Sweet Serendipity (22 page)

She carefully slipped into the dress. It flowed to her ankles in a flared skirt. She loved the keyhole detail with rosette on the front and back neckline. The ruched bodice clung to her body and gave her thin frame the curves she’d always longed to have. Since the dress was a halter style, she pulled out a black lacy scarf that doubled as a shrug. She placed her feet into her very uncomfortable but fashionable healed, strappy, black, toeless shoes and made her way to the kitchen.

Tasha leaned over the kitchen island, giggling like a school girl at something Micah had just finished telling her. Tasha stopped and whistled at Rebecca.

“Wow, girlfriend, that dress was a definite hidden treasure. Wow! I cannot believe you’ve kept that hidden from me.” She winked at Rebecca.

Rebecca twirled and looked back with puppy dog eyes.

“Is it too much? I have something else not quite to elaborate.”

“I will kill you if you change. You are stunning.” She reached her arm through Micah’s arm and smiled at her best friend.

“This is Micah. Micah, this is my sista from another mista, Becca.”

Micah took Rebecca’s hand.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Becca. She talks about you constantly.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Micah. I’ve heard some wonderful things about you, too.”

“Well, now that that is out of the way can we finally make an appearance at this thing?”

Tasha picked up her clutch bag and practically forced Rebecca out the door before she could change her mind. Micah held the door open for the ladies, which made Rebecca smile at her friend. “I believe you found a keeper, Tash.”

Tasha smiled like Rebeeca hadn’t seen in a long time.

“I think you may be right. It’s strange how things work out sometimes. I never would have stepped foot in a place like the healing center if I hadn’t gotten sick, but it has changed my life in more ways than one. I’m going to be taking some classes from the owner himself. I want to learn everything I can about it. It is positively life altering, and so is Micah.”

Rebecca leaned back in the seat. She was happy that her friend had found something to believe in. She could see the change in her, and she couldn’t help but see the sparkle that Tasha now had in her eyes. She had honestly thought Tasha wouldn’t have had the opportunity to shine like that again. She placed her hand over her stomach. She had her own butterflies flying rampantly in her own stomach. This was the night she was going to tell Ethan that he was right about everything, and if it wasn’t too late, she promised she’d tell him how she felt about him.

Micah pulled up in front of the gallery, and a valet approached them. Tasha happily got out of the car and smiled.

“Nice! I don’t think I’ve ever been to an event where there was valet parking.”

The valet heard her and smiled.

“They rented out a public parking lot down the road for this event.”

Tasha put one arm through Rebecca’s and the other through Micah’s as the three of them walked in together.

The gallery was filled wall to wall with people. She noticed many of the guests pointing to paintings on the wall as they held champagne flutes in their hands. A woman holding a clipboard approached them.

“Hello, folks. Welcome to E.R. Art Concepts. Do you have an invitation?”

Rebecca pulled out her invite and told the woman her name. The woman scanned the list and stopped when she came across Rebecca’s name. She tapped the page and grinned at her.

“Well, we weren’t sure if you were going to come this evening. Mr. Roberts will be pleased; if you’ll excuse me, it is now time to open the exhibit.

Rebecca looked at Tasha.

“Open
his
exhibit?” she asked questioningly.

Tasha shrugged her shoulders. An excited shriek came from across the room. Emily and James made their way through the crowd and Emily flung her arms around both Rebecca and Tasha. Rebecca giggled.

“Have you had a few glasses of champagne already?”

Emily swiped her hand in front of her.

“Phewy, it’s a party. It’s like our first adult party. How freaking great is this? It’s so artsy. I feel so stupid saying it aloud; thirty five and we’ve never done anything so
adult
.”

Her words were slightly slurred as she spoke. She turned to Rebecca and looked her up and down.

“Oh, wow, Becca. You are totally hot. Who knew you had a figure like that? Wait until Ethan sees you. Speaking of Ethan, we should make our way to the back of the room. He has his own exhibit that he’s opening tonight.”

Rebecca shook her head.

“How do you know?”

Emily held a finger over her lips.

“Shhh, it’s a secret. He’s been painting again. This is his first show in over seven years. I have it on good authority…that you’ll want to see it.”

She finished her champagne and then followed after a tray of champagne across the room. James rolled his eyes.

“I guess I don’t take her out enough. I feel like I am babysitting tonight.”

Rebecca and Tasha cracked up laughing.

A voice sounded over the speaker system.

“If I could have your attention, please. Ethan Roberts is proud to present Sweet Serendipity to you. This is Ethan’s first show in seven years and we hope you enjoy it.” The lights suddenly lit up the back of the room.

People began to crowd the back of the room. They formed a line to view Ethan’s art work. Rebecca accepted a glass of champagne and took her place in line. Tasha was eager to see what was behind the screened off area. They both happened to notice that people were looking at Rebecca with a hint of softness, and strangers smiled at her. Tasha elbowed her.

“I don’t know about you, but I think I am going to cut in line. I have a strange feeling this is going to be personal.”

“You don’t think…” Rebecca answered under her breath as she grabbed hold of Tasha’s arm.

Rebecca and Tasha stepped out of line and cut through the crowd. They entered the screened area and Rebecca abruptly stopped. There in front of her, upon the walls, were images of her. It was a timeline of their time together. The story began with a painting of the way Ethan viewed Rebecca on the night they had first met at The East Bay Grille. The image showed her with a sad face staring into a glass of red wine. He painted an aura around her that faded into the blackened background. She stood in front of the picture and her heart raced. She remembered how sad she had been that night. It was the night that set things in motion. He captured her every emotion.

