Aida unlocked the door as she answered the phone. “Hello.”
“Happy birthday!” Mollie exclaimed.
Aida smiled as she used her heel to nudge the door shut behind her. “Thank you.”
The click of her heels echoed over the empty building as she walked into the storage room and set her purse on an empty crate near her small locker. Over the past two days, workers had come in to remove all of Owen’s paintings from the walls. They’d all been crated and delivered to the new owners, but the crates of the latest works of art now littered the back room.
She spun through the dial on the locker and opened it to reveal the marvelous sneakers tucked inside. She tugged off her heels and exchanged them for the sneaker before tucking her purse inside and closing the door.
“How’s everything going? Any plans for your big day?” Mollie asked.
She should tell Mollie about Julian; she told her about everything. She didn’t think Cassidy and Kyle had told their parents yet, but it was only a matter of time before Julian did. Mollie couldn’t learn about this from someone else.
However, the words froze on the tip of her tongue. Their relationship was still so new, and she worried she might jinx it by revealing how happy she was. Mollie had to know Julian was in the city. Sera and Liam knew their son was here; they would have told Mike, wouldn’t they? But then, it might not have come up in conversation.
“I’m working, and then I’ll join Kyle and Cassidy at the bar,” Aida said.
“Sounds like fun.”
“Anything new and exciting with you?”
“Mike and I are going to Canada next week to check on the new property.”
After what happened on the island, the Byrnes, Mike, Jack, and David bought land in Canada in case they had to escape. She’d never been to the property, but she’d seen pictures of the endless acres stretching across open land. Workers started building houses around the massive lake in the center of the property three years ago, and they’d established a twenty-foot-tall wall around the perimeter.
“Is the construction work almost done?” Aida asked.
“It is done,” Mollie said.
Aida’s hand clenched around the phone. “Do you plan to leave Maine?”
She didn’t see Mollie anywhere near as often as she would have liked, and she hated the idea of having her sister living further away.
“Not anytime soon,” Mollie said. “We’re going to make sure everything is the way it’s supposed to be. Plus, it will be nice to get away for a week or two.”
“I bet it will,” Aida said as she returned to the main room and stopped to survey the walls.
The bare walls signaled a lot of work ahead of her, and she grinned as her creative juices already started to flow. She hit speaker on her phone as she walked around the gallery, examining the new batch of paintings and photographs leaning against the walls.
From years of working here, she knew Nicolette had only ordered the artwork unpacked; there was no rhyme or reason to it yet. That was for them to figure out today, and she couldn’t wait to dive in as this setup would be a challenge.
This upcoming exhibition was an eclectic mix of upcoming artists who each had their own styles. In her mind, she figured out how each of those styles could be used to emphasize the talent of the others.
A picture of where they belonged started to emerge in her head as she talked with Mollie. Entering the last hall, she was halfway down it when she discovered one of her photographs leaning against the wall. She’d given it to Nicolette six months ago in the hopes she would show it, but she hadn’t known Nicolette planned to use it for this showing.
She felt like a kid on Christmas as she stood there and grinned stupidly at the black and white photo of an older man leaning close to blow a dandelion into his grandson’s face. White tufts floated on the air between them, and the joy on their faces made her heart soar every time she saw the photo.
“Julian’s in town,” Aida said.
“No shit.” Mollie snorted. “What’s he doing there?”
“He came to visit Cassidy and Kyle.”
“I’m sure he was happy to see you too. That boy had the biggest crush on you.”
Aida turned away from her photo and continued down the hall. “I didn’t think he did.”
“That’s because you were so lost you couldn’t see it. I saw it, though.”
“He’s not a boy anymore.”
“That tends to happen as people get older. Were you happy to see him?”
“Not at first,” Aida admitted. “I was pretty pissed off at him for taking off and never contacting me.”
“So you think he’s like Dad.”
She loved her sister to death, and they never kept secrets from each other, but sometimes she wished Mollie didn’t know her so well. “Yes. I mean, no!” Aida blurted. “Okay, maybe I used to think he was a little like Dad.”
“And now?”
“Now, I understand why he left.”
“And why was that?”
“To let me have the normal life I wanted.”
“And now that he’s back, what does he want?”
“Me. He thinks I’m his mate.”
Mollie sucked in a breath. “He thinks, or he knows?”
“He knows.”
“And what do you think?”
“I think I’ve been in love with him for four years, and because he left me, I wouldn’t let myself acknowledge it until now.”
“If you’re his mate, he’s not going to leave again. I can’t believe he left before.”
“He explained that,” Aida said.
“And are you okay with his explanation?”
“Yes.”
“You suffered a lot more than me on the island—”
“Mollie,” she groaned.
“But you also know not all vampires are bad.”
“I do.”
“What are you going to do?”
Aida rubbed at her temples. “I’m going to join him; I’m just not sure when. I have a life here and dreams for my future.”
“You don’t have to give that up. At least not for a while.”
“I know, but I’m not ready yet.”
“Give yourself time to adjust to the idea, and don’t rush it, because once it’s done, it can’t be undone.”
“The permanence of it is a little terrifying.”
Mollie chuckled. “Understandable.”
When the door opened, Aida turned. Nicolette strolled inside and shook out her umbrella. Aida hadn’t expected to discover a heavy drizzle falling on the city. It was bright and beautiful when she walked over, but now the gray skies gave the city a dreary appearance.
“I have to go,” she said reluctantly.
“Give me a call when you get the chance,” Mollie said.
“I will.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Aida disconnected the call as Nicolette strode toward her. “I want these paintings organized and hung by three. Diego and Fred are coming in to help.”
Diego and Fred were the men Nicolette hired to set up everything for the showings and to crate and uncrate the artwork. The two men were surprisingly gentle with everything given their bull-like statures.
“I’m ready,” Aida said. “Thank you for choosing my photograph to display.”
“It belongs.”
Aida couldn’t stop herself from smiling; it was the best compliment Nicolette had ever given her about her work.