Savannah slowly nods. “I see.” But it’s an “I see” that’s loaded with all kinds of unsaid questions I’m not going to answer.
We quilt in silence for a few moments before Savannah speaks again. “Tobias is a good man. I know he can be kind of…” She searches for the right word.
“Grumpy?” I provide.
All three of them laugh. Savannah raises a finger. “Maybe passionate is a better word for him.”
“Yes, I can see that,” I say.
“But he loves his brothers fiercely. He’s very protective of them. I should know. I dated his brother for a while.” Savannah looks down at her stitches.
“You dated one of his brothers?” I ask, pretending not to know. “Which one?”
“Noah.” She doesn’t look up from the quilt.
“How long did you date him?” I’m too curious not to ask about it.
“A year. But that was a long time ago.” She smiles and waves away the memory. “It’s old news now.”
“Why did you break up?”
Sadness fills her eyes, and she blinks. “It wasn’t meant to be.”
“Maybe not then, but who knows what the future holds, right Ellie?” Josephine says.
“Exactly.” Ellie smooths out the quilt on her lap. “Time has a way of changing things.”
Savannah forces a smile. “Time won’t change this,” she says quietly. And now I really want to know what happened between her and Noah.
Ellie clears her throat. “Kiki gave me a great idea earlier. She thinks we should get a well-known artist to come to the gallery, and I think I know just the person.”
Josephine looks up from her quilt. “Oh? Who?”
“I’ve been taking an online watercolor class, and the painter who teaches it has been in the news lately. I guess her work is starting to gain recognition. I can email her and ask if she’d be willing to come to our gallery.”
“You paint?” I’m surprised, but I shouldn’t be. She and Josephine opened an art gallery. It only makes sense that they’re into art.
“I do.” She points to the wall. “That’s one of my pieces.”
I look at the mountain range painted in pinks and purples, a sunset in the background. The colors bleed together, but ina pleasing way. “That’s gorgeous. Do you have any in your gallery?”
“Yes, I do. So does Josephine. Her medium of choice is acrylics.”
“I’d love to see them.” I take a sip of my tea. “I could help plan an event to get people interested in the gallery.”
Savannah nods. “I can help, too. My aunt owns the vineyard on the south side of the island. I bet we could get some of her wine and do some kind of wine tasting night at the gallery.”
I get excited. “That’s perfect! And if you can get this artist you know to come, maybe we could do a class on watercolor at the gallery as well. Would there be space for that?”
Josephine grins. “Yes, there’s a large room we can do that in. We’ll just have to bring in tables. What a great idea, and I love the wine tasting, too. A class and a wine tasting would pair up nicely.”
“Another idea could be a photography contest,” Savannah says. “I know a lot of young people on the island who are into photography. That might help draw attention to your gallery for the younger population.”
“Great idea,” Ellie says.
We spend the evening talking about the art gallery and how to get more publicity, and events we can hold there. I grow more excited about helping these ladies, and I can’t wait to tell Tobias about our ideas. For the first time in my life, I feel like I belong somewhere. It feels good, and yet, at the same time, I’m going to have to leave, and I don’t want to think about that.
CHAPTER 17
