She peers at me from over her shoulder.
“Thank you for answering my question...for being honest. Can I ask a random question now?”
“I’d prefer random.”
“If you had a friend who was going to lose a great opportunity because of you, what would you do? Would you take it yourself, or step back to let them have it?”
Mom steps toward me. “Echo, no. Whatever it is that you’re thinking, don’t. This spot with Hunter will change your life and your career. Friendships come and go. It’s the way of the business. Shots like this come along once in a lifetime.”
And I have my answer. “Okay. I hear you.”
Mom blows out a long stream of air then releases a forced smile. “Just so you know, in case you contact me again, I prefer conversations other than most of the ones we’ve had this evening. I don’t like talking about what hurts.”
Like she did when I was younger, she tucks a stray curl behind my ear and lightly pats my face. For a second
, I feel like I’m five as she gives me a genuine smile. “Enjoy tonight, Echo. You deserve it.”
As quickly as she swept into my life, she sweeps out. Mrs. Collins is right...locking up the pain has to be the worst way to live.
I blink, and it’s like the evening drops twenty degrees. Goose bumps form on my arms, and I run my hands over them. Mom said she did it wrong. Mom told me not to repeat her mistakes, but then she told me not to abandon the spot. A flood of nausea rolls through me. What am I doing?
With his eyes narrowed on me, Noah pushes off the wall. “Are you okay?”
“I need to talk to Hunter.”
* * *
A thousand handshakes later, one continual plastered-on smile, and a couple of not so forced laughs thanks to Noah, and I survived the evening...with a sold painting. A painting that’s still a work in progress.
Even though I’m dead on my feet, feeling as wound as a spring, and as strong as a jellyfish, I’m giddy. Very, very giddy.
I bounce on my toes, and Noah laughs one more time at me as I say goodbye to the painting of Aires. Its new home, once I’m done, will be in a gallery in New York City.
“Tell me we’ll go visit it,” I say again.
“We’ll go visit it,” Noah appeases me.
Hunter shakes the hands of a lingering couple, tells them goodbye then walks in our direction.
“Do you mind giving us a second?” I ask Noah. His response is a quick peck on my lips, and I watch as he exits to the patio.
I won’t make my mother’s decisions. I’m someone else. I’m who I want to be. And as I admire the painting again, I realize I’m eighteen, and Meredith is twenty-one, and I have a family, and she doesn’t.
“What did you think of the showing?” asks Hunter.
“It was great.” It was. “Is it always like this?”
“Yes. No. You’ve been to smaller shows, but the game is the same when your work is on the line. It’ll get easier with time, but you have to remember that it’s a business, and the smart people know how to play the game. That’s why I like the idea of you taking business courses.”
It’s the reason I like the idea of enrolling in business courses, too.
“I didn’t have time to contact the University of Louisville, but I’m still hoping to see if they’ll allow you to take your business courses online while you study under me for the year.”
My eyebrows lift as I brighten. Here’s something I hadn’t thought of. “You’re not against the idea of long-distance education?”
“No.” His eyebrows pull closer together as he assesses me. “Why would I be? With technology as it is, I don’t see the need for person to person. You can get the same effect online, through Skype, through the phone. There are a million different ways to connect now.”
“So...” Come on, Echo, you can do this. You are a risk-taker. “If, for instance, I wanted to go to college in Louisville, and I wanted to study underneath you for the year, I could do it?”