She stood in Whitney’s doorway, holding something. “I see you couldn’t sleep last night either.”
Whitney shook her head. “Nope. Not a wink.”
“Me neither. I’ve been up baking for hours.”
“I came here to work.” Whitney pointed to the goodies in Olivia’s hand. “Did you make one of your famous muffins for me?”
“Your favorite.”
She hooked her finger in her direction. “Hand it over.”
Olivia crossed the room. “I actually brought two for you, just in case it was one of those stress eating days.”
“You know me so well.” Whitney took the still warm muffins and yanked the crusty top from one. Biting into the bright flavor, she moaned. “So good. Thank you. I need something to offset all the caffeine I’ve consumed already this morning.” She swallowed the bite of muffin. “On a positive note, I did some digging, and I think I can shut down any commentary that includes us in this television interview they have coming up.”
“That’s great.”
Whitney ran down the details, then handed Olivia a phone number. “I need you to contact the reporter. Here’s her number. Set up a call for us. I’ll try to steer the conversation in another direction.”
“I’m on it.”
“Wait.” Whitney picked up a stack of papers. “Sorry, but my coming in early means you start the day with a full hopper. I’m caught up. Here’s the last of it.”
Olivia juggled the stack of folders. “Wow. Youwerehere early.”
“Yeah, and no distractions. Now that the rest of the world is open for business, I’m going to shop for a present for my niece’s second birthday.” She got up and grabbed her purse. “Call me if anything comes up.”
“Will do.”
Whitney walked out of the building and across the street to get her car. There was definitely nothing within walking distance of the office that would have what she was looking for. She had no idea what that was, but she’d know it when she saw it.
Last week, she’d perused a high-end children’s boutique. There were adorable outfits, but nothing seemed special enough for this milestone, and Carina had that child dressed to the nines all the time anyway. Chloe probably had a closet as full as her own.
She drove across town to the new toy store that had opened earlier in the year. It was supposed to be more magnificent than the FAO Schwarz in New York City, which was a little hard to believe. They’d been advertising custom bears and dolls that could be specially ordered to favor your child. Whitney could still remember when she got her first American Girl doll with the same color hair and eyes as her own. It was like having a twin sister, but Chloe was probably too young for that just yet. Hopefully, something else would catch her eye.
Aunting is pressure.
Striking out in the toy store, she stopped in the planetarium gift shop. After talking to the lady at the museum, she considered buying the annual subscription of STEM-learning gifts shipped quarterly for a year. The woman had been kind enough to even print out the information for her. With that safely tucked into her purse, at least she had a fallback gift if something more perfect didn’t present itself.
As she drove back to the office, she passed the block where Matthew was painting the mural. She slowed to see if he was there.
High on the third level of the scaffold, he stood wielding a brush, color swishing across the building. His arms were so tan, and the musculature was clear even from here. He wore a light blue, sleeveless lab coat over his clothes. Understanding the reason behind the fashion no-no made it a little less of a jolt.
Matthew’s muscles flexed as he reached high with a fluid sweep of his brush. The simple black line made the other colors pop, giving the image depth.
She parallel parked on the next block and walked across the street to sit on the bench in front of the ice cream shop. From there, she watched the mural come to life.
Matthew moved with skill and speed.
She marveled at his ability to organize and complete the design, despite working on small sections of a larger-than-life picture. Moving from one end of the scaffold to the other, he added depth here and there, making it look so easy.
Her own fear of heights made her a little queasy just watching him move back and forth that high.
And then there it was. The idea she’d been hungering for. The most personal and perfect gift for Chloe.
I’ll hire Matthew to do a mural in Chloe’s playroom!
The idea danced in her heart. It was perfect. Something memorable. It could include all her favorite things and have interactive features like a chalkboard and height marker to mark how quickly she was growing.
