If I Didn't Know Better (The Callaways #9)(37)

After leaving the shop, she decided to take the long way back to the car. She wanted to see more of the town. She remembered some of the stores from her summer visits, but there were also quite a few new businesses. As Kara had said, Angel's Bay was growing, and it was clear it had become a tourist destination. The sidewalks were crowded with people checking out antiques shops, sipping coffee and iced drinks at outdoor cafés, and visiting one of the many clothing stores that offered options from everything to high-end evening wear and bridal attire to whimsical dresses and ocean resort clothing.

"I like this town," she said to Ashlyn. "What about you?"

"Are there really angels here?" Ashlyn asked, as they paused in front of a hand-blown glass shop with dozens of glass angels in the window.

"There are definitely those kinds of angels," she replied, looking at the display.

"I mean the real kind. Like my mommy."

Mia squatted down so she was face-to-face with Ashlyn. "I think the angels are everywhere. They watch over us and protect us, and we can feel them even if we can't see them. And do you know what they feel like?"

Ashlyn stared back at her, doubt in her eyes.

"They feel like love. Look up at the sky."

Ashlyn reluctantly lifted her gaze to the cloudless blue panorama.

"Do you feel the heat on your face? That's love. That's coming from the heavens."

The little girl drew in a breath and then let it out and then looked back at Mia. "Mommy liked the sun. She didn't like when it rained. Or when it was dark."

"I like the sun, too, but I don’t mind the rain. It's not just the sun that makes me feel love: it's everything in this world: the moon, the stars, the trees, the flowers, but mostly the people. Love is everywhere, Ashlyn. You just have to open up your heart to it. Then you'll feel everything that's important, including the angels."

As she spoke, Mia thought it might be a good idea for her to take her own advice. She'd closed her heart down after Grayson. She'd told herself she'd rather be alone than make another painful mistake, than get hurt again, but she couldn't let Grayson ruin the rest of her life. She couldn't let him turn her into a cold person who only felt the chill of life and never the warmth.

She stood up and smiled at Ashlyn. "I think we should buy one of these angels to remind us, don't you?"

Ashlyn gave a vigorous nod, and they walked into the store.

"Be careful not to knock anything over," she warned. "Everything is very breakable."

The glass was amazingly beautiful, intricate designs of animals and angels, flowers and tiny glass houses. As they walked to the back of the store, they stepped onto a platform and watched the glassmaker blow the glass into shape.

Ashlyn was entranced by the old man's work and couldn't take her eyes off the glowing fire.

A woman came up next to them. "That’s my father," she said with a smile. "He's been blowing glass since he was ten years old. He's almost eighty now, but he's only gotten better."

"He's amazing. He did everything in this store?" Mia asked.

"I helped as well. I'm Shannon Kelly. My father is Frank Kelly. He learned the craft from his father and his grandfather, and he's passed it through the family."

"The work is beautiful. We'd like to get an angel."

"We have lots of those," Shannon said with a laugh, leading them across the room. "Which one do you like?"

"You pick, Ashlyn."

Ashlyn took the suggestion quite seriously, taking a few moments before settling on a small glass angel with a flowing dress.

"Perfect," she said approvingly.

Shannon carefully placed the angel in a box pillowed with tissue paper. "Here you go. I hope you'll come back some time."

"I'm sure we will," Mia said.

"Are you locals or tourists?"

"Somewhere in between," Mia said with a laugh. "We're here for a few weeks anyway."

"You'll love this town. It's a little piece of heaven on earth."

"I'm beginning to think so."

After leaving the glass shop, they cut down a side street on their way back to the car, but once again Mia got derailed when she saw the sign for the Eckhart Gallery, the one Kara had told her about.

"Let's stop here," she said. "I want to see if they might be interested in my aunt's collection of paintings."

They walked through a beautiful arched doorway into a gorgeous space of hardwood floors, ten-foot arched windows that brought in a great deal of natural light and white walls that served as a background for some really excellent paintings. An older man dressed in a black suit looked up from the mahogany counter that he stood behind and peered at her and Ashlyn through his thick-framed glasses.

He didn't look particularly happy to see a child in the gallery. "Please tell her not to touch anything," he said, without bothering to greet them first.

"She won't," Mia said.

"Children always have sticky little fingers," he said with disdain. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Judging by his snobbish manner, she doubted he would be at all interested in helping her, but Kara had mentioned something about a relationship between the owner and her aunt. "I was wondering if Mrs. Eckhart is in today."