Page 24 of Love Is an Art
“Aren’t you defending his fund for fraud? This is just fraud on a small scale,” Lily says.
“His fund did not commit fraud,” I say.
“I doubt he’s in on the scam,” Iris says. “But if they’re good friends, he might warn Jurgen. It’s not like he’s going to believe Tessa over some strong friendship. I wouldn’t.”
This is all a murky mess.
“I’m worried I won’t be a good mark because I’m not that good an actress. She seems so unsure, and I don’t think I give off that vibe.”
“You should paint,” Lily says.
“But I can’t paint.”
“Exactly,” Lily says. “You’ll give off that unsure vibe.”
That’s for sure.
“But I also need Zeke to think I’m a painter unless I tell him beforehand.”
“That works well. You need to paint something good enough that both Zeke and Scammer Guy think you’re an artist,” Lily says. “And you can tell Zeke afterward. Give him a chance to get to know you as a person so he can get over his prejudice against lawyers.”
“I’m not sure this is going to work.” This is definitely not going to work.
Chapter seven
Tessa
“I’llgetyousomestuff so you can practice painting.” Miranda pulls a small canvas out of her stash and finds some brushes and paint. “I’ll give you some lessons once I finish this art show application. It’s due today, and I want to look it over one more time before I submit it.”
Miranda sets me up at an easel and disappears to her bedroom in the back. I rest my iPad on an easel next to mine and read through the YouTube video’s instructions meticulously. I squeeze out dabs of purple and blue paint on the canvas and then brush the paints exactly as the video shows. Somehow, the artist in the video creates this feeling of an early evening sky full of possibility, but my attempt resembles a big, purple-and-blue blob.
It’s a good thing I’m a lawyer.
Miranda emerges out of our hallway kitchen and comes over to where I’m standing in front of the easel.
“Oh no,” she says.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” I put my brush into the can of water.It’s a disaster.
“Yes. I’d recommend a diversion, like bringing a painting you can switch with the empty canvas.” She laughs.
“Yes,” I say. “You could create a diversion, and William can switch the paintings.”
She shakes her head. “I’m working that night, unfortunately. You’ll be fine.”
“Way to rally to the occasion,” I say. “Still, I’ll ask Iris to bid on my painting at the auction. I’ll buy it back from her. I’m happy to support these not-for-profits.”
Miranda waves her hand. “Anyway, being a bad painter will lend credence to our belief that he’s scamming artists.”
“But if I’m terrible, will Jurgen actually think I’m a good mark?” I ask. “Yvette clearly has talent.”
“Yvette is talented. Just too tentative.”
I shake my head. “He has no shame. Maybe I should try to reschedule Zeke so I can focus on hooking Scammer Guy.” Except that I’m supposed to be focusing on work, and going out two nights this week might be hard. My phone beeps.
Zeke:I bought the tickets.
All right. Date night with Zeke is definitely on. And hooking Scammer Guy. I can work late the other nights.
