AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Numb, she wandered through the part of the house where it didn’t feel like anything was wrong. The kitchen, the living room, even the staircase were all untouched.
Then she did something she probably shouldn’t have.
Rose entered the room where she’d drawn Mike the day before. This room seemed to have sustained the majority of the damage from the rain and the tree. Her sketchbook was still on the ground where she’d left it after getting upset, but now the book sat in a puddle of rainwater. There were several works of art in the notebook, not just the sketch of Mike. Watercolor bled from the pages like a seeping wound. It might as well have been her heart.
She crouched and picked up the book with her finger and thumb, letting the water drain from the pages. Rose flipped to where she’d drawn Mike, finding the page only mildly damaged. The drawing itself was untouched.
Anguish and fury burst to life within her. She scowled at the picture of Mike—the image she’d worked so hard on. His words and his actions seared her to her core. She couldn’t believe he’d just up and leave like that. It was like he’d dangled a carrot in front of her nose and then walked away. He was probably laughing at her right now, making fun of the fact that he’d made her fall in love with him.
Rose took the page from the book and grabbed it with both hands, prepared to tear it to shreds, but then her strength faded away, like the rainwater draining from the damaged pages. She couldn’t tear up the picture any more than she could cut Mike out of her heart. He’d touched her; he’d made her find her love of art again. Even though she was in the midst of the worst pain she’d ever felt, there was one thing she knew for certain.
She still loved him.
Sitting back against a nearby stack of boxes, she let the tears slide down her face. Much like her dream of being part of the world of art, her dream of finding love had come crashing down.
Rose was doomed to lose everything that ever meant anything to her. It didn’t matter how hard she tried to clutch that which she thought was most important, it always ended up slipping through her fingers and finding its way down a long, dark tunnel. This was her curse.
She brushed at her cheek with the back of her hand, letting her gaze sweep through the room. From the looks of it, most of the art supplies could be salvaged.
Mike could come back at any moment, and based on what she’d seen of him, she wouldn’t be surprised if he decided to trash the whole place. There were still artworks she could take from the premises. She could also gather the supplies that were still usable—not that she planned on using them.
There was one problem. She needed to take some of this stuff because of her meeting with the owner of the lodge. He wanted a few pieces, and she didn’t have anything ready. She’d planned on painting some things after the house was done. Now she didn’t have anything better to do.
Was she a fool?
Probably.
Who in their right mind would try doing the one thing they’d failed at over and over again? Who would chase after someone or something that clearly didn’t want to be in her life?
Mike didn’t want anything to do with her, that much was for certain. And the worst part was that he was the one who had given her back her joy in art. He’d breathed new life into her. Why did she have to lose him, too?
She groaned as she got to her feet and grabbed a box. She didn’t know how she was going to survive this new change when everything continued to hurt so much. Even though she told herself that Mike wasn’t the most important thing in her life, she couldn’t make herself believe it.
Rose would do what she could to pick herself up and keep moving forward. She didn’t have the luxury of running away like Mike. She’d have to start over just like before.
Going through the motions took on a new meaning when Rose was no longer helping Mike fix up his grandparents’ house. She couldn’t find the energy to get anything done.
Realistically, she needed to find another job. That was the top priority on her list. As much as she hated the idea, she was seriously considering going to the restaurant and begging for her job back.
Yes, the owner of the lodge still wanted to commission some art for the lobby, but that wouldn’t take her far. She knew better than to believe that she’d make it big after doing a couple of paintings.
Right about now, she didn’t know if she’d even be able to do the ones she’d promised him in the first place.
Rose picked up the classifieds once again, seated at the kitchen table before her brother got up. Ethan might be pleased that she was looking for a job, but at the same time, it could just emphasize that she had lost her way.
She hadn’t told him everything that had happened with Mike out at the house. After the storm, everyone was acting almost skittish around her. She hadn’t even told anyone that the tree had fallen on the house. No one in town had been made aware of the problem, and why would they? Mike wasn’t exactly part of the town in the way others were.
The newspaper in her hand felt heavy, weighed down by the realization that she wasn’t going to find anything worth interviewing for. Ethan would say she was being too picky. A job was a job, right?
Rose pushed the newspaper away from her and picked up her coffee mug. Wrapping her hands around the cup, she let her thoughts shift to Mike, wondering how she’d managed to let everything slip from her fingers.
From the start, it had felt like the world was against them. She’d been irritated with him for a misunderstanding, and she’d never given him the benefit of the doubt. Even with all the sweet things he’d done for her, she’d still put up walls between them.
She didn’t deserve him.
Ethan wandered into the kitchen. Their eyes met briefly before he got to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup. He took a swig of his steaming beverage and nodded to her. “You looking for a job?”
Rose frowned. Of course, that would be the first thing he’d notice. She glanced at the paper out of the corner of her eye. “I was thinking about it.”
