Rainshadow Road (Friday Harbor #2)(20)

Let me know if you decide to give it a shot. The application form is attached. I’ve already put in a word for you, and they’re excited about the chance to make something happen.

Best,

Alan Spellman

The chance of a lifetime—a year in New York to study and experiment with glass.

Clicking on a link at the bottom of the e-mail, Lucy glanced over the application requirements—a one-page proposal, a cover letter, and twenty digital images of her work. For one tantalizing moment, she let herself think about it.

A new place … a new beginning.

But the likelihood of being chosen over all the other applicants was so slight that she wondered why she was even bothering.

Who are you, to think you have a chance at this? she asked herself.

But then another thought occurred to her … Who are you, to not at least try?

Seven

“I need to talk to you, Lucy,” her mother had said on the answering machine. “Call me when you get a minute in private. Please don’t put this off, it’s important.”

Despite the urgency in her mother’s voice, Lucy hadn’t yet returned the call. She had no doubt that the message had something to do with Alice, and she wanted just one day of not thinking or talking about her younger sister. Instead she had spent the afternoon packing her latest finished pieces and taking them to a couple of shops in Friday Harbor.

“Wonderful,” Susan Seburg, a shop manager and a friend, exclaimed as she viewed the selection of glass mosaic pieces that Lucy had brought. It was a series of women’s shoes: pumps, high-heeled sandals, wedges, and even a pair of sneakers. They were all made of glass, tile, crystals, and beads. “Oh, I wish I could actually wear them! You know someone’s going to come in and buy the entire set at once. Lately I can’t keep your work on the shelves—it sells as soon as I set it out.”

“That’s good to hear,” Lucy said.

“There’s something so charming and … I don’t know, special … about your recent stuff. A couple of customers are thinking of asking you to do something on commission.”

“That’s great. I can always use the work.”

“Yes, it’s good to stay busy.” Setting down the accent lamp, Susan gave her a compassionate look. “I imagine it helps to keep your mind off what’s happening.” Seeing Lucy’s blank expression, she clarified, “With Kevin Pearson and your sister.”

Lucy dropped her gaze to her phone schedule planner. “You mean the two of them living together?”

“That, and the wedding.”

“Wedding?” Lucy repeated faintly. It seemed as if a sheet of ice had instantly formed beneath her feet. Any direction she tried to go in, she was guaranteed to slip and fall.

Susan’s face changed. “You didn’t know? Shit. I’m sorry, Lucy, I would never have wanted to be the one to tell you.”

“They’re engaged?” Lucy couldn’t believe it. How had Alice managed to convince Kevin to make such a commitment? “I don’t mind the idea of getting married, someday,” he had once told Lucy, “but it’s not something I’d ever rush into. I mean, I’m willing to stay with someone, by choice, for a long time. But how exactly is that different from marriage?”

“It’s a different level,” Lucy had said.

“Maybe. Or maybe it’s just some goal that other people have set for us. Do we really need to buy into that?”

Apparently now he was buying into it. Because of Alice. Did this mean he truly loved her?

It wasn’t that Lucy was jealous. Kevin had cheated on her, and would likely cheat in his future relationships. But the news made her wonder what was wrong with her. Maybe Alice had been right—Lucy was a control freak. Maybe she would drive away any man who was foolish enough to love her.

“I’m sorry,” Susan said again. “Your sister’s been driving around the island with a wedding planner. They’re checking out locations.”

The phone was trembling in her hand. Lucy put it into her bag and attempted a smile that came out as a grimace. “Well,” she said, “now I know why my mother left a message for me this morning.”

“All the color’s gone out of your face. Come to the back with me—I’ve got soft drinks, or I could make some coffee—”

“No. Thanks, Susan, but I’m going to call it a day.” The mass of emotion had begun to separate into layers. Sadness, bewilderment, anger.

“Is there something I can do?” she heard Susan ask.

Lucy shook her head instantly. “I’m fine. I’m really fine.” Readjusting the strap of her bag over her shoulder, she headed to the front door of the shop. She paused as Susan spoke again.

“I don’t know a lot about Kevin, and I know practically nothing about your sister. But from everything I’ve seen and heard so far … they deserve each other. And that’s not a compliment to either of them.”

Lucy’s fingertips found the glass panel of the door, and for a moment there was relief in the contact, the reassuring cool smoothness of it. She sent Susan a brittle smile. “It’s okay. Life goes on.”

Going to her car, Lucy sat and put her key in the ignition. When she turned it, nothing happened. An incredulous laugh broke from her. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, and tried it again. Click-click-click-click. The engine refused to turn over. Since the lights were still working, it couldn’t be the battery.