dock above sunlit water would give someone happiness during a cold, dark winter?
“You can tell the customer you created the painting,” Linda said from behind her. “People would be thrilled to meet the actual artist.”
Natalia turned. “Not a chance. No way. Uh-uh.”
In her forties, Linda had a sociable nature—and a confidence Natalia could only hope to achieve someday. “No pressure. I won’t out you to your fans.”
“Too late. She’s outed,” someone said from the other side of the counter.
Natalia spun.
The woman had caramel-colored hair pulled up on top of her head. She wore shorts and a sleeveless white top with deep blue embroidery the color of her eyes. What interesting cross-stitching. “Whoa, Valerie, I didn’t recognize you at first.”
She laughed. “No one looks the same when out of a corset, right?”
“No lie.”
Linda was laughing. “Valerie, welcome to my slice of heaven on the beach.”
“You have a lovely shop.” Valerie turned to Natalia. “And your impressionist paintings, Ms. Natalia Rosales, are amazing.”
Linda beamed. “It’s what I keep telling her. In fact, she’s one of the featured artists in a gallery opening coming up. You need to come—it’ll be fun.”
“Congratulations,” Valerie said. “And I will.”
Natalia studied the woman. In the Shadowlands, Valerie had seemed somewhat nervous. Then again, who wouldn’t after being verbally attacked by an ex-husband’s new girl?
Today, she was perfectly self-confident. As Linda showed her around the shop, they chatted comfortably, and Valerie’s compliments were both sincere and knowledgeable.
When she and Linda returned to the counter, Natalia sighed. “Can I be like you two when I grow up?”
“You lost me,” Linda said.
“I get it.” Chuckling, Valerie glanced at Linda. “She’s like my introvert of a daughter. Ask Hailey to create a computer program and she’s right at home. Ask her to attend a party and chat with strangers? One traumatized girl. In elementary school, she hid in closets to avoid attending birthday parties.”
“Oh, wow.” Natalia straightened slightly. “I’m not that bad.”
“Not even close.” Valerie’s expression held approval. “We worked on her social skills, and she can hold her own at a party now, but she’ll probably never be entirely comfortable with people-centered activities. Which is okay. After all, I can’t program computers. And if you handed me a brush and canvas and said, ‘Paint something’, I’d panic.”
The reassurance was like…like standing in a warm rain on the beach, feeling it clean the gritty sand away. Natalia sighed. “That’s what Linda keeps telling me.”
What Mistress had been working on with her. “And I know it, but sometimes I forget.”
Especially since Olivia had shoved her out the door, ripping all her hard-won self-confidence to shreds.
Valerie’s smile was rueful. “Don’t we all?”
Linda moved behind the counter. “Let me get you checked out. The store is closing early since we have a moving-in housewarming party to attend.”
Valerie handed over a pair of blue handcrafted earrings and a matching set of Natalia’s paintings where she’d been playing with sunset tones. One showed Spanish moss hanging from a tree. The other was of a delicate blue heron in the wetlands.
“Being in a small apartment, I don’t have much wall space, but these will fit perfectly with what I have,” Valerie said. “They’re beautiful.”
Would she ever get tired of hearing compliments? No, never. “I love trying to capture sunlight and shadows.”
After ringing up the earrings, Linda held them up. “The rich blue is definitely your color.” She gestured toward Valerie’s shirt. “Your embroidery looks almost like Tatreez, but I don’t recognize the designs.”
“Some of the motifs are my own,” Valerie ran a finger down the cross-stitch. “I learned the Palestinian designs when I was growing up, but I wanted designs from my own heritage. Tatreez is one of my meditations.”
“In a way.” Valerie chuckled. “The motifs can tell a story, and I like the way it makes me consider my life as I pick the symbols and colors for what’s happened. What stiches should be repeated or adjacent to something else. When I embroider, I can let the world go and simply focus on that stitch and the related aspect of my life.”
“How awesome,” Natalia breathed.
“Sweetheart, I’ve seen you paint. You do much the same thing,” Linda said, then clapped her hands. “All right—let’s close up and get this show on the road. Valerie, unless you find a really good excuse, you’re coming with us.”
“I…what?”
Natalia nodded. “Yes, you should come. Totally.”
“You can’t just drag a stranger to a party. I mean, yes, maybe to a party, but housewarmings are for friends.”