you lately how proud I am of you? Kara texted.
Dahlia exhaled a happy sigh. She was proud of herself. Thanks, Cuz! she wrote back.
She opened the heavy wood door and heard it shut behind her.
It was the sound of home; no matter how many times she’d heard it since arriving, it always made her smile.
She walked onto her freshly painted porch, which had a Portico Blue ceiling and stacked pumpkins.
The ladder shuddered from above, prompting Harry to run, bark, and play detective.
Dahlia stepped onto the grass and looked up at the exterior. “You think you’ll finish today?” she asked, covering her eyes from the blinding sun.
“That’s the plan. We have just the trim left. The weather is going to get cold after this week. So I want to get it done,” shouted the painter from the second story.
Dahlia stood back while Harry sniffed.
“Do you still like the color?” the painter hollered.
She lifted her chin, feeling her chest swell with pride. “Oh, yes. Buttercup yellow was the perfect choice.” She couldn’t wait to see it in the summer against the flowers in bloom.
Dahlia pulled faithful Betty right in front of the old brick building on Main Street.
Her head leaned to the side to get a good look at the sign above the two large windows.
Seeing The Prescott Gallery in sleek, classic letters still made her cheeks ache.
And to know it was a place for new and underrepresented artists was the cherry on top.
She wasn’t Monica anymore, nor was she Rachel.
She was just Dahlia, bravely chasing her dreams without a backup plan or safety net.
Noah opened the gallery door and stood there. He was wearing dirty jeans, a torn plaid shirt, and a T-shirt that clung to his contours. It was like something out of The Notebook. She wanted to pinch herself that this was her life. He walked over to her side of the car as she rolled down the window.
“Hey, handsome.” She smiled. “How’s it going in there?”
“Good. Are you coming in?” he asked, tapping on the window frame.
“Yeah, I was just admiring the sign. I still can’t believe this is all real, Noah.”
“Well, it is, D. And it’s going to be a huge success.
I’m going to make sure of it,” Noah said, flinching from the blistery gust of wind that blew down Main Street.
“Between my contacts and social media accounts and now yours, which have exploded since you shared Lil’s story.
” He shook his head. “I still can’t believe how connected people feel to her. ”
“Yeah, I guess when you’re honest and put yourself out there, people can relate on a whole other level. And to think I almost didn’t share it.” The old her would have shrunk herself, but not the new Dahlia. She owned her story and wore it like a badge of honor.
“They surely can. It’s getting cold out here. Come in. I finished the cypress counter, and the walls have a fresh coat of white, ready for the first show.” He opened her car door.
“That was quick,” she said, grabbing her tote from the back seat.
“Well, I had to. I’m getting so many furniture orders that I can’t keep up.”
“You might need a bigger barn.” Her eyes lit up.
“One day at a time.” He chuckled. “Let’s get your gallery up and running first, huh? Need help?”
“Yeah, I have some of Lil’s paintings in the back.”
“Did you sell any downloads on the site today?”
“Too many to count.” She shook her head in disbelief. Kara was right. Who would have thought selling an image could be so profitable? This was a whole other side to the art business she was learning, and it was beyond exciting.
With a crate in one arm, he hung the other arm around her shoulder. “Takeout and a movie later?”
“Sounds perfect,” Dahlia said, leaning up to kiss him.
“Oh, and my sister asked if we wanted to grab dinner tomorrow night with her and Penny. Up for it?”
“I’d love to.” She smiled so hard her cheeks hurt. It was like she had been living under a cloud for most of her life, and now that the skies parted, she could finally feel the warm sun on her face. “Now show me your masterpiece.”
As Dahlia walked up to the front door of her new professional endeavor, there was an all-encompassing tickle of exhilaration in her belly, as if this was what she was meant for all along.
She stood there, holding her middle. She couldn’t help but think about her pop and his ability to always see the silver lining in any situation.
Dahlia wondered what he would think of all this.
Gran too. Dahlia’s family was anything but conventional, yet as she looked back, she wouldn’t change a thing.
After all, she had been blessed with more love than people ever got in a lifetime.