Page 98 of The Edge of Summer
“The gallery is a little too small for the turnout you deserve, so we brought the exhibition here.” He reaches out, tentative. When I don’t pull away, he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Tonight everyone will finally have the privilege of seeing your art.”
“You did this for me?”
“With alotof help,” Clara interjects.
And then a million hands are pulling me in different directions. Clara draws me into a hug, followed not long after by Maggie. Soon after, I’m whisked away into the crowd.
I look back at Luke, needing to know what this all means.Doesit mean anything? Or is he just being a good friend? The thought of the latter makes me feel sick, but so does the former. Both options leave a nasty bubble of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. But I can’t focus on that right now.
It’s a good turnout at Haven House tonight. Somehow Carole managed to spread the word through town without me finding out. No easy feat, but if anyone could pull it off, it is evidently her.
“Oh,good,” Carole says, releasing a relieved breath when she manages to catch up with me. “You’re here! I’ve already fielded five different offers to purchase some of your prints, but I wasn’t sure what you wanted to charge. Do you have a price point in mind?”
I hardly register her question. I’m having a hard enough time wrapping my head around the fact that people actually like my photography enough to pay for it. It’s at this point that I truly get swept away, losing track of Clara or any of the Bowmans.
Sometime later, as a couple of Dockside regulars bid me agood night, Clara sidles up beside me. “Dee, there’s someone here I want you to meet,” she says.
When I turn, I come face to face with a familiar blonde woman. Familiar not because I know her, but because Clara has talked about her so extensively, I feel like I do. Hallie smiles shyly as she tucks her long hair behind her ear. I hope my answering grin is at least somewhat reassuring.
“Hi, I’m Delilah,” I say.
“Hallie,” she replies. Her eyes do a quick once-over of the crowd at my back before returning to me. “I really love your work. I was?—”
She cuts herself off as she gasps quietly, her gaze locked on something across the room. In the next second, I watch her duck behind Clara and maneuver our friend to keep herself hidden. I look over my shoulder, but I don’t notice anything altogether alarming.
“Hallie,” Clara calls.
The woman in question ducks her head further. “Yeah?”
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” She peeks out around Clara and again looks across the room. “I’m just gonna…go to the bathroom.”
Then she all but sprints out of the room. Clara and I share a look, and then I turn around to see what has Hallie so spooked. The only person standing in that corner is…Gabe.
“Is something…” I trail off. “Do Gabe and Hallie have athing?”
Clara’s laugh is deep. “They definitely have athingand they’re the only two people on the planet who don’t know it.”
“You mean they’ve never?—?”
She smiles sadly. “Hallie’s been my best friend since kindergarten. When high school hit, we were all sure they would get their heads out of their asses, but then she left for university in Toronto. She hasn’t really been home since.”
“But she’s here now.”
She nods. “She is. She hasn’t told me why yet, but I’m just happy to have her back.”
I eye Gabe across the room. “I bet your brother is happy she’s back, too.”
“Oh, he will be. But good luck getting him to admit it.”
I grin.Challenge accepted.
The first moment I can get Gabe alone, I pounce. Call me nosy, but I want to know what’s going on between him and Hallie. I find him in that same corner he’s been keeping company all night. And though he may be standing with me, all his attention is focused across the room. Specifically, on a certain blonde standing with his sister.
“Hallie’s back,” I say, mostly just to get some kind of a reaction out of him.
The mention of her name brings his focus back to me. “Huh?”
