Page 92 of Playing With Love

“Scouting the area?” Mackenzie butted in.

Okay, so she didn’t butt in, she took the bait Tucker had dangled, which was what we wanted, but I still didn’t like it.

What could I say? I was learning I could be a petty bitch.

“Tucker and I are thinking about moving to the area. So far, our realtor doesn’t have any showings scheduled, so we’re just gonna drive around and scout out some areas we’re interested in.”

“Liza’s an artist,” Colleen eagerly told Mackenzie.

Much too eager.

Oddly eager.

“Oh? What medium?”

I waved off the question and Colleen’s announcement. “Being an artist is the dream. Right now, I just⁠—”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Mackenzie said. “But do you put color to canvas? Hands in clay? Heat and bend metal?”

“Color to canvas,” I told her.

“Then you create art. Thus, you are an artist. You were that the first time your brush touched a blank canvas. A single stroke is creating something new, something only you can craft. If I may be bold, your dream is not to be an artist but perhaps a successful artist. Those are two very different things. Creating art comes from your soul. Success comes from understanding the path you must travel to achieve the goals you set.”

She actually sounded like she believed that. And that was not the first time I’d heard her say something similar in one of her seminars.

“You’re right. I am an artist,” I conceded with a bright smile I hoped didn’t look fake. “Unfortunately, a starving one, if not for my day job, and this guy.” I made a show of giving Tucker a squeeze. “Another reason we’re looking to leave Atlanta. The cost of living as well as the hustle and bustle of the city hasn’t been conducive to me, well…finding my muse. I need something like this...” I swept my hand around the yard. “The quiet beauty you’ve created.”

“Nu Dawn is a community effort. But thank you, we’ve worked extremely hard to find the right balance. Sadly, not all find what they’re looking for and find it elsewhere.”

Colleen looked down at her bare feet and sniffed. Allyson’s lips pinched and I wondered if it was to hide the quiver I caught, or to stop herself from calling out Mackenzie’s possible role in her friend’s death. Whichever it was, Allyson remained quiet.

Tucker spoke into the void. “The human element is the great disrupter. You can build and foster safety, harmony, and fulfillment but you cannot wish something into existence for someone else. They need to seek to be who they want to be, then act on those aspirations.”

“How correct you are, Tucker. Will you and Liza be at the vigil tomorrow night? I think it would be a good opportunity for the both of you to meet the residents. While the community as a whole is in mourning, we are also well aware how precious life is and we’re using tomorrow as a time to celebrate the life of a shining star who was taken from us far too soon.”

“If it’s not an intrusion it would be our honor.”

“As I said, we are celebrating life. There is no such thing as intruding in such an event.”

I did not like this woman.

I didn’t like her before I met her and I didn’t like her now.

There was something off about her. And not just because evidence was suggesting she had a hand in making and distributing illegal narcotics. Beyond the strong indication she had her hand in the manufacturing of weapons.

Every word she’d spoken felt rehearsed and practiced. Her tone might’ve been warm and friendly but this bitch was cold-hearted.

I glanced at Allyson at the same time her gaze lifted and locked with mine.

I couldn’t get a read on her outside the sorrow.

I gave her a tight smile, ducked out from under Tucker’s arm, and made my way to Allyson.

A friend would offer comfort, right? Girlfriends hugged and held hands when one of them was in need, right? I’d seen it done on TV and movies. I’d never witnessed my mother offering any of her friends a hug other than a hello or a goodbye. Actually, I’d never witnessed my mother being openly affectionate with anyone.

Weird.

I only had a few female friends and I wasn’t close enough to any of them to hug, except Sunny Kent, and up until recently if someone had tried to pull her into an embrace she’d throat punch them before she broke an arm. So I’d never been openly affectionate with any girlfriends, either.