“I thought Italy was on your list of places to visit.”
“I’ve never been to Florence. And I really want to.” A loud crash from outside made her jump. “What was that?”
“Snow sliding off the roof.” He took the wine from her before she could drop it and put it down on the counter. “Are you scared of storms?”
“No. I love storms. The more howling, banging and crashing the better.” Her eyes sparkled. “Especially the banging part.”
He put the white in the fridge and opened the red. “I’ll try to make sure there is plenty of banging.”
“Good. I’ll have to go back to Harbor Stores and tell Mel we’ve run out. That would be fun.”
“You have a wicked sense of humor.”
She reached up and lifted two glasses from the cabinet. “I remember staying with Brittany once in a terrible snowstorm. It took three days to dig ourselves out. Kathleen must have been worried, but to us it was an adventure.”
“I never met Brittany’s grandmother. I wish I had.”
“She was the sort of person who survived everything. A pioneer.” She put the glasses in front of him. “All summer she’d bottle fruit ready for the winter so in January we’d be eating blueberry cobbler and she made the most incredible ginger-topped apple cake. Brittany found her diaries in the summer. A New York publisher is interested in them. I hope it doesn’t bring people flocking here. I know we need a robust tourist industry, but I wouldn’t want it to change the character of the island.”
He poured the wine. “I’m surprised you don’t miss New York.”
“I love New York, but I love this place, too. At some point I will have to go back to the city and put in some studio time, but right now I’m busy thinking.” She pulled vegetables out of the fridge and put them on the counter. “I sent those early designs through to Laurel.”
“How many ideas did you send her?”
“To begin with I gave her three. Not too many. I’ll see what she thinks and we’ll take it from there.”
“At least you know that with ‘Ferrara’ in the name, they’re not going to argue about money.” He put the wine on the counter next to her.
“Yes. It’s funny.” She rinsed the vegetables and picked up a knife. “I know that in businesses these guys—both Cristiano and Nik—are ruthless negotiators, but when it comes to buying something special for the women they love they are marshmallows.”
“You’re envious of that?”
“Of the bottomless bank account? No. Of the depth of love—yes. I’m envious
of that.” Her voice softened and she stared out of the window at the falling snow. She looked down at the vegetables. “This isn’t getting the soup made.”
“How did you meet Lily?”
“Brittany introduced us. She’s a ceramics expert.” She started dicing a carrot. “My collection was inspired by Mediterranean themes and she gave me some great ideas. I spent a few weeks in Greece with her and Brittany.”
“How did you Emily and Brittany become friendly?”
The wind screamed past the cottage, whipping angrily at the snow, but inside the kitchen they were cozy and warm.
“We met on our first day in college. We bonded over our disasters. Brittany had just emerged from her disastrous relationship with Zach, Emily had no one and she was so closed off it was like trying to break into a safe. And then there was me—” she paused to take a sip of wine “—I was in the biggest battle of my life with my parents, who wanted me to go to law school, not art college. It had been a dream for me for so long.”
“Anyone can be a lawyer but not everyone can produce the quality and originality of the pieces you had in your show.” He thought that confining Skylar to law school would be like caging an exotic bird. His admiration for her grew and he lifted his glass. “To dreams.”
She put the knife down and lifted her glass. “To dreams.”
“Were you ever tempted to do what they wanted you to do and choose law?”
“Not once. I knew what I wanted. That’s what kept me going. If I’d had doubts, maybe it would have been different but I knew. You were the same. You listened to those stories your uncle Harry told you and you wanted to be part of it.” Her phone rang and she reached for it in her pocket. “It’s probably Brit.” She glanced at the screen and then saw the number. Her smile vanished like the sun behind a cloud. “It’s my mother.”
The expression on her face made his insides knot. “Leave it.”
“If I leave it, she’ll call again. I’ve been anticipating this call for the past week so I might as well get it over with.”