Next she walked into town, past the shops that sold her paintings, stopping to admire the setup in Hill Street Gallery. The owner had placed a little sign next to her bright and cheerful watercolor: “Local artist Ellie Morgan.”
Artist. She’d never called herself that, not really. Never allowed herself an official title. She’d always given a description of her job instead. “I paint,” she’d say, or “I do watercolors.” But seeing this sign, here on display, with her name, made her realize that she was an artist. That she was exactly what she’d set out to be.
She carried on her way, finally stopping at Lakeview Gifts. She pushed through the door, glanced at Jewel who gave her a beady stare, and then walked over to the counter, where Naomi was wrapping up a figurine of a lighthouse for a young couple.
“Tell me the rumors aren’t true,” Naomi pleaded as soon as the door closed behind the tourists.
Ellie had to laugh. “News sure does travel fast around here. How’d you hear?”
“Your landlord told Darcy that your studio was up for rent! Did you really close it down?”
“I did,” Ellie said, and then, seeing the dismay in her friend’s face, said, “I don’t need a studio to make me an artist. I can paint from Sunset Cottage. I can paint anywhere. And I can still offer my classes. That house is so big, it needs a bigger purpose.”
Naomi’s grin was rueful. “I like the sound of that.”
“But I am going away for a while. There’s more out there that I want to capture. And I could use a break from the island for a bit,” she said, thinking of Simon, and his fiancée, and the wedding that was lurking around the corner. She’d run into him again someday, she was sure, but by then, with any luck, she would have moved on, rather than stayed behind, waiting. “I’m not leaving until the end of the week,” she said.
“And I’m heading to Blue Harbor tomorrow to help my sister with her new baby,” Naomi said with a frown. “I figured this was the last week I could get away before the summer season is in full swing. But you will be back?”
“Soon,” Ellie said.
“Promise?” Naomi asked, and Ellie had to grin at that.
“I always keep my promises.”
With a heavy heart, she leaned in and gave her friend a long hug, telling herself that this wasn’t a good-bye. It was just a so-long for now.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and turned as the door opened and another customer walked in, bright-eyed and eager, probably their first time on the island.
“Welcome to Lakeview Gifts!” Naomi called out with a smile. She held up her hand, giving Ellie a heartfelt wave.
“Hello!” the customer called out before Naomi could stop her, and at once, Jewel cocked his head with interest.
Ellie locked eyes with Naomi, and even though this might usually elicit an exasperated sigh, or sometimes, actual tears, Naomi burst out laughing, and Ellie did too. And she smiled the whole walk home, the sound of Jewel’s squawking still fresh in her ears.
***
Ellie made one more stop at the studio before returning home. As much as she called Sunset Cottage her home, she’d really kept it as Gran’s home, leaving so much of it as it had been, almost afraid to change it. Slowly, over time, she’d replaced some of Gran’s heavy-framed oil paintings with her colors, but only with her absolute favorites. All except for one.
Now, she picked up the painting that she’d brought from the studio, her favorite, the one that showed Main Street in the snow, all soft and grey with hints of green and blue.
Few people had the pleasure of seeing this island as it was in this painting. And she had. And she would, again. Because she’d be back.
She hung it on the wall opposite her bed, took one last, long look at it, and walked out into the hall. The house was lighter now, and not just because of the watercolor paintings of the island, but because of the improvements that Hope had made, replacing the heavy throw pillows with pops of blue and green, opening the blinds to let all the light in, adding bouquets of fresh flowers in every room, even the ones she picked from the bushes that were starting to bloom, and the kitchen, where, other than the porch, all of them seemed to gather at least a few times a day.
But it wasn’t just this house that was lighter now. It was her step. Her heart. She had a chance now, not to prove herself to anybody, but to do what she’d always wanted to do. To paint. To follow her heart. To live her dreams. To be happy.
She walked into the kitchen, wanting to be around her family, thinking how different it all was just a short time ago when she could hear every creak, every shift in the house, because that was the only thing keeping her company. When each room was dark before she entered it to turn on a light. This house needed life.
And she…she needed to live.
Hope was at the counter, slicing apples and setting them on a plate for the girls, along with cubed cheese and carrot sticks. Through the window, Ellie saw Evan mowing the yard. Bless him!
“Is everything okay?” Hope asked.
“I was just thinking how much I’m going to miss you all,” Ellie said. They had an entire day of fun planned, a picnic on the beach, a Sunday night bonfire with marshmallows and everything, just like the old days, but she couldn’t stop thinking that this time next week, she’d be somewhere else.
“You’ll be back,” Hope said with a reassuring grin.
Ellie breathed in that thought and nodded her head. Her sister was right. But then, Hope was always right. And try as they might to change themselves, for better or worse, they were exactly who they were, and who they always were, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
From the kitchen table, Rose spilled milk and Victoria started to cry and then, seeing Victoria cry, Rose started to cry, and then Hope was dashing for a dish rag and wiping it up and Gemma was trying to grab her pages from the table before they got wet and muttering something about just needing a few minutes to finish one chapter, and Ellie could only stand back and take it all in.
Really, this house may be large, but they weren’t the same young sisters they had been all those years ago and there was only room for one of them here now.
And that was just as it should be.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Hope
Monday, it rained. They stayed inside, reading old magazine and pouring over Gran’s albums, and later moved outside to the porch to play cards. Ellie won every hand. She’d clearly been busy up here on the island, even if they hadn’t realized it at first.
But Tuesday was a bright, sunny day, and Hope and Evan decided to take the girls up to the North Shore Beach, away from town, and away from the cottage. Away from the inn or any chance of running into John.
She hadn’t seen him since their meeting at the inn, when she’d told him she’d give him an answer soon on his offer. But his offer wasn’t just a professional one, even if that wasn’t directly spoken. If she stayed on the island, and took the job, then this—this family life she had with Evan and the girls—would be over as she had come to know it. She’d be starting a new chapter, the life she thought she wanted, maybe even the life she had always wanted, if she’d ever dared to ask herself what that was, exactly.