had more work than he did. He had no idea what everything was, but he saw her organized and efficient methods. Everything appeared to be in its place.
She’d spent so much time with he and Emma. He had no idea how many late nights she must have put in, allowing her the time to spend with them. She never told Emma she didn’t have time for something. She always made the time.
Two easels were set up by the windows and a long table with tubes and jars of paint. Brushes and sponges and all kinds of tools he didn’t recognize stood in jars and lay about the workspace. He stepped around the easels and looked at the paintings she’d been working on.
The first painting caught him by surprise. The garden bench they’d made love on in the rain. The painting captured her sadness. The garden and the night were all done in grays and dark blues. The moon peeked through the gloomy clouds highlighting the bench and the sparkle of the rain. The bench appeared lonely and isolated, cast in shadow, in the center of the lush garden, rain pouring down. The life and vibrancy of the garden had been sucked away by the loneliness and emptiness of the bench.
He felt ill. He’d ruined that night and left her feeling this way.
The other painting had a cloth draped over it, a piece of paper attached with his name scrawled in Marti’s script.
He opened the folded sheet.
I thought you might find your way in here. This painting is for you, my love. It’s your wish come true, at least on canvas. It’s the best I could do to give you a memory to heal your pain.
Love, Marti
He pulled the cloth back from the painting and took a step back, stunned.
The painting showed Caroline holding Emma as a baby. He had no idea how she had done the painting. He looked around on the table of paints and saw some photos from Emma’s baby book. Marti must have used them to make the painting.
Caroline held Emma, her beautiful face turned down to Emma’s. Caroline wore a white gown and her hair spilled over her shoulder like a curtain behind baby Emma. As you looked out from the center, the painting blurred into white clouds or mist. Like a scene from a dream.
She’d given him his greatest wish. He’d always wanted to see Caroline holding her baby. It was something she’d never gotten to do, but Marti had created the moment so perfectly he imagined this was exactly what they would have looked like together.
She’d helped him heal by giving his daughter her mother to watch over her while she slept. He’d used the mural to let go of his pain. She’d furthered his healing by giving him his greatest wish.
It was his turn to heal some of the hurt he’d caused her.
He took the painting of Caroline and Emma and went down the hall to Emma’s room. The “Princess Party” painting already hung on the wall where Marti had left a space when she’d done the room. He hung the picture of Caroline and Emma on the other hook. Marti had thought of everything.
Everyone walked into Emma’s room and found Cameron staring at the paintings in their spots on the wall. Sam, Elizabeth, Jack, Jenna, and Emma all stared up at the paintings with him.
“Oh, Cameron. They’re perfect.”
“They’re Emma’s mothers,” he said and glanced down at his daughter. “She painted you your mothers. Marti is the mother you want, isn’t she?”
“Oh, yes. I want that more than anything, Daddy.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to make it come true for you and me. I’m sorry I didn’t make it happen sooner.”
Emma ran to her father and jumped into his arms and hugged him tight. “It’s all right. Marti said it would all work out.”
“She did?”
“Yes. She always tells the truth.”
“Yes, she does.”
Shelly came into the room. Her gaze went to the paintings. “It’s not a very good likeness of me. How does she know what the baby will look like?”
Everyone had been calling him stupid. “The painting is of Emma and her mother, Caroline.”
“Oh. Why is everyone here so early? No one is dressed for the wedding. Oh my God, Cameron, you can’t see me today, not until the wedding.” Shelly turned and started for the door.
Cameron handed Emma over to her Uncle Jack.
“Everyone, will you excuse us?” He grabbed Shelly’s arm and led her down the hall and into Marti’s