When I'm with You (Hope Town #3)(23)
“Good. You can drive me to the vet when they open later this morning so I can have Bam checked out.”
She makes a sound of annoyance and throws up her hands. “So you’ll check on your dog but not yourself?”
I nod, pulling my top down and looking back at where Bam is licking his back leg with slow swipes of his tongue. He looks up, his eyes trusting, and I give him a smile.
“Yup.”
AS MUCH AS I LOVE Nikki, I’m going to kill her in about three seconds. She’s refused to leave my side, being a constant shadow since my early morning phone call a day and a half ago.
Annoying, smothering, and overwhelming with her mothering.
“Nik, you need to go home. I need to get started on my final piece for the exhibit before everyone comes over for the big secret plans tonight.”
She looks at me with determination and maybe even a little uncertainty concerning leaving me alone. Even though I’ve been fine, save the little headache that is just finally receding.
“I’m fine, Nik!”
Bam barks at my outburst, and I smile at him. He’s still limping slightly when he moves around, but the vet assured me that he just had a nasty bruise.
“You aren’t fine, Emberlyn. You hardly have any energy.”
I huff out a growl type noise and place both my hands on my hips before giving her a look that clearly shows my losing battle with patience. “I would have plenty of damn energy if you weren’t still here waking me up every hour to make me recite my name, alphabet, and the presidents’ names in order of office term!”
She has the decency to look sheepish, but before she can voice some sort of comeback, I continue.
“And I should add I wouldn’t ever be able to tell you the presidents’ names in order of office term without freaking Google! So your argument that I must surely have brain damage because I couldn’t complete your asinine tasks is just ludicrous. I’m fine, but I need a nap to make up for my lack of sleep, Nik. Especially since you guys are still set on me going out to party tonight.”
“They weren’t asinine! You know damn well that I know what I’m talking about. You don’t just forget first-aid training.”
I narrow my eyes. “First-aid training that you got when you were twelve in 4-H!” I scream.
“Well, it still makes me more qualified than you are to make that decision, now doesn’t it.”
“I’m going to kick your ass if you don’t go home.”
She smirks before picking up the nail file she had been using and continued to shape her nails. “No, you won’t.”
My hands fly in the air, and I toss my head back to let out another groan.
“I’m going to go back and work. You need to go home so that I can finish in peace, get a nap for a few hours without you waking me up, and come back tonight with everyone else.”
I turn from where she is sitting at the kitchen table and walk to my studio. The second my feet touch down on the white floor, I let out a calming breath, instantly feeling at home.
Looking at the clock hanging over the doorway, I make a note of how much time I have before I need to stop. Since the sun has just now touched the top of the trees, I know I have a good five hours before I need to stop. My sister told me earlier, through text, that they would now be over to my house around six tonight with dinner before starting our prep to go out.
I turn on my music before setting my timer for just after lunch. I go about getting all my paint and brushes set out in front of the huge canvas that is bigger than I am tall. The curator of the gallery where my exhibit is being housed didn’t even bat an eye when I asked her if I could change the featured piece at the last minute. The idea came to me last night during one of the rare moments Nikki let me sleep, and I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
The first thing I did, before calling her, was go through the blank canvases that are stored in my guest room to find the one. I remember when I bought the six-foot-by-four-foot canvas; I never thought I would find something to put on it, until last night.
Placing the canvas so that it’s horizontal on my easel, having to adjust the custom-made brackets in order to hold the monster, I instantly pick up my brush and drop it into the gray paint.
It isn’t long before the music, my mind, and my arm against the canvas are synced together in a beautiful dance. Each stroke is made without thought; each dip into the paint is made without looking away from the swirling arches and twists of black, gray, and white paint.
Never have I created something that wasn’t full of color, full of life. All of my paintings are known for being vibrant and as lifelike as a picture. But not this one. This one is as abstract as it gets.
My timer goes off, and I step back to look at the work that has held me captive for the last five hours. I take a deep breath and move from one side of the canvas to the other, taking in the unfinished work. I’m surprised that I managed to get as much as I had done today, but really, I shouldn’t be. It’s been a long time since I was that captive in my zone.
I make quick work of cleaning up my supplies and moving the unused paint mixtures to the pods that will keep them fresh until I can return to my work tomorrow. I ignore the grumble in my stomach as I drop down on the couch with a heavy sigh and give in to the exhaustion that I’ve been pushing off.
My dreams are full of the black, gray, and white world I just knew would be my best piece of art to date.