Page 34 of The Summer House
“These are amazing, Luke,” she said. “What is all this?”
“I painted them,” he said, and she only noticed just then that his eyes were on her. “Have a look around.”
She ran her hand along one that was still on the workhorses, the colors so vibrant and beautiful that they almost took her breath away. A wave crashing on the shore in electric blue with perfect shadows and shading to make it look so real that she could almost feel its spray.
“How come no one has written an article aboutthis? It’s fantastic.” She took in the boards hanging from the rafters, more climbing every surface of the walls, others lying on the floor.
“Because no one knows I paint them. I created a brand name called Salty Tides, but I haven’t done anything with it. See the logo there? I designed it.” He tapped just under the picture on the board, zeroing her in on the scratchy two-line lettering spellingSalty Tideswith the “i” in Tides as a little wave.
“Why haven’t you done anything with it?” Unable to keep her curiosity at bay, she walked over to another board, the slick surface like glass under fingertips.
He took in a deep breath. “My dad thinks it’s a waste of time when I’ve got millions riding on real estate. I spend most of my time learning how he manages the company so I can take over when I’m ready. It’s better not to be distracted, so I keep this little hobby from the public.”
She couldn’t imagine keeping this a secret. His talent was so clear to her that the possibilities for this were coming at her one after another. She didn’t know the surfboard industry but there was no doubt in her mind that these would sell. The artwork alone was just incredible. “Do youhaveto take over the company?”
“I want to. Like I said, I want to prove that I can be trusted.” Before she could challenge him, he took her hand, leading her over to a worktable. “Look at this,” he said, showing her a large pencil drawing. “It’s that flower you put in your hair when we had dinner on my boat. I’m going to make a stencil out of it so I can paint it on one of the boards.”
She smiled. “It’s called a gaillardia,” she said, feeling like that day was ages ago. So much had happened since then, and she would never have thought in a million years that she’d be standing here with him, feeling the way she did every time he looked at her.
The wind picked up, sending a gust into the garage, the drawing paper lifting off the table and flying into the air. He caught it and set a paint can on top of it. Luke had the doors open on both sides of the building, most likely to vent the place while he painted, but it was starting to cause a wind tunnel, a constant stream of air blowing against them.
Her hair blew into her eyes and she thought Luke was going to put it behind her ear, but instead, he cupped his hand around her face, looking down at her with those blue eyes as if he wanted to kiss her. After last time, she worried he might not try. She wanted to kiss him, but things were moving along faster than she could process them, and she still didn’t know if she was ready. She was concerned with what would happen if she let him. She feared that she might not be able to recover if he broke her heart. Callie looked into his eyes, wanting to tell him all this, but instead, she looked away, and he let the moment go. She noticed she was smiling and when she looked at him, he was too.
“We should probably get back to the party,” she said.
“Yeah.”
As they walked up, the bouncy castle was still abuzz with children’s laughter. Olivia walked toward them, her stride almost a skip, an excited expression on her face. “Look who I found!” she called out. She was on Aiden Parker’s arm.
“You know each other?” Luke asked. They were standing by the juggler, who was tossing bowling pins for a crowd of kids and parents while riding a unicycle. They moved aside to be out of the way of the performance.
“Olivia and I went to college together,” Aiden explained to Luke. “I’m mixing a little business and pleasure while I’m here for Mitchell’s party.”
“He’s the architect who’s working on The Beachcomber,” Olivia added. “How long have you two known each other?”
“A lifetime. Aiden’s my cousin.” Luke clapped him on the back. “Did you just get here? Let’s all have a drink.”
