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CHAPTERELEVEN
Painting a cat was not easy, Maxi thought as she struggled to get Picasso into the perfect position next to Rembrandt. She’d given up on expecting them to sit still while she painted, even though they were quite happy to do that all day long when she wasn’t trying to paint them. Now she only wanted them to stay still for a few seconds so she could snap a picture.
She glanced back at the easel. She’d sketched in the scene and painted the background. She’d done a good job portraying Rembrandt’s sleek ebony coat and Picasso’s snow-white fur and pink nose. But their eyes were dull, not intelligent and mischievous like they were in real life.
Picasso was curled on the chair near the window, basking in the sun. Maxi crept up to him with her cell phone. She crouched down and made a noise so he would open his gorgeous blue eyes, but before she could snap a photo….
Meow!
He bolted from the chair, somehow pushing it back into the window and knocking over a starfish that had been sitting on the windowsill. He stopped in the hallway and looked back at her with reproachful eyes.
“Fine, I’ll paint Rembrandt, then, and make him famous.”
Rembrandt didn’t like that idea. He ran under the couch as she approached while Picasso leapt up on the kitchen counter and started batting at her brushes with his paw.
Her phone trilled. It was her husband, James. Maxi plopped down onto the sofa and answered.
“Hi, honey, how is it going?”
“Exhausting! Turns out herding cats isn’t as easy as I thought.”
James laughed, which immediately made Maxi feel better. “Sounds like you need a break.”
“You can say that again.”
“How about we meet at Splash for a glass of wine at four?”
“That sounds absolutely perfect.”
Maxi hung up, feeling much better. She and James had gone through a rough spot, but their relationship had come out stronger in the end. And now things were absolutely perfect.
Well, nearly perfect, she thought, as Rembrandt crawled into her lap and stared up at her adoringly as if trying to make up for his previous bad behavior.
“Don’t think you can be forgiven so easily,” she said then hugged the cat anyway.
