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4
Nina pickedup a glass of champagne from the table at the back of the gallery and moved through the crowd. Attendance was even better than expected, thanks to Hannah Klein, a young marketing expert Karen had connected Nina with to publicize the event. Hannah had met with Moni and Nina, laying out a comprehensive word-of-mouth campaign that leaned heavily on the social media tactics neither of them had been familiar with. She’d even scored Nina an interview with the New YorkTimes.
The gallery’s social media pages had gotten hundreds of new followers the day the article ran. There was a lot of interest in Judith’s work, or more specifically, in the fact that the reclusive widow had spent her time photographing the women of New York, a nod to feminine solitude and strength from a woman who had lived an extraordinarily eventful and exciting life at a time when being a woman hadn’t exactly beenliberating.
She smiled and nodded as she moved toward the brick wall on one side of the gallery, stopping in front of an image of a woman in a blue trench coat. She was sitting on a bench in the park, but where Judith’s other photographs had all been taken from a distance or from behind, protecting the woman’s face from being identified, this one had been taken from the side, the woman’s features clearly defined. Her chin had a defiant tilt, the set of her mouthresolute.
It wasNina.
She’d been shocked to find the photograph in the box that had been sent by Judith’s attorney after her death. Nina had immediately flashed back to her early summer evening chats with Judith on their bench in the park. She had no idea when Judith had taken the photograph, but seeing it, Nina had remembered a conversation they’d had onenight.
I think you see women as they wish they could be seen. The way they should see themselves,Nina had said about the pictures Judith left around thepark.
Judith’s smile had been mysterious.And how is that,dear?
Beautiful. Brave.Strong.
Nina hadn’t known about Judith’s death until the package arrived at the gallery. She’d tried contacting Judith a couple of times before that for a visit in the park, but Judith hadn’t answered hercalls.
Seeing the picture of herself for the first time had been a revelation: Judith had seen her this way — beautiful, brave, strong — when Nina hadn’t felt that way at all, when she’d been in the grip of her obsession with Jack, when she’d felt herself slippingaway.
She’d struggled with whether to keep it or show it but had eventually decided that no specific provisions had been made for the photo in Judith’s letters. It didn’t belong to Nina, but to Judith’s collection, and she’d set it aside for sale and hung it with the others in preparation for theshow.
Now her eyes came to rest on the red dot in the corner of the plaque next to the picture, the gallery’s notation for a piece that was already sold. She smiled. She hoped it would have a good home, that whoever bought it would be reminded of the beautiful, brave, strong women in their lives — or ofthemselves.
“Who’s in charge of this giganyway?”
Nina turned at the sound of the voice behind her and laughed when she saw that it was Karen with Robin andAmy.
Nina laughed. “I guess that would beme.”
Karen hurried forward on four inch heels and leaned in to kiss Nina’s cheek, then eased her coat off her shoulders while Nina greeted Robin and Amy, who apologized for Moira’s absence, necessary because their nanny, Isla, was out of town for theweek.
Karen’s gaze moved over the photographs on the wall. “Everything looks gorgeous, sweetie. Just perfect.” She looked at the people milling around, conversation a low hum over the faint background music. “And look at all thesepeople!”
Nina eyed the crowd. “That article in the Times was a gamechanger.”
“I told you Hannah was a miracleworker.”
“She’s phenomenal,” Nina said. “We’ve added over two thousand people to our email list since we rolled out hercampaign.”
“That’s crazy,” Robin said. “Modern technology at itsbest.”
“Good for Judith,” Amysaid.
Nina smiled and turned her eyes to the wall of pictures. “She wouldn’t have cared about the crowd, but I think she would have been happy to see so many women here. She wanted us to see ourselves the way she sawus.”
Karen draped an arm around Nina’s shoulders. “Beautiful, brave,strong.”
“Exactly.” Nina had shared Judith’s note with the women who had become her best friends and they often referenced it in theirconversations.
Amy looked around. “Is there booze? I could use somebooze.”
Nina laughed and raised her half-finished glass of champagne. “There is definitely booze, and some hors d’oeuvres at the table in theback.”
They agreed to meet up later, after Nina mingled with the guests and the girls took advantage of the Veuve Clicquot Nina had talked Moni into springing for in Judith’s honor. It had been Judith’s favorite, and Nina could still remember Judith telling her about the first time she’d tried it in Los Angeles after her poor midwest upbringing, the way she’d closed her eyes as she relived the memory, a smile touching her mouth as she’d pronounced the taste “divine.”
Nina made the rounds, shaking hands and answering questions about various pieces and about Judith herself. She wondered if the excitement in the room was herimagination.
