Page 27 of Rose's One Night to Forever
Alex held one in the air. “You sure you don’t have a drum for me to bang on instead of a piece of canvas?”
“You’re good with a brush,” Ryan told him. “Oh, wait, that was a scrub brush. My bad.”
“I can paint,” Zach announced. “Or so Julia tells me.”
“Walls don’t count,” Finn deadpanned.
“They were very artistically done walls,” Zach insisted.
Finn lowered his beer and stared at his friend. “They were brown. Not beige or mocha or cinnamon or umber. Brown.”
Amused chuckles sounded from the group, then Luke turned to Chance. “We promised we’d try, so what are we painting? Because frankly, I drew a barn once, and it looked like a whale.”
“I can draw a whale and make it look like a barn,” Tucker offered before leaning toward Finn. “I’m kind of impressed you know that many other names for brown.”
Finn raised a brow and a middle finger.
They both grinned.
“I think we need to start with painting by numbers. Then at least I can make it look like something.” Cody shook his head. “You got all the talent, bro. I occasionally draw well enough that people can tell what it is, but it’s never realistic. My stuff usually looks like comic images instead of a photograph of the scene.”
“You don’t really expect us to make anything worth hanging on a wall, do you?” Tucker leaned back in his chair and picked up his beer again.
“Probably not, but who knows? Embrace imperfection and jump right in.” Chance explained the technique they’d be trying then glanced around at the gathering. “You can’t do this wrong. Just have a go, and we’ll see if there’s anything worthwhile when we’re done.”
They all still hesitated, brushes held tentatively in the air.
He tried again. “Here’s your Irish courage. Drink another beer and pretend you’re on the pig’s back.”
Cody choked. “Where? What?”
Chance laughed. “It means in a mood to celebrate. Listen up. It’s time to be decisive. Take action.”
He picked up his own brush and loaded it with paint. A dozen bold strokes later, he had enough paint on the canvas to see energy come alive.
Once movement started around him, he ignored the others and continued, lured in by the swoop and slide of colour. By the excitement of letting go and following the ideas whispered in his ear by his muse.
When he finally put down his brush, conversations had once again picked up around the room. The occasional burst of laughter. A hum of approval or someone puzzling out a challenge.
Zach shook his head as he poked his brush at his canvas, but Cody slapped him on the shoulder and nodded in admiration. “That’s good. I can see your cabin at the ranch. And those are the mountains beyond the arena.”
Finn leaned over and examined the painting. “Well, damn. Not too shabby, Zach.”
“One success story tonight, at least,” Tucker said. “Mine, not so much.”
Luke studied his friend’s art for a moment then grinned. “You painted a castle and a dragon. I like it.”
Tucker rubbed at his mouth before snickering. “Try hay bales and a kitten. I like your interpretation better. Let’s go with that.”
The howls of laughter echoed off the roof.
“How surprising. A rose.” They’d finally settled down, and Ryan gestured to Chance’s painting. “I think your subconscious is telling you something.”
Deep rumbles of amusement struck as Chance whipped his head around to examine his own painting closer. Background colours of muted greens, gold and pale pink blended into a hazy summer field, but the main image, front and center, while somewhat abstract, was clearly a single deep-red rose. “Well, I’ll be damned. You’re right.”
“Say that again. I like the sounds of it,” Tucker said with a smirk.
“Painting roses. Must mean something, right, Chance?” Zach teased.
