Snowed In with Her Ex

At that, Winnie leaned in to give him a peck on the cheek, then stood. “Okay, enough with the pep talk. This very special episode of Blossom is over. Now, get out of the living room so I can clean.”

“Thanks, Winnie,” he said with a chuckle. Ian got off the couch and grabbed the neck of his guitar. He carried it with him into his office. Once inside, he stopped, not quite sure why he’d come in here. He didn’t want to open his laptop and get sucked into work. He’d taken today off deliberately. So, then what?

He walked

over to his leather executive chair and settled into it. With the guitar across his lap, he strummed it gently and tried to think about what he wanted to do next. He liked his office. For whatever reason, it had good energy and he was able to come up with great ideas when he worked from this space. Perhaps it would shake out some plans today, too.

What he knew was that he had made a mistake with Bree. A critical one. That was what had trapped him on the couch in a state of suspended activity while he tried to figure out what to do about it. He’d relived it in his mind. How he could’ve changed it. What he could’ve said to make Bree smile instead of going for the jugular when he was pushed.

The drama with Missy couldn’t have been foreseen, but it just as easily could’ve been one of a dozen different emergencies that cropped up from time to time. The truth was that he could’ve handled it better.

Now he found himself in a quandary. If it was anyone but Bree, he would bury himself in his work and forget about her. But doing that would just prove her right. And it would leave him alone with nothing to show for his time with her but an old guitar, a broken heart and a diamond engagement ring.

It seemed crazy to have bought her a ring so quickly, but it didn’t feel quick with Bree. It felt as though they’d been together forever.

Ian opened his nearest desk drawer and reached inside. He pulled out the small velvet box and opened it to look at the ring. The three-carat oval diamond was encircled with a halo of micro-pavé diamonds and set in a platinum band inset with more micro-pavé diamonds. He’d known it was perfect for Bree the moment he saw it. It was elegant yet playful, a ring that would go just as well with a gown as a pair of jeans and sneakers.

It belonged to her, even though he hadn’t given it to her yet. He wanted Bree to have it. And he wanted her to know how much he truly loved her. The problem was that Bree would never feel like she was important. He had to show her how much he cared. How sorry he was about their fight and missing her show. Flashing a diamond wouldn’t be enough. She’d look at that as the same kind of bribes her father had always offered.

But words wouldn’t do, either. Bree had spent her whole life hearing platitudes and excuses from her father and from Ian back when they dated in school. He could promise her the sun, moon and stars, but it wouldn’t mean a damn to her until he handed her a planetary body. Especially after the blowup Sunday night. He’d proved to her that his promises meant nothing, even when he had the best of intentions.

Bree would only believe his actions. So action he would take.

Briana Harper has done what few artists in Nashville have been able to do—capture the heart and soul of a town and its people.

Gretchen held the newspaper in her hand and read Bree’s long-awaited review aloud at the Monday-morning business meeting.

Armed with a camera, she was able to see beyond the rhinestone-studded facade to the indomitable spirit that has long characterized the people and the ideals of Nashville. I predict this is just the beginning of a long and successful career for Ms. Harper.

It had been a week since the showing. The review had been published in the Sunday paper, but Bree hadn’t been able to read it. She’d brought it into the office for someone else to read it first. As it turned out, she had chewed her fingernails to the quick for no reason. The show had been very well received. Apparently the art critic had left before Ian showed up and their shouting match outshined the photography.

Bree’s three business partners applauded, making her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“An excellent show, my dear,” Amelia said. “We should have champagne instead of Starbucks this morning.”

“Champagne at nine in the morning?” Natalie asked, looking mildly scandalized in her sensible black cashmere sweater.

Amelia just shrugged. She wasn’t as bothered by breaking social norms. “Why not? We have a massive stock of wines in the other room.”

“A celebratory latte is just fine. Thank you for picking them up, Natalie.”

“Of course,” Natalie said with a polite smile. “It’s Monday.”

Routines were routines. As such, Bree set aside the newspaper and fired up her tablet. It was time to discuss the Williams wedding and talk about upcoming events. The Williams event had been large and for that, Bree was thankful. She’d been a wreck the first few days after her show and her fight with Ian. The wedding had forced her to pull herself together and focus on the intricacies of her work.

She’d like to return to that focus now. Talking about the show would just make her think of how it had ended. She accepted the folded newspaper from Gretchen and laid it on top of her notebook.

“You don’t seem very happy with your review, Bree.” Amelia was frowning at her.

Bree glanced down at the glowing review and pasted a smile on her face. “Of course I’m happy. I’m thrilled. I couldn’t have asked for a better write-up. The Whitman Gallery has already called and asked to keep the collection on display for another week. This could lead to another, possibly bigger, show. And this review should bring in more business for From This Moment, too. It’s great promotion.”

“We don’t need more business,” Gretchen noted. “We’re booked solid for the next year and a half. We really should’ve scheduled ourselves a vacation or two in there.”

“We get the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve off,” Natalie pointed out.

Gretchen nodded. “I’ll try to remember that the other fifty-one weeks a year.”

“We can take vacations,” Natalie argued. “We just have to stagger them. Amelia is going to her high school reunion soon. You could take time off if you wanted to. We just can’t all go at once.”