A Bridge of Her Own (28 page)

The three of Matt’s largest pieces would be on pedestals spaced out in the center of the room. Jane could see it all laid out in her mind. The gallery itself was on the small side but still in the hip section between
Carytown and downtown. It had a restaurant on one side and a boutique on the other. With polished, dark, thin-planked hard wood floor, and in the entrance area, exposed brick walls gave way to long white walls. It had high ceilings that were a light gray. Phil hoped to advertise an opening in a couple of local papers and online. He also had a mailing list of clients he believed the pieces would speak to that he wanted to invite.

He asked that in the next day or so they prepare their own guest lists since the first evening would be not open to the public. They would each be allowed to invite ten people due to fire code. One big step they each would need to take was deciding how much to sell their pieces for. Jane was nervous and asked if she had to sell all of them.

“How many do you want to keep?” Phil asked.

“Just one,” Jane said, thinking of the bridge from her dream.

“That’s fine,” Phil said, explaining that they would just list that one as not for sale. He asked Matt if there were any of his pieces that he did not want to sell as well.

“Nope,” Matt said, grinning. “I’ll be thrilled if they all sell."

As Jane’s pieces were all the same size, he suggested the oil piece be priced at $400 and the other pieces $350 to $300, with the more colorful priced higher. For Matt’s pieces, he wanted to price the largest ones at $500 and the smallest at $200 depending on size. Jane did the math in her head. That was over a thousand dollars if her pieces sold. Once the meeting was over, she spoke to Matt for a bit.

He worked for a local non-profit and sculpted in his free time. She asked him if he was going to invite Gabe as one of his ten people. He asked if she wanted him to.

“If it’s alright, I would like to invite him,” Jane said.

“Of course,” Matt said. “I think he would like that."

“Alright. Well, don’t tell him you saw me today. Just let him get the invitation in the mail, okay?” She was earnest.

He promised and, after giving her a hug, left. She ran over to her car. Her father was waiting patiently.

“Who was that young man, Janey?”

Jane explained that not only was he the sculptor that she would be exhibiting with, but she actually already knew him. She told her father about Gabe and how they had left things. She also explained that she hoped he could come to the show as one of her guests and maybe it could be a fresh start for them. Her father thought it was a lovely idea and that Gabe sounded like a nice fellow.

Jane thought long and hard over which ten people she would invite. She had five spots after her parents, Gabe, Lacey, and Jack. She would like to invite her boss Mr. Hamilton and his wife Claire since he had been so good to her this whole time. There were two of her former art professors that she would also like to invite. Other than that, she would check with her mother to see if there was anyone else she should ask. She called her mom on the way home and, after talking to her, decided her last invite should go to one of her mother’s girlfriends.

Once home, she emailed her former art teachers and explained what she was doing. They seemed thrilled in their responses and gave her their home addresses for the invitations. She emailed the information to Phil then took a deep breath. This was actually happening. She felt amazed. The show would be two weeks from this Friday. She enlisted Lacey to help her get a great outfit.

They spent that Saturday at the mall going from store to store. Lacey laughed at how stressed out Jane was getting over what she would wear. Jane admitted to not feeling stylish enough to be having a show and being very nervous about what people would think of her. She gravitated towards black dresses but then felt like she was only doing that because that’s what she thought an artist should look like. She felt like a fraud.

Lacey took over at that point, banishing her to a dressing room and bringing her dresses to try on. Nothing felt right. It was winter. She wondered why was every other dress was sleeveless. She was so over having to wear a cardigan all the time. She let Lacey know that, while she did not know what she wanted to wear, she knew she wanted sleeves, short or long.

Lacey returned from her next search and brought Jane six or so dresses. When Jane picked up the Kelly green one, she knew it was it without even trying it on. It was a jersey material wrap style dress. The sleeves were somewhere between short and three quartered length and the skirt hit the top of her knee. She bought some charcoal grey hose and had a pair of black heels that would look amazing with it.

When they got home, Lacey’s invitation was in their mail. After she opened it and read it, it she handed it to Jane. It was so beautiful, she thought. There was a picture of one of her pieces and one of Matt’s. She ran her fingers over the raised lettering of her name. This was unreal.

She thought it odd that she did not hear anything from Gabe. He should have gotten his invitation. Then it hit her. Since both she and Matt were showing, he would assume it was Matt that invited him and not her. What could she do to let him know that she wanted him there? She could not think of anything, so she just let it go. Hopefully, she would see him there and then she could talk to him.

Chapter 32

It was the night of the show before she knew it. She took a half-day at work and went home to get ready. She curled her hair, and it fell in big, soft curls just past her shoulders. She kept her makeup simple and used waterproof mascara because she had a feeling Lacey or her mother might make her cry. Not a sad cry but a happy cry at seeing them proud of her. The show was officially starting at seven that night and was catered.

She arrived early to see the whole place set up and to see if she could help. She wore flats and had her heels ready in the back room with her purse. She saw Matt had also arrived early. He looked really nervous. She felt really nervous but hoped she wasn’t showing it. He came over to say hello and ask if she had talked to Gabe.

"No. When I saw the invitation, I realized he would probably think you invited him,” she replied.

“I thought that as well so, even though you asked me not to, I did speak to him and made it clear that you invited him, not me,” he said, clearly proud of himself.

“Did he sound happy that I was inviting him?” Jane asked, suddenly not caring anymore whether she looked nervous or not.

