I walk forward and stare at the picture on the easel. A half-finished painting of me.
“Elijah, it’s…”
“This is my other passion… besides you.”
“But Kat, Gabriel, no one has ever said anything.”
“That’s because they don’t know.”
“How do they not know? You’re incredibly talented. Anyone with half an eye can see that.”
“Only my mother knows, and Lottie, and now you and my cousin, Logan. I invited him around to see what he thought.”
“And?”
“He wants to exhibit my work, represent me. Already has some potential buyers for a few of the pieces.”
My jaw drops.
“He owns galleries around the world and wants to showcase me.”
“I know who Logan Frazer is. He’s one of the world’s foremost art dealers, come critic. Elijah, that’s huge!”
“Do you remember the paint-by-numbers set you gave me when my ankle was broken?”
I spin to face him. “I gave that to you as a joke. To make you smile.”
“Well, the joke turned out to be a life changer. I did that one, then ordered more. My therapist saw it as a positive. Mum enrolled me in art classes. I had a teacher come to the house twice a week during my recovery. I’ve never stopped from that moment on.”
“You mean to tell me you’ve been painting for fifteen years, and no one knows... Lottie…”
He grins at me sheepishly.
“Painting is something Lottie and I do together. She might not be my biological daughter, but we share a lot of common interests. Swimming, art…not so much computers. She prefers to use her creative side.”
“I support you in whatever endeavours you choose. I shall look forward to standing next to you at your first exhibition.”
Elijah swings me into his arms. His voice is breathless.
“I want to marry you, raise a family, and paint. I know how much your job means to you, and this way, you’ll know you can go to work, and I’ll be around. Or you can stay home with me. The choice will be yours.”
I suck in a breath, my heart rate increasing to almost painful levels.
“Yes, yes, yes… yes to everything. To marrying you, to raising a family with you. A thousand yeses to you painting. You are so talented. Yes to being your partner in life, of growing old together. I’ll not be repeating your initial proposal. It’s a little x-rated for our future grandchildren. But I love you, Elijah Frazer, and I can’t imagine life without you.”
His lips touch mine, and that is the last thing we say for a while as we cement our love on his art room floor.
“What next?” Elijah says as we lie in each other’s arms. “I understand you protecting Kristophe’s feelings, but what about us? We’ve both spent so many years putting other people’s feelings above our own. It’s finally our time, and I don’t want to wait.”
“Kris doesn’t care,” I tell him truthfully.
“You discussed it with him?”
“He asked when he came to collect Harper. Asked when we were going public.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him we hadn’t discussed it.”
