Page 14 of Artfully Wild
I laugh. “She joins me a lot towatch.”
“Ahhh, okay,” she laughs in understanding. “And the painting? You haven’t done much of that?”
A question I don’t really want to answer, if I’m being completely honest. When Avery came to Blue Grove a couple of months ago, I never really thought about being an artist full-time. But then I saw her love of photography lead us into opening a studio—with Hudson’s push and a partnership between me, Avery, and Charlotte. The three of us went into business together, but I am more of a third-party beneficiary, whereas Charlotte is more of a partner. Charlotte went ahead and moved into the space above the photography studio and there’s an extra room up there that I have been using as a space for painting.
Seeing Avery fully dive into her dream made me feel like it was something I could do too. Artists don’t really get enough credit for their craft, and Avery finding confidence to dosomething that scared her started to give me confidence in pursuing my artistic side.
“It’s going okay,” I say. “But with the possibility of selling the store, I haven’t really had a chance to focus on it.” It sounds like an excuse—because it is one—but that’s life. Things get in the way of what I actually want to do. For example, bills. I very much like having food on the table and so does my cat. The both of us like to eat, and the way we do that while keeping a roof over our heads is money. The store is what makes money, but the sale of it will make more.
Then again, I’ve never actually tried to sell my paintings here, so I guess I really don’t know for sure whether or not that would make money either. But since I live in the loft above the store, I save as much money as I can.
“You’ll figure it out,” Avery says, taking a second to make eye contact with me and giving me a genuine smile before she goes back to taking pictures.
“Well, I actually do have an interesting opportunity to explore another side of painting.”
“Ugh,” she sighs. “Finally. I was wondering when you were going to bring it up.”
“What?” I ask, confused.
“You’re talking about the auction Jacob asked you to help with, right?”
“How did you even—you know what, don’t bother answering. Asking how anyone knows anything in this town is a waste of breath.”
“You’ve got that right,” she cackles. “So, you and Jacob are going to be working on them together?” She’s trying to be subtle. Avery sucks at being subtle.
“Ave, what are you really trying to ask?”
She straightens and the camera falls to her side. “You two just seemed awfully cozy the other day when we came bargingin after Ethan. Like something might have happened if we didn’t come in.”
“Well, Cordie interrupted way before you three,” the words slip before I clamp my lips shut as tight as physically possible.
“So, therewassomething to interrupt,” she squeals.
I fiddle with the hand warmers, flipping them over and over in my hands before finally sighing, giving into the need I’ve had for the past few days to talk to someone about Jacob.
“Okay, fine,” I start, quietly. “There was a moment…or two.” I wince as she squeals louder and ignores the task at hand, her focus fully shifted to me. I walk over to a stump and sit down, curling into myself, wishing I could disappear. I don’t like talking about this, but my brain won’t let me forget it.
Avery sits on the ground in front of me, again really not caring about how wet her pants are going to be when she gets up. Suddenly, with her eagerly looking up at me, I am reminded of Sarah. I am transported back to my childhood bedroom to a night when we would stay up until all hours talking about our crushes.
I blink back tears and look up at the trees for a second, composing myself. Avery doesn’t ask questions, she just places a gentle hand on my knee and allows me to get it together. She knows when to push and when not to, and I love her for it.
“Ever since you and my brother got together, I’ve been really struggling to figure out my next step. As much as I love the store and want it to succeed, it’s not my whole life. I’ve considered a partnership maybe, so I can make sure the store is stable, hire some help so I can travel, but the idea of traveling alone like I did after college didn’t work out isn’t appealing now like it was then. I don’t want to travel alone, Ave.”
“So don’t,” she responds, like it’s the obvious answer.
“Sarah and I always talked about traveling together. I tried to get her to join me after I had already been traveling for a year or so, but she was so wrapped up in Elias and getting married andstarting a family, she never really had the chance. And then I came back to help her with everything,” I swallow, refusing to let the tears build behind my eyes. “And then she died, and I’m still here and she never got to go with me.” Tears are streaming down my face now, but I don’t care anymore and I release them. I notice Avery’s cheeks are wet, too, and go on.
“Once you came around and Hudson fell so deeply in love with you, I started really wondering if I would ever have that. I love Jacob as a friend, but over the last few months, I’ve started seeing him a little differently than before. I’ve always had somewhat of a crush on him—I’d be stupid not to—but we made a deal when we were in high school and I’m scared of jeopardizing our friendship or risking it and finding out he doesn’t feel that way about me.”
Her laugh is loud and obnoxious. More of a guffaw really, like she can’t believe anything I just said. “You two made a deal?”
I nod.
“What kind of a deal?”
“I don’t know. We used to have a really tight friend group then. Two of them got together and when they broke up, I don’t think they ever said another word to each other. So, we made a deal that we would always be friends. Never date.”
“Mmm,” she hums, slowly nodding her head. “Sky, do you really need me to say it?”
