“I need to find a job regardless of why I’m staying. If I rent my apartment in Seattle, it will cover most of my mortgage. But I still need money to live on while I’m here.”
“What sort of job do you want?”
“I’m happy to do anything. If you hear of any vacancies, let me know.”
“I need help with the registrations for the art program. It doesn’t pay anything, but it would keep you busy until you find something else.”
“When would you need me to start?”
“Today?”
“Do you want me to come to the meeting with you?”
Wyatt nodded. “Only if you have the time. I could fill you in afterward if that’s easier.”
Apart from cleaning out her grandma’s attic, she had nothing else planned. “Okay, but I’ll need to let Barbara and Diana know what I’m doing. Are you walking back to your house?”
Wyatt nodded. “Do you have time for a quick cup of coffee? I could tell you a little more about the project.” He smiled when she didn’t immediately reply. “If we’re going to be neighbors and work colleagues, I’d better make an effort to be nice.”
Making an effort was totally unnecessary. Each time she saw Wyatt a tingle of awareness skittered along her spine. After her terrible dating track record, she’d given up on ever finding anyone who made her want to know more about him. But her new neighbor intrigued her.
“I’ll come for coffee if you show me some of your paintings.” She was surprised when he hesitated. It never occurred to her that he wouldn’t want anyone seeing them. Maybe he had some kind of superstition about people looking at the paintings before they were finished.
“It’s okay if you don’t want me to see them.”
“I’m not sure they’re worth seeing at the moment. Only one is finished. The others are in various stages of development.”
“That sounds like something I’d say. For someone with a creative brain, you have a very analytical way of looking at the world.”
“My parents had something to do with that.” Wyatt walked toward his house. “Because we traveled around so much when I was younger, I had to be more organized and independent than most children. At the time, I hated it, but it taught me some valuable life lessons.”
Penny wondered if moving around had also had some negative effects on his life. She’d moved from city to city for more than eight years, searching for the perfect job. Making friends and creating a life for herself outside of work seemed futile. But when you spent a lot of time at work, it was too easy to become lonely.
“When did you start painting?”
“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a paintbrush in my hand. I sold my first painting when I was fourteen and had my first exhibition when I was seventeen. Since then, it’s all I’ve wanted to do.”
Wyatt opened his back door and Penny stepped into the high-ceilinged mudroom. She slipped off her sneakers and looked through to the kitchen. White, glossy cabinets sat beneath a sparkling quartz countertop. Silver appliances and gorgeous pendant lights completed a kitchen most people would adore. “You were lucky to find this rental. There aren’t too many in Sapphire Bay, especially homes that look like this.”
“My friend Ethan called me as soon as the property became available. It’s a little large for me, but it’s perfect for painting. There’s lots of natural light and plenty of room to spread out.” Wyatt turned on the coffeepot. “I’ll show you my paintings before I make us a hot drink.”
Penny enjoyed walking through the house. From the street, the two-story building looked like a standard, modern home with a plaster exterior and large windows. But whoever owned it had spent a lot of time and effort taking it from an ordinary house to something special.
The wooden floors, gorgeous floor-length curtains, and beautiful furniture made it feel like a wonderful family home. “How long are you staying here?”
Wyatt opened a door at the far end of the hallway. “My rental agreement is for another two months, but I can extend the contract.”
An unexpected lump formed in her throat. When it was time for him to leave, she’d miss seeing Wyatt on the trail around the lake, or taking muffins and cookies across to him most days. “Do you think you’ll stay here for longer?”
“I’m not sure.” Clearing his throat, he waved her into his studio. “Welcome to my world.”
If Penny didn’t know better, she would have thought he was nervous. Cautiously, she stepped inside the room. Enormous windows filled one wall, sending sunlight cascading across the room. Temporary shelving ran along another wall, holding all kinds of interesting-looking things.
“I bought the shelving from your parents’ store after I moved here. It keeps everything in one place.”
Penny walked across to a large canvas sitting on an easel. Soothing strokes of blue and green washed across a lake. Shadows from the towering mountain range cocooned the landscape in a deep and dramatic embrace, drawing her into the scene.
“This is amazing. I feel as though I’m standing on the edge of the water, waiting for something incredible to happen.”
Wyatt sighed. “That’s good. The painting’s called Anticipation. I should finish it in a couple of days.”
Penny studied another painting propped on a different easel. This time, the colors were rich and golden. A corn field stretched into forever, bending gently against a breeze that only her imagination could see. “I can almost feel the wind drifting across the field. How do you do that?”
“Practice.”
Her eyebrows rose as she looked at Wyatt. He was as deep and mysterious as the lake he’d created in the first painting. “I could practice for eight hours every day and I’d never be as good as you.”
“Everyone has things they’re good at. For me, it’s painting.”
Tilting her head to the side, she tried to work out if he was being modest or simply saw his gift as nothing unusual. “I sold a lot of
