“It’s never too late to tell someone you love them.”
Zac lifted his head and looked at John. “If it’s so easy, why are you still single?”
The sadness in John’s eyes touched something deep within Zac. “I loved a woman once but, like you, I left before she discovered she was better off without me. By the time I realized what I’d lost, she’d met someone else. Don’t make the same mistake I did.”
Zac took a deep breath.
He had a lot of thinking to do.
“I thoughtthis canvas could go here. What do you think?” Nick and his assistant held the photograph of a large bison against the red-brick wall.
For the last hour, they had been fine-tuning the placement of each canvas. By five o’clock tonight, Willow’s photographs would be ready for tomorrow’s event.
She tilted her head to the side, studying the canvas. “I definitely think it should go on that wall. The red brick is solid and gives the photograph more impact.”
She looked at the landscapes on either side of the bison canvas. She’d taken all three photos on one of her trips to Yellowstone National Park. As soon as the main gates opened, she’d driven to her favorite lookout point. A fine mist had been rising above the river, sending tendrils of fog across the breathtaking landscape.
As the early morning sunlight filtered through the clouds, animals stepped through the mist, giving Willow the photographs she was waiting for. Halfway through the shoot, the bison in the middle canvas appeared. His large brown head had bowed toward the ground. When he looked up, his eyes stared straight down the lens of Willow’s camera.
As soon as the shutter clicked, she knew she had an incredible image. But it wasn’t until she returned to her studio that she realized it would be one of her best shots.
It was as if the bison was daring her to come closer, to see for herself how big and bad he could be.
Nick said something to his assistant and kept moving.
Willow still couldn’t believe that Nick had gone to so much effort to make her exhibition a success. His gallery rivaled any she’d seen in New York City, and the placement of her canvases was perfect.
Her only worry was the one she’d left until last.
As she walked toward the portrait of Zac, her heart pounded against her chest.
Nick must have seen her distress. “It will be all right. Is this the man who broke your heart?”
Willow nodded and took a deep breath. For once in her life she regretted how real her photos seemed. If she didn’t know better, she could have sworn she was looking through a window, staring at the man who’d made her believe in happy ever after.
The white wall Nick had chosen for the canvas was perfect. Unlike the other pictures, this portrait was hanging on its own. It gave the image a sense of space, allowing Zac’s gaze to travel beyond the canvas and into the unknown.
Nick stood beside her. “Has he seen the portrait?”
“No. I took the photo at a friend’s wedding. He doesn’t know it exists.”
“You could sell it for thousands of dollars.”
Willow shook her head. “It’s not for sale.” The portrait of Zac was a last-minute addition to the canvases she’d promised Nick. After Levi and Brooke’s wedding, she’d spent three days slowly adding light and shadow to the original image. It was supposed to be a surprise, a gift Zac would see when he next returned from Afghanistan.
And even though he didn’t want Willow in his life, she would still give him the portrait. It was too personal, too much of everything he was, to let it hang in someone else’s home.
Nick touched her arm. “If he is half the man you have captured, be patient.”
“It’s too late,” Willow whispered.
“It is never too late.”
Willow wished Nick was right, but his romantic heart was getting in the way of reality. Zac was about to start a new phase of his life. And she wouldn’t be part of it.
“What are you still doing here?”William asked.
Zac stood in the middle of his entranceway, frowning at his friend. “I’m enjoying a quiet Saturday morning in my home. You’re lucky I’m not in bed.”
