Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“What are your plans for the day?”
“The normal,” she told him. “I’ll head to the beach and set up. Get some paint on the canvas.”
“And the one you did in the middle of the night?”
Eloise looked toward her deck. They had left the doors open all night. He should’ve closed them. It didn’t matter if they were on the second story, you could never be too safe.
“You like that one, don’t you?”
Kiel nodded. “I think it’s beautiful. Like you.”
“I could tell you a million and one things wrong with it.”
“And it would still be perfect.”
Eloise got out of bed and strode across the room, naked as the day she was born. Kiel thought it funny, seeing her this free. When he saw her later, she’d be in overalls, hiding her glorious body from anyone who came near her. He was fine with that.
She returned with the canvas and handed it to him.
“Did you sign it?”
Her cheeks reddened, and she slowly shook her head. “Why would you want me to sign it?”
“So I can say I knew you when you’re famous.”
Eloise watched him for a minute with contemplation in her eyes. She reluctantly took the painting back, stood it on the easel while she signed it, and then brought it back to him. “There, now you have my autograph.”
“An original piece by Eloise Harris. Am I the first one?”
She nodded and crawled back into bed. “No one has ever asked before except for my aunt.”
“Not your parents?”
“Nooo,” she said, exaggerating the O. “I told you about my dad. And my mom doesn’t appreciate art. She thinks everyone can paint the next Mona Lisa.”
“I know nothing about art, but even I know that’s not possible.”
“I tried though. About a year ago, I spent a day in the Louvre, studying the painting. This is the most popular attraction there, which is a shame because the museum itself is fascinating. When you finally get a chance to see her, it’s extremely underwhelming. The media makes you think she’s this big booming presence when the painting is fairly small. They herd people in, and you’re given so much time to look and then move on. Except I stayed. I’d move off to the side or whatever and just sketch what I saw. I couldn’t even come close to recreating her.”
“Someday, I plan to travel. See the world.”
This brought a smile to Eloise’s face. “Me too, except I’m going to paint what I see.”
They continued to talk for the next hour. Kiel left Eloise at her apartment and drove the Wrangler back to the rental agency. He thought about keeping it but didn’t see a need. Eventually, he’d tell his parents about Eloise, and then borrow their car if need be.
When he finally made it home, he walked in and found his sister, Ciara, crying.
“What’s wrong?” he went to her and sat down, hiding his painting under the table. He wasn’t ready to talk about where he got a painting this early in the morning.
She wiped at her tears and looked at him with red-rimmed eyes. “Dad is being transferred.”
Kiel played it cool. “What are you talking about?”
“I heard Mom on the phone. I don’t know who she was talking to, but she said Dad is going on orders to another base and we’re moving.”
Kiel wanted to knock some sense into his parents. None of them believed this vacation was for family time. He shook his head and searched his mind for the right words.
“You’re not moving, Ciara.”
“How do you know?”
“I just know,” he told her. “Believe me, okay?”
She nodded and wiped her tears.
“Did you tell Skyla?”
“Did the world end?”
“Valid,” he said. “Just keep it to yourself, okay?”
“Do you know what’s going on?”
He nodded. “I do and can’t say anything right now, but I assure you, you’ll get to finish your senior year at school with your friends.”
Ciara nodded and welcomed a hug from her big brother.
“What’s her name?”
“Excuse me?”
“The woman you spent the night with. What’s her name?”
Kiel sat back. “Uh . . .”
“You can’t even lie, Kiel. You smell girly. You better go shower. And she gave you a present.” Ciara’s eyes looked down toward the canvas.
“I showered,” he said, ignoring the elephant in the room.
“Gross, Kiel. I don’t want to hear about your hook-ups.”
“Then don’t ask who she is.” He cocked his eyebrow at her.
Ciara rolled her eyes. “Do you like her?”
He nodded. “More than I should since she lives here, and I don’t.”
“Yeah, that’s tough.” Ciara sighed. “So the gift?”
Kiel groaned and picked the canvas up. “She’s an artist and painted this last night.”
“Holy shit. She did this last night?”
“More like three in the morning.”
“Okay, I don’t want to know what you were doing until three in the morning.”
Not sleeping, that’s for sure.
Kiel said nothing as he took the painting back from Ciara. He couldn’t wait to hang this in his room. Even when he got back home, he’d hang it. Even if they didn’t work out, he’d always remember the moment he saw this painting.