“I know it’s only a few pieces of my work but this is so overwhelming. I need something to lower my anxiety level.” I don’t want wine because I want to make sure I’m entirely sober to take in every moment of tonight. As nervous as I am, I want to soak in every detail, right down the moment I’ll probably throw up in the bathroom from my jitters.
“I might have something for that.” Jimmy slips his hand into mine.
“Honey, not here! We can’t do that.”
“While I wouldloveto do that, and I’m positive it would calm your nerves, that’s not what I want to show you.” I follow him into a small hallway that leads back to Taj’s office. Next to her office is a painting that’s covered by a sheet.
“What are we doing back here?”
Jimmy lets go of my hand and steps in front of the painting, facing me. “Okay, so for the past few weeks I’ve been painting something of my own.”
“You have? When?” We spend all our time together when we’re not working. When could he have snuck something like this past me?
“I’ve been waking up early and going into the basement. And then crawling back into bed with you in the morning.”
“You haven’t!”
“Hey, I’m good. Also, I’m not strictly all about rollers and walls. I can be an artist, too.”
I can’t wait to see this. I imagine a sun painted in the upper left corner and big, fluffy white clouds above blades of grass. Very elementary.
“I see you judging me. Don’t draw any conclusions until you’ve seen it.”
“Deal. May I?” I reach for the corner of the sheet. When I pull it off, there are two stick figures, two odd-shaped dogs that almost look like horses, and a triangle house. I’m about to start laughing because thishasto be a joke when I see the words to the right of the sun,Will You Marry Me?
I clasp my hand across my mouth and turn around. Jimmy is down on one knee holding out a white gold ring with a marquise shaped diamond in the middle surrounded by a cluster of dazzling diamonds.
“I may not be Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Alvin Hamilton, or Reese Turner, but my heart is in every bit of that painting. Reese, will you marry me?”
The tears start pouring out of my eyes as I nod my head frantically. Jimmy stands and manages to slide the ring onto my shaking finger. I put my hands on his cheeks and give him probably a million kisses all over his lips and his face. When I finally regain control of myself, I realize Alvin, Kayleigh, and Donovan are standing at the other end of the hallway, all smiling and clapping.
I never knew knocking on my neighbor’s door would eventually change my life. I’m painting again and now engaged to the most wonderful man I’ve ever known. If this were my final painting ever, I’d die happy.
This life I’m living right now is my greatest masterpiece.
The End
Thank you for readingBarking Up the Wrong Tree. If you want to read some of my other books, check out:
The Mash-up Summer (Rewind #1)
The (Un)fortunate Fall (Rewind #2)
Circle in the Sand
Mistletoe Mishap
Something Just Like This
Landing Luck
Lipstick & Lattes
Dating for Decades
About the Author
Tracy Krimmer loves coffee, naps, and Drew Barrymore. She recently learned she's only two degrees of separation from Drew and that made her year. She loves everything 80s and 90s and is not a boomer despite what the younger kids say.
