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“You did what?” She couldn’t have heard him right.
He backed off. “I took pictures of your best work, some of the paintings you gave me. I sent them to my friend. Do you remember when I played Van Gogh’s drinking buddy in the biopic? I spent some time with a man named Jean Paul Goden. He’s a professor of art.”
She wasn’t sure how she felt, apart from being shocked. She painted for herself. It was a hobby. It was how she relaxed. She was an actress.
Did she have to be?
“He liked it?”
“He loved it,” Gavin said, the words coming out quickly. “I can let you see the email he sent. He was surprised when I told him how young you are. He thought they were done by a much more mature and experienced artist. He wants you to come to the eight-week emerging artists program he sponsors in France. I’ll get you an apartment in Paris and I’ll make arrangements for Duke to be taken care of. If you decide to pursue the full Sorbonne enrollment, I’ll deal with getting Duke out there to you. It’s a lot of red tape, but it can be done.”
Her head flooded with possibilities. The idea of being in Paris was almost too much to deal with. Working on painting with no pressure or expectations, just the opportunity to figure out if she could make that life work. She hadn’t imagined when he’d sat down that this was what he wanted to talk to her about. “I thought you were going to tell me if I wanted Major, I should put him first. I thought you were going to tell me I should think about staying here.”
He shook his head, looking her right in the eyes. “I would never give you that advice. Listen to me, my darling girl, and listen well. Don’t ever dim your light for a man. Never. You are smart and talented, and you can have any life you want. If the man is right for you, if he loves you, he’ll support you and not drag you down. I am not saying you should make selfish choices. That’s not who you are, but at some point in time you must choose yourself, you must understand you’ve done what you can and choose the life you want, the one that you can look back on and be content. You have to live for yourself, and I believe now is your time.”
There was only one problem with that scenario. “I can’t. I’ve got another film.”
“You haven’t signed the contract yet,” Gavin pointed out.
“But Mom already told my agent I would do it.”
“And they can find someone else. This happens all the time.”
“But what if I can’t make it work?” That question was what made her hesitate. “What if I need to come back? They’ll remember I dropped them.”
“It happens all the time, Brynn. If you need to come back, I’ll make sure you have work.”
She stared out at the park across the street. In the distance, she could hear the sound of the ice cream truck starting to round the corner. “I’m not sure if I should hug you or be mad at you.”
“I would prefer a hug, but I understand. I should have asked if I could share your work with my friend.”
She shook her head. “No, I gave those paintings to you. They’re yours. They’re meant to be shown and shared. I just didn’t think you actually would.”
“You didn’t think I would put them up and show them off?”
“I guess I thought you would when you knew I was coming over.”
“You don’t think you’re good.”
“I think I like my work. I hadn’t considered that someone else might,” she allowed. “I think there’s a part of me that’s always been scared to even consider that I could make art my career. I’m not mad at you for trying to help me. I’m scared of making the wrong decision.”
“There is no wrong decision here, Brynn. That’s what you need to come to terms with. There is only the choice to explore something that could make you happy. Your path has been set for a very long time, and you didn’t get to choose.”
“She didn’t make me work. I offered.”
“You were too young to make the choice. Like I’ve said before, I understand why your mother did it. She was drowning in debt and her mother was sick. But the family doesn’t need you to work now. They can take care of themselves. I will help Ally the same way I did you, even though she’s annoying and obnoxious. I think I find her annoying because I see so much of myself in her.” He reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, an affectionate gesture he’d performed a hundred times before. “And I adore you because I see the me I wish I was. If that makes sense.”
