Aweek later, Owen placed two glass vases beside some others in his studio. Everything was coming together better than he’d expected for his exhibition, but he was still worried. Even though he’d sold a lot of items at the summer festival, that didn’t mean people would want to see more of his work.
Harper and Daniella had arrived an hour ago to help him set up the displays. As well as being a welcome distraction, they’d transformed his studio. Using the shelving units Steve had made, they’d carefully arranged the glass bowls, paperweights, and vases with little cards describing the inspiration behind each collection.
With a grin, Harper placed a pale blue bowl on a table. “Does my girlfriend status mean I get a discount off anything I buy?”
His sister added a matching paperweight to the collection. “Only if the same discount applies to me.”
Owen looked at them and smiled. “It depends on what you’re offering in return.”
Daniella’s eyebrows rose. “This is the twenty-first century. Your warped sense of humor will get you nowhere.”
“Not even a batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies?”
Harper grinned. “If that’s all it takes, I’ll bake you some. Daniella gave me her recipe.”
Owen laughed, picturing the mountain of cookies he’d devour if Harper baked them. “In that case, you can have whatever discount you want.” When Daniella cleared her throat, he rolled his eyes. “You can have a discount, too.”
With a light kiss to his cheek, Harper picked up another bowl. “I was only joking.”
But he hadn’t been. The last few weeks had been some of the best of his life. Harper centered him, made the times when he felt overwhelmed a little less daunting. Without her encouragement, he doubted the exhibition would have happened.
As they carried more items into the studio, Harper paused, her head tilting to the side. “Everything’s so beautiful, Owen. Are you opening your studio again or is this the only time?”
He stopped, the question catching him off guard. He’d been so focused on what was happening tomorrow that he hadn’t thought about bringing forward his plans.
“I wasn’t going to regularly open my studio until next year,” Owen admitted, his eyes sweeping over the tables. “But if I want to make a living from doing this, I might have to open sooner than that.”
“You could run workshops and special themed events,” Daniella added. “People are always looking for different things to do.”
“That’s a great idea,” Harper said, her eyes shining with excitement. “No one else has a glass studio nearby. It’d be something special people could do together.”
Just then, his phone beeped. As he read the text, he smiled. It was from Penny Terry, confirming he could move into one of the community houses. The tenancy was only for twelve months, but it was a start, a place to call his own for a while.
He messaged her back to say he could meet her next week to sign the rental agreement, and then looked at Harper and Daniella. “It looks like I’ll be moving soon. Penny said I can rent the cottage Harper and I looked at. It’s only for twelve months, but it’ll be good to have a place of my own.”
“That’s fantastic,” Daniella said.
Harper hugged him. “That’s awesome. Congratulations.”
The front door opened and his parents arrived, arms laden with decorations for the studio.
“You didn’t have to bring all this,” Owen said as he rescued one of the boxes his dad was carrying.
“Nonsense,” Lynda replied, her eyes gleaming. “You want people to remember coming here, and these decorations will make the studio sparkle.”
George placed the other two boxes he was carrying on the counter. “I brought all our fairy lights. Hopefully, it’ll be enough.”
Daniella took a bag of decorations from her mom. “Whatever you’ve brought will be amazing.”
The rest of the evening was a blur of activity as they worked together, arranging lights, draping fabric, and setting the mood for the exhibition. Owen felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude as his family and Harper created an incredible backdrop for his art.
Regardless of what happened tomorrow, these people, this moment, would be the foundation of it all. With support like this, he believed anything was possible.
“Dinner’s on me tonight,” Owen announced once they’d finished. “As a thank you for all your hard work.”
His mom smiled. “Dinner together sounds lovely, but you don’t need to pay for us. We’re just glad to be a part of this with you.”
Daniella grinned. “You’d better make the most of your time with Owen. He’s found somewhere else to live.”
