She glanced over her shoulder and he gave a reassuring nod forward. “Keep going.”
As they rounded the corner, her hand flew to her face and her eyebrows darted up her forehead. The moment she saw it, recognition was obvious. Her eyes widened and filled with an ocean of tears she couldn’t have held back if she tried.
Emotions flickered across her face. It was like watching a slideshow of pictures, each lasting only a second before another took its place. Surprise, wonderment, curiosity, finally settling on pride.
The delight radiating from her beaming face warmed him in the cool room. Her head snapped to him and back to the wall.
“Lincoln… w-what… what is this?” She stepped forward and reached out an inquisitive finger, pausing before she got too close, leaving her hand in mid-air.
He cleared his throat. “I entered that competition you found and tied for first. The exhibition starts tonight, for one week, but I asked if they’d let me sneak you in to show you around before, well, everyone else sees it.”
She clutched a hand to her chest, taking in each of the pencil drawings. “Is this your dad?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “During his NHL prime, he played for the Blackhawks in Chicago. That’s him in the United Center. I sketched it from a photo a reporter caught the night he won the Stanley Cup the first time.”
She wiped her cheeks and turned to the next drawing. “That’s Russell. Is that his daughter?”
“Jude, mhmm. That one I sketched in-the-flesh, she was much smaller, and less mobile, than she is now.” He chuckled at the memory, warmth blooming in his chest.
“Amelia?”
He nodded, thrilled she was able to identify the subjects of his pictures.
“She looks so happy.” Her breathless voice held an awe that squeezed his very soul. “Who are these people?”
“That’s my mom’s parents, and the baby in their lap is my mom. I always loved how she stared up at them with such adoration. It took me so long to capture her eyes. This one I tore up and started over four times before I was happy with it.”
“Lincoln…” Fresh tears trickled down her cheeks and onto her coat as she stood staring at a drawing of herself. Her chest heaved, then her breath caught, and she didn’t move to stop the tears coursing down the side of her nose. She skimmed her finger along the dark wood frame. “Lincoln, this is…”
He said “you” at the same moment she said “beautiful,” and her breath hitched again. He squeezed words around the thick ball of emotion lodged in his throat. “You don’t hate it?”
She turned to him, confusion swirling with her tears. “How could I possibly hate this, Lincoln? It’s incredible.”
“It was after our first night together. You fell asleep on your tummy, arms hugging the pillow, hair spread across your bare shoulders. I needed to capture the moment forever.”
She stretched her hand out to his chest. “Can I keep this? When the show is over? Can I have this? Please, Linc?” She spoke faster and with more urgency the more she stared at the sketch on the wall.
He stepped behind her, snaking his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. “Of course you can. You really like them? My parents are coming tonight. Mia and Russ too… I’m scared they won’t like them.”
“They won’t like them.” Her voice was so firm with assurance a chill rolled through him. “They’ll love them, Linc.”
He nodded against the side of her head. “I almost sent in pictures of inanimate objects. It would have been safer ground, less embarrassing… but these… these are my heart and soul on paper. Go big or go home, right?”
She giggled, sniffing before wiping the sleeve of her coat on her cheeks. “Thank you for sharing this with me. You’re so very talented, Mr. Darcy, and so very brave.”
Pulling out her phone she spun the two of them so their backs were to the sketches on the wall. She turned on the forward-facing camera.
Puckering her lips, she kissed his cheek. Eyes full of warmth and love. She snapped a picture. He folded her against his chest, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
“A nice one this time. I know we’ll get pictures tonight, but I want to capture this memory.”
She squeezed him and smiled. “Such a romantic, Mr. Darcy.”
He nuzzled against her ear. “Don’t tell anyone. Oh! We better get a bunch of pictures of us tonight. Playoffs start in a week, and we’re going the whole way.”
Confusion pulled her brows into a deep V. “I don’t know what that means.”
“It means...” He kissed her forehead. “I’m gonna look like a Sasquatch in about a week, and you’re gonna be complaining about being seen with someone who looks disheveled and unruly.”
