Page 44 of A Small Town Spring

“Maybe it happened this way for a reason,” she says eventually.“Maybe neither of us was quite ready before, and these shows are happening when they’re supposed to.”

There’s still seventy-five percent of me that thinks I’m going to be laughed out of the Weiss Gallery when the show opens to critics and collectors, but I appreciate her optimism.“I’m glad you’re getting the recognition you deserve.”

“Yeah, well.”She shrugs.“I’m happy to be busy.But I’m not sure I’m going to stay in Rosedale forever.”

“But—the Art Center.”

“My board term is only one year.I think I might go back to London in the summer.I miss it, Toby.And I want to move on.”She squints at me as if gauging how I’ll react.

As sad as it is to think of her being an ocean away, I understand what she really means.“You want to meet someone,” I say bluntly.“You should.I mean, you will in a heartbeat.”

“Thanks.”She eyes me up and down critically.“You do seem the most Toby you’ve been in a while.I’m glad.”

I laugh and find an empty box for the magazines.“What does that mean?”

“Just that whatever you’re doing—keep doing it.I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks, Ivy.”

After I’ve packed the last load into the Volvo, I look around the empty studio.It feels like the end of an era.For a year and a half, this place was part of my daily life.Now I have a new start.As I’m leaving, Ivy comes trudging up the path, lugging a scarred wooden pedestal, one she sculpts on.

“Need a hand?”

She shakes her head and plops the square of wood in the middle of the empty room.“No, I’m good.”

It’s the end of one era and the beginning of another.

I hand her my key, give her a kiss on the cheek, and drive home.

Twenty-Two

Toby

I comeout of my work cave around four o’clock one day in early December to find Kingston in the kitchen making a cup of tea.

“You’re here!”I say, my mood suddenly lifting.Today I was struggling with a portrait of Pete, worrying I might have to entirely scrap what I have.I’d forgotten that Kingston was coming up from the city.It must be Friday.

I haven’t seen him in a while—he went to Atlanta for the entire week of Thanksgiving to visit his mom and sister and her family, then stayed in the city for the past couple of weeks.I spent the holiday at Jack and Pete’s, eating too much food and playing poker with Beck and Van.I texted Kingston a selfie of us at the table with the message, “Wish you were here.”

Because as much fun as I had taking part in an American holiday I haven’t experienced more than a handful of times in my life, it would have been so much more enjoyable if Kingston had been there.I missed his steadying presence, the weight of his gaze on me across the table.Jack and Pete and Van and Beck are fun and interesting, but they’re also close in a way that somehow makes me feel lonely.They did their best to include me, but they can’t help being two cohesive couples while I was their fifth-wheel bohemian friend with nowhere else to go.

“I forgot you were coming back today,” I say.“Is there enough water for me?”

Kingston nods and I get out a mug.“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” he says as he opens a tea caddy.

“Just a very poor work session,” I say.“In fact, I’ve been working far too much this week.You can save me by proposing something utterly frivolous to do.Though, I suppose you might have work of your own.Do you?”

Kingston pours the water over our tea bags.“Of course I have work.The life of an agent means I have homework forever.There’s always something to read, always someone to get back to.”

I pout.“You’re very busy and important, I know.I suppose I can get back out there instead of having fun.”

“Not so fast.I was thinking we should make a plan to go shopping.”

“Shopping?”I lean against the counter and Luna comes up to rub her sinewy body against my legs.When I pat her head but offer nothing further, she abandons me for Kingston, staring up at him meaningfully.She lets out a sharp, plaintive meow.

Kingston, trained as she’s got him, goes for the canister of cat treats on the counter and drops three at her feet.Smugly, she eats them, looking over her shoulder at me in triumph.She’s got him wrapped around her paw and I applaud her persistence.

“You need clothes for your interviews.Now, Rosedale has some options, one pretty decent menswear shop, in fact.We could start there.Or you could plan to come to the city with me later this month.”

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