“He seemed very happy that you asked to be the one to invite him,” Matt replied and then, excusing himself, went to ask Phil something.

Jane felt really nervous. She suddenly wished she had not foregone the idea of a sleeveless dress. She racked her brain, trying to remember if she had reapplied deodorant when she went home to change. It was almost time, she realized, and went into the back room to change her shoes and fan her underarms. There goes all poise, she told herself, and applied some bronze lip gloss. When she walked back into the room, she realized she had never asked Phil how she was supposed to act and what to do if people asked about her work.

She raced to find him and, sensing a panicked artist, he got her a glass of champagne and told her to down it. It tickled her throat going down and, once she finished it, he handed her another glass and told her to sip that one and mingle. He would bring over anyone who mattered. Otherwise, she was free to hang out with her guests. If someone asked her about her work, she was to by all means talk about it but not too long because this was an art show not a term paper. Taking her arm, he led her to the front area of the gallery as guests began to arrive.

Her parents were among the first guests and, after giving her a big hug, her father kissed her on the cheek. Lacey and Jack were not far behind them. Jane wanted to stay near the entrance to make sure she greeted everyone she had invited personally and to see Gabe as soon as he arrived. She watched all of the guests stream in. All the men came in suits and ties and the women in dresses or posh suits.

Phil brought over an architect and his wife. They loved the bridge concept and asked her questions about each one. She was still speaking with them when Gabe arrived. He looked so handsome in his suit and was carrying a bouquet of roses and pink heather. She excused herself and went to him. Nervously, she went to hug him.

“Hey, Jane,” he said warmly. “You look beautiful tonight. These are for you. The florist said the pink heather meant good luck."

“They are beautiful. Thank you so much for the flowers and for coming tonight,” Jane said.

“It’s kinda crazy you and Matt are showing together. When I got the invitation, I didn’t believe it at first. I remember you talking about your love of art, but I did not expect all this,” Gabe replied.

“I’m really not sure if I’m supposed to stay here or if I can walk around yet,” she confessed looking around for Matt. Catching her intent, Gabe said, “Let me find Matt and I’ll have him ask."

He leaned in and kissed her cheek, then was gone.

She stood there with a dreamy smile on her face until he returned with Matt, who was also brought Adam.

“Looks like we are free to walk around,” Matt said.

“Do you want me to get you water for those?” Adam asked, gesturing towards her flowers.

Jane nodded, and Adam went off to get a vase. She hung out with Matt and Gabe until he came back. When he did, she set them up on a table. Together, Jane and Gabe moved from piece to piece.

Taking his hand, Jane said, “I still really like you, but after everything that happened these past few months, I felt like I wasn’t sure I liked me. Taking the time to do this made me feel grounded. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me that you were cool about it."

“I gotta be honest. It was rough. Part of me was pretty sure you were just going to bail, but I really hoped you weren’t,” Gabe said, leaning in to give her a kiss.

This felt so right, she thought putting her arms around his neck. She didn’t even care that they were in a room full of people until she remembered that her parents were also here.

Pulling back, she said, “So, my parents are here, and I’ve told them about you. Can I introduce you to them?”

“Sure,” Gabe said, taking her hand.

Lacey and Jack were talking to her parents when they walked up. Jane was about to introduce him when she was called to the center of the room with Matt to be presented to the attendees. They stood there as they were applauded. Once that was complete, Jane hurried back over to them. Gabe was talking to Lacey, and they were all standing by the Nickel Bridge drawing Jane had dreamed of. Phil had placed a sold sign on it before the show had started. After introducing Gabe to her parents, Jane had time to watch everyone look at her work. Phil came over excitedly to tell her two of her paintings had already sold. He then hurried away to speak to another patron.

“It’s too bad this one has already sold,” Gabe said, motioning towards the bridge from her dream. “It’s my favorite."

“Mine too, and it’s not really sold,” Jane smiled. “This one is staying with me."

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Acknowledgments

I want to thank everyone who helped and encouraged me along this journey. To Summer, Deena, Mary, Chrissy, Lisa, Judy, and Rachel who were some of my earliest readers. To Kate Dixon, I not only stole your last name for a character, but also cannot thank you enough for your advice. To my mom, who was my very first reader/cheerleader/bug killer (a moment of silence for the bug she squished on page 158 of my first printed draft). To Heather Markman at Traveler's Playground Press for everything, and wine. To Jamie Tibbs, who was always available for me to vent to about my completely made up people. Our daily walks helped inspire me to complete this endeavor more than you will ever know. To my Amazeballs cover designer Sarah Hansen, you have a gift. To my editor Yesenia Vargas, who can not only translate my gibberish into coherent English but still loves me even though I am punctuationally challenged. Lastly, to my husband and children for their love and support.

About the Author

Carey Heywood lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, three children, and nine-pound attack
Yorkie. In her spare time, she transports her children from one extra-curricular activity to another while maintaining her day job in the world of finance. Right now, she is probably eating Swedish Fish.

Summary

It has been said that the hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn. Jane Martin thinks she has it all figured out. She has just graduated from college and is expecting a proposal from her perfect boyfriend, Wyatt. What happens when all of this goes away? Finally finding her feet again, she meets Gabe. Everything seems great until Wyatt comes back into her life unexpectedly. What will she do?

Coming Soon

Uninvolved by Carey Heywood

What happens when two commitment-phobes fall for each other?