Locking up, I whistled for Mouse and he tore up the beach, his butt wiggling when I opened my door. He clambered up, scratching everything as he fumbled into the passenger seat. I got in and rolled down the window for him. The air was humid with another storm, this one might actually have some teeth with a thunderstorm.
She worked inside Heavenly Bite after it closed for the night, but used the daylight hours to work on the side of the building. There was a small crowd of people watching her work when I parked on the street and got out. Mouse practically lost his damn mind as I reached for my bag, blocking his escape.
Church Street was little more than an alleyway between Destiny and Halloren Streets, which held most of the businesses in town. A few kids zipped up and down the sidewalk on their bikes and electric scooters. A lemonade stand stood on the corner to take advantage of all the lookie-loos who couldn’t resist Phoebe in her element.
And there were a lot of them.
Passersby kept taking selfies with her scaffolding and the bits and pieces she revealed through the process. Originally, the plan was just to scrawl the name of the restaurant along the wall, but the job kept getting more intricate with all the attention it was garnering.She generally did her work under the cover of night or before the world woke up. This was a whole new aspect to her career. I wasn’t sure if she was oblivious, or just that comfortable in her skin.
She had her noise canceling headphones on, moving to whatever beat she was listening to as she outlined each illustration with thick lines that reminded me of a coloring book.The scaffolding put her nearly ten feet off the ground and my heart still kicked regardless of the safety harness she wore.
She’d finished the lettering for Heavenly Bite, creating a happy combination of script and block styles in heavy blackpaint with gilded sparkles that stood out from the white brick. A glowing halo was deliberately painted to be crooked over the I. At the moment, it was directly above her head as she worked on a cartoony sandwich with angel wings soaring beneath the word bite.
I slipped my phone out and took a photo. Evidently I was one of the fan club, too.
Her talent was staggering.
Anyone else would have used tech and projection screens to do the work, but not Phoebe. I could see her rough grid to make sure her perspective stayed on point, but she barely referenced her sketches and seemed to just know exactly how the final product looked in her head.
Her usual florals were still in their sketchy version along the bottom of the building with a few hidden gems like the red bandannas the employees wore as part of their uniform as well as the names of all the Ferrara family members hidden in the blooms.
Thoughtful in ways that showed exactly how much she cared about her clients.
Infinitely Phoebe.
As if she could feel my gaze on her, she turned and locked eyes with me. There always seemed to be some invisible string between us. Her smile brimmed with that internal supply of joy.
She tugged off her headphones then leaned on the railing of the metal frame around her. “Hey there. What are you doing here?”
“Thought I’d steal you away for some lunch.” I moved closer, grinning up at her.
“I could be persuaded.”
“I missed you.” I popped out before I could call it back.
Her eyes grew soft and she hurried to the edge where the ladder was. She forgot she was hooked and jerked back with a laugh.
“Careful,” I called up to her.
She unbuckled and slipped over the edge.
I reached up to grab her, bringing her down to meet me on the ground. “Hello there.”
“Hello there yourself.” She curled her arms around my neck. A spray of black and white paint dotted her face like freckles. “I didn’t want to wake you this morning. I don’t think you came to bed until after three.”
When the words were flowing, I was afraid to staunch them. “I think I’m close to the end.”
“Really?”
Which was why I was so itchy. I’d have to make some decisions. “At least the first pass. It probably needs a lot of cleanup, but yeah.”
She toyed with the ends of my hair. “That’s a good thing.”
“Since I’ve been dodging Monte’s calls...” I sighed. “Yeah, definitely a good thing.”
“She’s going to love it.”
“I don’t know.” I set her on her feet. There were too many young eyes around.
