Page 109 of Pining for Pierce
“I’ve always done them from photographs, babe, but that’s not ideal. It’s not realistic, and if I really wanna make a go of this, I need to get out there and find myself some coastlines to paint.”
“I—I don’t understand,” Harley says, leaning back slightly.
Rob sits forward, catching her attention, and she turns to him. “I think what Pierce is trying to say is that he’ll need to leave town.”
Harley flips her head back around, looking at me. “Leave?”
“Yes.” I nod my head, holding on to her. “I’ll need to travel around… maybe use some of the money I get from the exhibition in Concord to get an RV or something, so I can keep moving, finding fresh places to paint. And I’ll obviously have to go to New York and Seattle for the exhibitions.”
“You make it sound like you’re not c—coming back,” she says, her voice cracking.
“I’m not even going. Not unless you agree to come with me.” She gasps, clamping her hand over her mouth. “I haven’t committed to this yet, Harley. I told them I had to talk it through with you first, and that I’d call them back.”
“You said that to them?”
“Of course. I won’t do this unless you’re with me.”
She sucks in a breath, licking her lips and frowning. “But everything we know is here,” she says, glancing around the room, as though this is still her home… which I thought we’dagreed it wasn’t. Her eyes settle on her mom and dad, and I wonder if I’m fighting a losing battle.
“I get that,” I say. “Your parents are here, and being close to them means the world to you. It makes perfect sense that you’d wanna stay here.”
“It makes perfect sense that you’d wanna stay here, too, doesn’t it? Your dad lives here, and you’ve got memories, and…”
“He came into the store earlier,” I say, remembering she knows nothing about that yet.
“Your dad?”
“Yeah. Brady had accidentally let slip about the accident, and Dad wanted to talk… to tell me he was proud of me.”
“He said that?”
“Yeah. We kinda made up.”
“But that’s even more reason for you to stay, isn’t it?”
“Not necessarily. I’ve told him I won’t be a stranger.”
“But how can you say that if you’re thinking of leaving? You’ve just said you’ll have to keep moving, painting, going to exhibitions…”
“I know. But we’ll still come back to visit, as often as we can. Dad gets it now. He realizes this is what I want.”
“I see,” she says, nodding her head and glancing at her parents, maybe wondering if they get it, too. “This is what you want, is it?”
“It is. This is like a dream come true for me. I’m not gonna deny that.”
“And you’ve always said you wouldn’t sacrifice your dreams for anyone.”
“I have.” I smile at her, recalling how many times we’ve talked that through over the years. “But the thing is, babe… I love you so much more than any dream.”
“I love you, too.”
“I know. And that means I’d sacrifice everything – including my dreams – to be with you. So, if this is something you can’t do, then I’ll decline the offer and we’ll stay.”
“And you’ll spend the rest of our lives resenting me?”
I smile, cupping her cheek with my hand. “I like that.”
“What?”
