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Was it?
Nope. Juliette wasn’t going to go down that road. She was straight and that was the end of it.
When they got to unpacking Juliette’s paintings, she hauled herself off the couch, pleased to find that her toe wasn’t throbbing nearly as badly as before.
“Let me do that.”
“Juliette, you should be resting that toe –”
“No, Liv, let her be. My daughter is very fussy about her artwork.”
“Oh! I didn’t know you’re an artist. May I see?”
Juliette was suddenly self-conscious. She wasn’t usually shy about her work, but the idea of Liv seeing it made her all tingly with anxiety.
“Um. Sure. I’m not sure if it’ll be to your taste. It’s pretty abstract.”
“I love abstract!”
Juliette took a couple of pieces into the room that was to be her studio and carefully pulled away the cloth covers.
Liv gasped and took a step forward. “I’ve seen these before! At least, I’ve seen ones like them. You go under Julie?”
“It’s my little artist nickname.” Juliette glanced at her small signature at the bottom of the paintings.
“I’ve had my eye on one of your pieces for a while. The one with all blues and greens – it reminds me of the ocean. Is that one ever going to be put up for sale?”
Juliette was stunned. She had hoped Liv would like her work, but hadn’t imagined she would be a pre-existing fan. “I was actually planning to keep that one.”
Liv’s face fell. Juliette felt flattered that Liv really liked her work. She loved that piece too, but Liv was basically family now- her new stepsister.
“But if you really like it, you can have it.”
“No, no, I’m happy to buy it from you.” Liv’s face was beautiful and her green eyes were earnest. Juliette didn’t want to charge Liv for the painting.
“Please, take it as a gift. I can bring it over tomorrow.”
Liv squealed and threw her arms around Juliette. “Thank you! That’ll be amazing. You must let me take you out to lunch, to say thank you.”
Juliette was hardly going to object to spending more time with Liv. Not only was Juliette somehow fascinated and inspired by Liv’s lovely face, but she was so warm and genuine, it was impossible not to like her.
“I’d love that. But perhaps for now, we should finish the unpacking?”
“Right. Yeah, of course.”
They unpacked until the sun started to set, making several trips back and forth between the houses. When they were done, all the boxes were at least here, but it would take some time yet to finish unpacking them all.
“Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”
Kane and Laura watched as Liv led Juliette away, clearly thrilled that their daughters were getting on so well.
When Liv showed her the room, Juliette dug through one of the boxes and found her own pride flag – the ally flag, black and white stripes with a rainbow triangle on top.
Liv didn’t say anything, but Juliette saw her grinning as she affixed the flag to her wall.
“I’ll get you some bedding.”
Juliette was exhausted, and as soon as Liv got her the bedding, she crawled into bed. She was asleep almost instantly.
