Colters' Lady (Colters' Legacy #2)(58)

“Lily!”

That was much closer. She frowned. That sounded like Dillon. She reached behind her to rub a kink out of her throbbing back and when she tried to stand, her knees buckled and she plopped back down onto the rock.

“Well hell,” she muttered.

“Lily!”

That one sounded like Michael.

“I’m over here,” she shouted back.

And then remembering the scattered pencils that now lay on the ground, she got off the rock and went to her knees, grabbing at them to stuff in her pockets.

“Lily?”

“Here,” she called again. “Just a minute. I’m coming.”

She was just slapping the art book closed when both Dillon and Michael rounded the corner.

“Where the hell have you been?” Michael demanded. “Everyone’s been worried sick about you.”

Dillon raised a radio to his mouth and said, “We’ve found her. She’s all right.”

She blinked in confusion. “Your mom knew where I was going.”

Dillon frowned in exasperation. “Lily, that was hours ago. You missed lunch.”

“I did?”

Michael raised his hand toward the sky that was now ablaze with pink, purple and golden hues. “You’ve been gone for over six hours.”

“I’m sorry. Really, I am. I had no idea.”

Dillon glanced at the notebook clutched in her arms. “What were you doing?”

“Just passing time,” she murmured. “I wanted to make Callie a surprise.”

Michael cocked his head to the side. “What on earth could you have been doing for Callie that made you lose track of time so that you were gone for six hours?”

She ducked her head and shifted her feet, but when she did, the pencils spilled out of her pocket and tumbled to the ground.

Both Michael and Dillon bent to gather them up and Lily backed up a step, her bottom lip caught firmly between her teeth.

“Lily?” Michael asked softly. “What’s going on? Is everything all right?”

“I was drawing,” she said in a low voice. So low that both men leaned forward to hear. “I wanted to draw Callie’s Meadow for Callie. It’s not much. It’s not very good, but I know she loves it here, and I thought it might cheer her up.”

“Can I see?” Dillon asked cautiously, holding out a hand for the notebook.

She hesitated for a long moment but then handed over the notebook, nausea rising in her stomach. They would hate it. Think it was a waste of time. And she’d worried their mother on top of that. All while doing something frivolous.

Dillon flipped it open with Michael looking over his shoulder and both froze. Their eyes widened in shock and then Dillon glanced over the edge to Lily, his mouth wide open.

“I shouldn’t give it to her, should I?” Lily rushed to say. “I’ll just tear it up. It was a stupid idea anyway.”

“Holy f**k,” Michael breathed.

“Lily, this is amazing,” Dillon said in awe. “Absolutely f**king amazing. You did this? All today?”

She felt like a deer caught in the headlights. She didn’t know what to say so she nodded instead.

Michael took the notebook from Dillon and examined it again, his expression incredulous.

“This is the most beautiful drawing I’ve ever seen,” Michael said. “It looks exactly like the meadow. The colors, the landscape, the trees and the mountains. It’s like looking at a photograph. It’s damn well perfect.”

She flushed until her cheeks burned, and she ducked her head as shyness gripped her.

Dillon tucked his fingers underneath her chin and nudged upward. His eyes were questioning, and anger lurked in the depths. “Why didn’t you want us to know?”

“It’s not very good,” she said lamely. “And you were angry because I worried your mom. Time just got away from me. I tend to do that when I’m drawing. I know it’s silly.”

Dillon placed his hands on her arms and guided her down to sit on the same boulder where she’d sat to draw for so many hours.

“We need to get a few things out in the open here. First of all, you don’t need our permission or approval to do a goddamn thing. If you want to sit around and paint yourself purple, that’s your prerogative.

“Second, you have an amazing talent. The drawing was absolutely brilliant.

“Third, don’t ever sell yourself short or worry that we’re not going to approve. I’m so goddamn proud of you right now I could burst. I can’t even wrap my head around the fact that you came out here and created this spectacular replica of a piece of land that means so much to this family. You thought Callie might like it. Hell, she’s going to die when she sees this. You have no idea what that piece of property means to her—to all of us. She was born there. She was raised there, running hell-bent all over these mountains. And you’ve found a way to encapsulate that so that she can look at it no matter where she is and be at home. Lily, that kind of gift is priceless.”

“Oh,” she breathed.

“Oh? That’s all you can say?” Michael said with a laugh.

“I’m sorry I worried you,” she murmured. “I promised your mom I’d be back for lunch. She probably thinks I’m a complete flake or that I did something stupid like get lost.”