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Maternal love.Callie smiled faintly. She’d never known life without her family’s love.
Tenderness softened her mother’s features. “Amor vincit omnia.”
“Love doesn’t always conquer all.” Callie turned her palm upward and curled her fingers around Eleanor’s. Warmth flowed from her mother’s soft hands into her skin, melting the icicles around her heart.
“Well, you should at least give it a chance.” Eleanor tightened her grip.“Nemo sine vitio.”
True, no one was without fault. She gazed at their entwined hands. “I love him.”
“I know. He loves you.”
“Even if I could get over this whole thing, I can’t compete with Hollywood.” Callie let out her breath and blinked back tears. “With his career and all that fame. He’ll be away so much, and Bliss Cove is home to me.”
“So? We live in a world of modern travel and time off, honey.Improvidus, apto quod victum.”
A laugh broke from Callie’s throat.Improvise, adapt, and overcome.
“I can’t battle both you and Latin, Mom.”
Eleanor smiled and shrugged. “Veni, vidi, vici.”
“Te amo.”
They both stood at the same time and embraced, a tight, warm hug of forgiveness and promise. Callie swallowed her lingering tears and turned back to her desk.
“I need to get to my review.” She patted her chignon and smoothed down her skirt. “Do I look okay?”
“Perfect.”
Callie picked up her leather folder of notes, and they walked down the hall to the large conference room. The big wooden doors were closed. Callie almost sensed the presence of the ten stern board members enclosed in the vast space. She tightened her grip on her folder.
“Are we late?” A hushed, frantic voice came from the direction of the elevators. “We couldn’t find parking.”
Aria and Rory hurried toward them. Callie stared at her sisters. “What are you doing here?”
“We’re here for the big review.” Aria waved at the conference room, her breathing fast. “Has it started yet?”
“I’m just about to go in.” Callie hugged both her sisters, her anxiety easing a bit. “Thanks so much for coming.”
“We’ll be waiting over there.” Rory indicated a small seating area. “I’d wish you luck, but you don’t need it.”
Eleanor put her hand on Callie’s cheek. “I love you. And your father is so proud.”
Taking a deep breath, Callie nodded and turned to the conference room. After one last glance back at her family, she opened the door and stepped inside.
* * *
The smells of paint and linseed oil filled the classroom at the Bliss Cove Arts Center. Table-top easels lined the long tables, and about fifteen people were busy setting up their stations. Chatter and laughter filled the air.
Callie set her half-finished painting on the easel and began organizing her paints. A day after her tenure review, there was no word yet about her promotion, but she was keeping busy and trying not to think about it too much.
“Evening, dear.” Mrs. Higgins, the spry, white-haired owner of the Outside Inn, took up the station beside her and nodded at Callie’s painting. “That’s looking beautiful.”
“Thanks.” Callie studied the bright, colorful image of the boardwalk that she’d been painstakingly working on for the past week, both in class and on her own. “Yours is lovely, too. I don’t know if I could tackle painting the details of all those flowers. Have you been painting long?”
“Oh, I used to love painting when I was younger, but after I got married and Hank and I bought the inn, time just slipped away.” Mrs. Higgins began squeezing paints onto her palette. “Hank used to tell me frequently that I should get back to painting, but I kept putting it off. I suppose I always felt like there was time later to do everything. But waiting for later…well, that might be my biggest regret. I took up painting a month after I lost Hank, and I’ve been doing it ever since. It’s been three years now. I like to think he’d be happy I’m doing it again.”
“I’m sure he is.” Callie smiled and patted the older woman on the shoulder. “It sounds like you are too.”