She walked farther into the room and spotted another painting. It was one of her touching a mystical-looking tree. She remembered it from the time he first asked her on a date. She smiled to herself and kept walking farther into the room.

There was a painting of the two of them on his motorcycle, only instead of her wearing the helmet, her long hair was blowing in the wind. He painted every emotion she had been feeling at the time —exhilarated, free, and happy. She smiled to herself as she remembered how she had felt as if she had been flying that night.

She walked to the next one on the wall. There he had painted them walking along the beach hand-in-hand in the moonlight. She could make out every detail including the shoes she was holding in her hand. He captured every tiny detail. She felt as though her life was being put on display, only she was seeing it through someone else’s eyes.

Rebecca noticed Tasha waving her arms back and forth from across the room. Tasha called out for her to come. She hurried over to Tasha, who gave her a funny grin. She signaled for Rebecca to look behind her. Rebecca looked and instantly felt the blood rush to her cheeks. Ethan had painted a picture of her while she was asleep on her stomach. Nothing but a partial sheet covered her body. Her hair cascaded down the bed. She quickly looked around at the surrounding people and noticed strangers smiling at his artwork.

Emily grabbed Rebecca by her arm and dragged her toward the opposite side of the room.

“Where are we going? We’re missing some of the paintings.

“No. You need to see this.” She dragged her to a painting and told her to look.

Rebecca instantly welled up with tears. The painting was of Rebecca sitting on a picnic blanket with Riley and Adam. She then noticed that there was a little boy with wings spread out looking down at them, smiling. The boy had dark hair and gray eyes. It was her Brian, her angel. He painted her with her children. He had every detail of Brian right down to the twinkle he always had in his eyes and the dimple in his chin. She walked over to the painting and ran her fingers over it. Tasha handed Rebecca a tissue as she pulled one out for herself.

“It’s unbelievable. He’s an amazing artist. I love the way he was able to capture your loving essence with all your children.”

Emily was choked up.

“I think he’s waiting for you over there.” She pointed to the exit of the exhibit. Rebecca glanced over and her eyes locked onto Ethan’s. She couldn’t help but notice how his eyes seemed to shine just a little bluer than she remembered. When he smiled at her, she melted. He stood in a black suit that had to have been made for him because it clung to him in all the right places. He stood smiling at her with his hands behind his back.

She quickly made her way across the room and walked up to him. He pulled out a long-stemmed red rose he had been holding behind his back and handed it to her. She accepted it. Without an ounce of reservation, she kissed him. She didn’t care that a month had passed since she had seen him. She didn’t care that she had once been reluctant about their relationship. All she could think about in that moment was Ethan and how much she loved him. Light flashed as people took photos of the kiss. She pulled away and looked in his beautiful eyes.

“I love you, Ethan. I was just so scared.”

He smiled.

“I know, Becca. You just needed to figure it out on your own.” He swept one hand behind her neck and another one around her waist. He kissed her once again with a tender, loving kiss.

He grasped her hand and proudly made his way through the room greeting people. All the feedback from the evening went better than he expected. The paintings that he put on display from his new, raw talent sold out. Offers were made on his paintings, but he politely declined them, telling people that they were for his private collection. He announced he would have others for sale over the next few months and that anyone interested should keep checking back with the gallery. Local news covered the opening and called it a success.

James approached Rebecca with a gushing petite Emily in his arms.

“Hi guys! I think that I am going to get this one home. She’s had a little too much to drink.”

Emily made a pinching gesture with her hands.

“Ahh, shucks, only a little…this much.” She grabbed onto Ethan and kissed his cheek. “You totally rock. You are like the most romantic person I have ever met in my life.” She leaned into his ear and loudly whispered, “If I was single, oooh boy.” She looked over at her husband and smirked. “But I have my darling hubby that I love more than life itself.”

“OK, Em, you’ve gotta go. This was a great show, Ethan. I’m glad we got a chance to get to know you a little better. I’ve heard a lot about you over the last few months. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you again soon.”

James and Ethan shook hands and Ethan thanked them for coming. He gave Emily a peck on her cheek and winked at her. She held a hand to her cheek and giggled.

Rebecca walked them to the door and hugged them goodbye. Emily grabbed her husband’s shirt by the chest and looked at Rebecca.

“Make sure you do exactly what I plan to tonight.”

James kissed Rebecca on the cheek and said goodbye. When the valet pulled their car up to the curb James helped his wife into the passenger seat. He pulled away and honked the horn as he drove away.

Rebecca was about to enter the gallery when a woman stepped forward.

“Rebecca?” The woman called out questioningly.

Rebecca turned toward her.

“Yes?”

The woman was dressed impeccably in a black pant suit. She looked vaguely familiar and then she placed where she had seen her —at breakfast with Ethan. The woman approached with her hand outstretched.

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Vivian Gray of Gray’s Agency located in New York. I have to tell you that I absolutely fell in love with your book. I would love to represent you and get your stories out for the rest of the world to enjoy as much as I did.”

Rebecca was speechless.

“I don’t really know what to say. I never really expected anyone other than my friends to see the stories.”

“So there are more? I would love to see them,” Vivian told her.

“Oh, well, they are not exactly illustrated like the one that Ethan showed you.”

“Not a problem. Ethan has already agreed to do all artwork for any and all of your books. I think it’s an incredible story and I can easily sell it to the public. Just think it over; I’d love to start contacting some publishers that I know. Your stories are the type that every parent out there would buy.” She handed Rebecca her card and then got into her waiting car.