why you’ve been hiding such great talent all these years,” Josh added.
Oh, Josh, I didn’t hide it. It was stolen from me, but I’m finding it every day now, thanks to everyone here in this trailer park.
“When are you going to do another one? Leo comes Wednesday. Think you could have one more done by then?”
“I didn’t even notice the MM down there in the spines of the cactus,” Sophie said. “Nice touch, Em.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Y’all did miss one tiny detail, though. And I plan to put something like that in every painting I do to give it life.”
“What is it?” Josh leaned closer to the painting. “I was right there with you . . .” He smiled. “I see it.”
“What?” Sophie bumped Josh’s forehead with her nose, trying to get a closer look.
“Right there.” Emma pointed. “If you look close, I embedded a tiny cactus spine into the paint.”
“Perfect!” Filly clapped her hands. “But what is that symbolic of? Buyers will want to know.”
“That life has thorns, but there’s hope in each new day.” Emma had been through the briar patch for more than a decade, but now she was smelling the flowers. Hopefully, someday she would be able to forget all the pain of the thorns and wouldn’t even remember the rape.
Filly nodded and smiled. “That’s powerful. You do realize that this place is your muse, don’t you? You should consider staying right here with us forever. If Josh won’t let you rent a trailer permanently, you can live with me when Sophie leaves us.”
“Thank you, and I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather live than here,” Emma said. “There’s no telling where we’ll all be in another few weeks, but right now, this minute, I would love to stay right here. My mother threatened to lock me up forever, but now that I’m thinking clearly, I know that it was just something she was using to control me. I’m an adult, and I had to sign myself into the last few places where she thought I could get treatment.”
“Well, the offer has no time limit,” Filly said. “Which reminds me . . .” She pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to Emma. “With this necklace, I christen you a bona fide flower child, just like me.”
Emma slipped the necklace over her head. The soft leather with small feathers attached felt like silk, or even freedom, against her bare skin. The flat rock with a picture of a rose painted on it hung down between her breasts. She felt like she had just been given the Hope diamond.
“I love it,” Emma whispered.
“I’m making matching earrings, but they aren’t finished yet. Every real hippie needs dangling earrings,” Filly told her.
“I’ll wear both them and this necklace with pride.” Emma smiled.
“Good,” Filly said. “Now, let’s finish up these eggs so Arty can hide them. What’s your favorite memory of Easter, Em? Hunting eggs? Getting a new dress?”
“My folks are CEO Christians. That means Christmas and Easter only.” Emma toyed with the necklace. “Mother picked out an outfit for me to wear to church on those occasions, and I never did like it, so getting a new dress wasn’t a good memory.”
“Why didn’t you like it?” Filly asked.
“They were always so stiff and fit so tight, and the shoes hurt my feet,” Emma answered. “I would rather have had something like I’m wearing now. New shoes nearly always made blisters on my heels, and I couldn’t wait to get home and take them off. The only time I ever hunted eggs was when Sophie’s mama let us decorate them with crayons and watercolors and then hid them for us. That would have to be my favorite memory.”
Arty chuckled. “I love that about being a CEO. That’s what most folks probably are. I grew up in a big family. Twelve kids in all, and I was the baby of the whole bunch. They’re all gone now, but on Easter, my mama would boil dozens of eggs, and we’d color them. Daddy would hide them for us out in the pasture. But my favorite memory is the last year she was alive, when she let me help her make the family dinner. We had ham and baked beans, and she even showed me how to make her hot rolls. How about you two?” He nodded toward Josh and Sophie.
“Mine’s the same as Em’s.” Sophie smiled.
“Easter was just another day before I moved here,” Josh answered. “I do remember