“And there’s no stairs to enter the building, which I thought would be good because I’ve been reading, and I know a lot of times people with brain injuries can have trouble with balance, and I know Cody uses a wheelchair.”
“You’ve been reading?”
“Yeah, I know it’s important to you, so I want to know more about it.”
I stop right before we reach the door of the studio, and he turns to face me. Tears fill my eyes, and his face falls. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s just…” I say, my face breaking out into a smile. “I don’t understand how you ever thought I deserved more than you. This whole day has felt magical, and now we’re here and you’ve taken your time to learn about something so close to my heart. Tanner, you’re incredible, and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.”
I step towards him and wrap my arms around his neck. Pressing my lips to his, he pulls me against him. Butterflies dip and swoop in my stomach.
“For what it’s worth,” he says, breaking our kiss but stillholding me close, “today was easily the second best day of my life.”
“The second?”
“Yep, the best was the day I met you.” He leans forward and kisses the tip of my nose. “Now let’s go make your dream a reality.”
He takes my hand again and opens the door. We walk into the studio space. It’s large and spacious with lots of natural light. Gwen walks out from the back wearing loose overalls covered by an apron splattered with paint. Her light brown hair is pulled back out of her face using a clip.
“Hi, you two. Thanks for stopping by.” She smiles at both of us warmly.
“It’s so nice to see you again,” I say.
“Yeah, thanks for meeting with us,” Tanner says, letting go of my hand long enough to wrap Gwen up in a hug.
“Tanner tells me you’re looking for a place to hold art classes,” she says. “Would you like a tour of the studio?”
“I’d love that.”
Her studio is incredible. There’s a private studio where she paints most of her pieces, a splatter paint room, and a small gallery of her paintings.
“Are the tables adjustable?” I ask when she shows me the classroom space in the back. It’s lined with long, counter-high tables and barstools, and while I’m sure the current set-up meets the needs of her usual clients, my students would require a more accessible set-up.
“They aren’t,” she says. “Would they need to be?”
“Yeah, the barstools might work for some people, but it would be safer if we could use chairs and then if someone is in a wheelchair, like my brother, we would need to lower the table so he could use it.”
“Hmmm, well if you want to bring in adjustable tables, I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” Gwen says.
“That might be doable. I’d just need to look into howmuch they cost. How much were you thinking you’d charge me to use the space? I’d probably start out with one class a month. If the turn out is good, then I might want to add more down the line.”
“Oh, honey. You don’t have to pay me. We’ll just need to work it around my current schedule which shouldn’t be that hard.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. You two are friends with Logan and Poppy, so that makes you family.”
“Well thank you. Your studio is great, and I’m so excited to get this started. You have no idea how much this means to me. I’ll look into the tables, and then maybe we can meet again soon and get a plan together for the first class.”
“Sounds perfect. I’m happy to help in any way I can.”
“Gwen, do you mind if I use the bathroom before we head out?” Tanner asks.
“Nope, through the door on the left.”
“Thanks. I’ll be right back,” he says, kissing me on the side of the head and then walking away.
“It’s so nice to see two young people in love,” Gwen muses, sitting on one of the barstools.
