“You’re scared to open your heart to someone else because Steven broke your trust. You don’t want to open yourself up to that kind of pain again. It isn’t the past that’s keeping you from finishing that piece. It’s your future. You’re still seeing Steven standing there next to you under that arch of flowers when you should be seeing someone else. Someone who has stood by you even when you repeatedly shut the door in his face. Someone who didn’t give up on you when you made him chase you all over Cape Hope in a three-piecesuit.”
Lily sat there frozen as her sister’s words sunk in. “I…I’m not…” She sucked in a stuttered breath. “It doesn’t matter. Josh is gone. He’s leaving today.It’sover.”
“Only if you let it be over. Go finish that drawing and take it to him for his client. We’ll fight Steven…Stephon, or whatever his real name is. We can beat him together. We’ll hire an attorney with the money you earn from the advertisement and use it to make that jerk eat hiswords.”
“No, I owe you, remember? You deserve to get paid for helping me all this time. I’ve barely been able to cover our bills with what I’ve made since we’vebeenhere.”
Connie chuckled. “Do you really think I’ve stayed here this long so that you’d pay me to be your art dealer? I stayed because I love you. You’re worthy of love. Mine andJosh’s.”
Lily swallowed a lump of indecision. She would do almost anything to get away from Stephon, even if that meant never selling another painting for the rest of her life. “But what if Stephon goes after youandJosh?”
“Then we’ll fight back. We’re grown-ups. We know how to fight our own battles. But first you have to take the drawing to Josh and see what he says. You’ll know what to do from there. And don’t tell me you can’t finish it. If you allow yourself to open up to the possibility of loving Josh, you’ll be able to finish it. And it’ll be amazing.” Connie stood up and slipped from the room without another word, leaving Lily with nothing to do but face herbiggestfear.
She opened her sketch pad and allowed her emotions to flow. By the time the clock in the hall struck three in the morning, she was signing her initials. Exhausted, her eyes swollen from crying, her back aching, yet feeling exhilarated, she sat back and stared at the finished piece. It was better than she’d ever thought possible. The depth and brightness of the man’s blue eyes stole her heart, just as the real ones had the first time she saw them. She only hoped it could winJosh’s.
