Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
They sat in the grass and let their legs drop over the edge of the seawall. Even if they were to fall, it wouldn’t be very far, but it could hurt. There was some wet sand, but the rest of the area was jagged rock.
“Spill,” Ciara said. “We know something’s up.”
“How?” Kiel asked.
“We can sense shit,” Skyla added.
“It’s Eloise,” Ciara said. “What happened?” She bumped her shoulder into Kiel’s.
Kiel picked at the lid of his coffee. “Nothing, really. She needs to work, and I was in the way.”
“Really? She said that?” Skyla asked.
Kiel shrugged. “Not in so many words.” He grabbed a handful of grass and threw it into the air. “She explained what it’s like for her sometimes, so I get it. It still sucks though because when I mentioned seeing her tomorrow, she didn’t answer me.”
“What did she say exactly?” Skyla asked.
As if word for word would change anything. “Just that she’s behind on her work and she needs to work at the gallery for her aunt. That the showcase at the end of the summer is really important.”
“And you’re torn up inside . . . why?” Ciara asked.
“It’s not that I’m torn up,” he said. “I knew she was busy, and she put things aside for me. I’m mad at myself. When she told me she couldn’t see me for a few days and why, I felt selfish. I didn’t put her first. I’m the one on vacation. Not her.” He threw more grass over the cliff, only with the wind it didn’t go anywhere. “She was a nice escape from reality.”
“I’m confused,” Skyla said. “You’ve spent a lot of the daytime with us. Wasn’t she working then?”
Kiel nodded. “Yep, she was. But for someone like her, she works non-stop until her pieces are done. Eloise told me her grandfather used to shut himself in for days until he finished his project and she said she’s like that sometimes too.”
“Painting sounds like a sickness,” Ciara said.
“It may be, but she’s fucking talented. I never appreciated art until I met her.” The night she painted his body flashed into his mind and he smiled. He had never done anything like that with anyone and it was the most sensual and erotic moment of his life.
“What’s so funny?” Skyla asked. Of course, she had noticed.
“Nothing,” he said as he sighed.
The three of them sat there for a bit, listening to the rough waves crash into the rocks. No one surfed or even swam where they were. Most people came out there to sit or fish. The water on Ocean Side Drive was treacherous.
Dangerous.
But the view was breathtaking.
seventeen
Exhausted.
That’s how Eloise felt, but sleep could wait and if it wasn’t for her aunt, she’d probably starve to death. Margaux made sure Eloise had food in her apartment, most of it ready to eat, grab and go stuff so she didn’t have to prepare anything. She at least knew her niece wouldn’t stop working until everything was perfect.
Eloise stood, stretched, and absentmindedly put her paint brush in her hair. Thankfully, it was the wooden end and not the brush part, which was covered in paint. Although, at this point, what would a little more paint do to her. She hadn’t looked at herself in the mirror in days and probably had multicolored hair by now, and she was in desperate need of a shower.
She stepped forward and added some shadowing to the design in front of her. She wasn’t sure if her aunt would approve of the painting and if she didn’t, Eloise would be fine with it. Margaux told Eloise she had a painting in the showcase. She just didn’t know which one. It would be a surprise. The painting before her now was more for her anyway, something to remember the summer by.
As she stood there, admiring her work, she decided she’d keep this one. The design was personal, and it meant something only she’d understand. Before her, on the canvas a shirtless Kiel looked at her, the artist, over his shoulder while she painted his back. This reminded Eloise of their first night together; they bonded in a way she hadn’t with anyone else and didn’t want to let him go. She would though because that’s what they were destined for—not this life—but another. She missed him and regretted how the past month had been. If she ever expected to have a meaningful relationship with him or anyone for that matter, Eloise had to figure out how to balance work and life. More than anything, being with Kiel had inspired her in ways she didn’t know existed.
He was, without a doubt, her muse.
Eloise was confident they’d meet again. In another summer. In another place. She hadn’t decided if she’d stay in Seaport and with Kiel leaving at the end of the summer, why should she stay. The busy season would be over. She could travel, go back to painting tourists to make ends meet. Return in the summer to help her aunt. There were options. In a roundabout way, Kiel had opened her mind to them. He didn’t know what he wanted to do either. To her, they were two lost souls torn between doing what their parents wanted and expected and what they, as individuals, wanted. The only issue, Eloise had no idea.