"That's a nice thing to say."
"Not nice.Just true."
They were still staring at each other when Reaves exclaimed, "This skylight is a neat touch.Are you a stargazer?"
"No, but I do appreciate natural light.That thing was one of the selling points for me.I think the previous owners were stargazers or something."She pulled herself together."Can I get you guys anything?"
"I'm good, thanks," said Ollie.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," said Reaves.He looked down at the coffee table and gave a sad smile as he stared at it.
Just when Callie was starting to wonder what was going on with him, he looked up."I guess you use glitter in your work, huh?It's just that it reminds me of Zia, seeing that stuff there."He jerked his chin toward the sparkles on the coffee table.
Callie inhaled sharply.If only he knew that thatwasZia's glitter — from when she'd been decorating her pendant rainbow earlier, when she and Alara were here visiting.
Ollie reached out to touch her arm."He's not criticizing, you know."
She looked up, realizing that she must have frozen for too long."No, sorry, I know.I was just trying to remember what I'd used it for."She shrugged."Hazard of being a maker, I guess."She held her hands up with a rueful smile."Also the reason why I have no fingernails and bits of glaze stuck to my skin all the time."
She had no idea why she'd done that, but as soon as she did, she felt bad.Shouldn't she be trying to impress Ollie, not remind him exactly why and how she was so different from the women he usually went for?They no doubt had perfect nails and makeup.She glanced at him.And were nothing like her.
"What do you say, then — should we go see about loading these glazes up?"
He gave her a puzzled look, but she explained, "The rain isn't too bad right now.If we load up, it'll stop.If we wait for it to pass, it'll only get worse."
Reaves laughed."That sounds about right.It's always the way it goes, isn't it?My dad calls it Murphy's Law."
"Well, whoever this Murphy is, he's a pain," said Callie."Come on, let's go load up, then.Once that's done, we can decide what else we want to do."
Chapter Thirteen
When they reached the cabin, Ollie felt a sense of pride creep over him as he watched Reaves take it all in — the kiln and the wheel, and all Callie's supplies and her work displayed on shelves.She'd called herself a maker earlier, but she was so much more than that.She was an artist in her own right.
He grinned when she pointed to the sunflower glazes and said, "These are the ones for your dad."
"Damn, Callie," Reaves exclaimed as he stared at them."Those things are amazing.I can see why Dad fell in love with them.He's loved sunflowers for as long as I can remember — plants them every year, and he always looks kind of melancholy when they fade at the end of the summer."
"I know how he feels," said Callie."That's why I decided to make these things."
Ollie squatted down in front of them and ran his finger over the edge of one of the glazes.It was maybe eighteen inches around, like a massive thick coaster with the head of a sunflower in full bloom set into it somehow.He had no idea how she'd done it.
He smiled when she chuckled beside him."It's okay, they won't bite.You can touch them.They're pretty robust."
He ran his finger over the face of the flower, surprised to feel how smooth it was.
"It takes some doing, but I really wanted to get them smooth."She lifted a shoulder."You should see how many of them I screwed up until I perfected the process."
"Looks pretty damn perfect to me now," said Reaves."How heavy are they?"
"I never weighed them.I just know that I can lift one by myself with a bit of effort.I figured that they're too heavy to ship to customers, so I've just kind of been keeping them around myself as decoration."She smiled at Reaves."I'm with your dad.I love sunflowers, and I hate to see them fade."
Ollie straightened up."Do you need to wrap them?"he asked."I'd hate for them to get damaged on the way."
Callie pointed to a pile of what looked like movers' blankets."I figured we could wrap them in those.That should be enough protection."
She supervised while he and Reaves wrapped them carefully.He bent to lift the first one."Are they going on the back seat of the truck?"
"Hell no.You can just put them in the bed.They'll be fine in there."
