Love Stung (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective Book 5) Page 10

  It was now Thursday afternoon, and Macy and I were sitting on our couch while Isabel played with her toys in the bedroom. She had just gotten her cast off an hour before, so I took her to her favorite toy store to celebrate. I gave her a budget of ten dollars, and she chose a stuffed animal that looked like a little flat-faced dog. She was in the bedroom, introducing the new toy to the rest of the group.

  "They do seem special," Macy said, still staring at the photos. "I see what Mom's saying, but I was referring to the fact that he did them for free. That's crazy. These are amazing. Did he give you all of these? Can you make copies and post them and everything? Are they yours?"

  I shrugged with wide eyes. "I think so," I said. "He didn't tell me not to print them or post them. I hope it's okay because I already forwarded a couple of them to Mom."

  "I want a couple of these for my new place," she said, as she scrolled through them. "A few of them, actually."

  "Drake had some printed, too. He was excited about one of them being printed on some kind of special paper. I'm supposed to go by the studio to pick them up once he gets back in town."

  Macy regarded me like she was trying to figure something out. It seemed like she was going to say something, and then she changed her mind. "Did he tell you he was going out of town?" she asked finally.

  I nodded. "Until Saturday."

  She smiled and raised her eyebrows.

  "What?" I asked.

  "Did he tell you what he was going to do?"

  I nodded and smiled at her. "A newborn photo shoot?"

  "An exclusive newborn photo shoot with Amy Ambrose and her new baby," she said. Her eyes got wide. "It's gonna be in People magazine. And did he tell you what he's taking with him?"

  I smiled and gave her a little nod. I already knew what he was taking with him… he just hadn't bothered to tell me where he was going. Amy Ambrose, really? He had told me that he was going to Martha's Vineyard to do a newborn photo shoot and that he would be taking the egg my sister painted with him. He did, however, neglect to mention that it was for Amy Ambrose. The American Idol winner turned pop icon had just given birth to her first child, and apparently, Drake was her photographer.

  "I can't believe he's going up there for Amy Ambrose. I was already stoked for you when he said he was using the egg, but I had no idea who it was for."

  Macy smiled and shrugged. "I'm trying not to get too excited about it. He doesn't know if she'll want to use it. He's taking a lot of stuff with him, so he was cautious with even telling me he was going to take it. I think he didn't want me to get my hopes up."

  "It's still really cool that he's taking it with him."

  "I know," she said. "I hope she uses it. I think it would make a really neat picture. I love how it's cracked open right there where the baby's laying."

  For some reason Macy's statement made me picture the photo shoot itself, and I experienced a gut-wrenching sensation at the vision of Drake with Amy Ambrose in an intimate setting. She was married and I'm sure her husband was right there, but I couldn't help the wave of jealousy that hit me. I thought of that little fear of mine as a wasp, one that in all likelihood wouldn't sting me at all.

  "Why are you so spaced out?" Macy asked.

  "Because it started to feel weird for a second that he didn't tell me he was going to Amy Ambrose's, and then I realized, I didn't care as much as I thought I did. I mean, I cared, I just didn't feel weird about it. I wasn't scared of it. Never mind. I don't know what I'm saying."

  Macy tilted her head at me. She had much curlier hair than me, and the mass of curls that were sitting in a round ponytail on top of her head, shifted to the side when she tilted her head.

  "Are you and Drake seeing each other?" she asked.

  "No."

  "Well, you just went off on some long tangent about a bunch of stuff that made it seemed like you are. I didn't know you guys had been talking while you were gone."

  "We did some," I said. "Text and email."

  She leaned forward to set my laptop on the coffee table. "I want to get in on the next photo shoot so that I have one of the three of us together," she said.

  "We already talked about taking a few more now that Izzy's cast is off," I said. "You should come up to the studio whenever we do it. Mom would love a picture of me and you together."

  "Did you say you've already talked about taking more pictures?"

  "Yeah, Drake mentioned doing it again when her cast is off."

  "Did you talk to him a lot at Mom's?"

  "Not really. We texted a little when he sent me the first few pictures, but mostly we were in touch last night after I got off of work. That's when he sent me the rest of these pictures."

  "How long did you talk to him?" she asked.

  "Last night?"

  She nodded. "I don't know, a couple of hours. He emailed me a couple of times, then we switched to texting."

  Her eyes got big. "What'd you talk about?"

  "That's none of your beeswax," I said, teasing her. I stuck my tongue out at her just to drive home the point, and she laughed.

  "Did you have deep conversations?" she asked.

  "Yes." I said.

  I thought she would ask another question to follow up, but she didn't.

  "I had a really bad day last Tuesday. Monday, too. Monday and Tuesday were both pretty low for me. Anyway, I was having all these deep thoughts and they all culminated when I went for a drive in Dad's car and saw this wasp."

  "A wasp?"

  I nodded. "I don't know how to put it other than seeing it during these circumstances gave me a new perspective on fear. Anyway, I told Drake that story last night when we were texting—as good as I could since it was kind of hard to put into words. I don't know if that's what you mean by deep conversations, but yes, we didn't just talk about the weather."

  "He must really be into you if you're having deep conversations and he's telling you to come to his studio to pick up prints—especially because I told him not to bother coming around unless he was serious."

  "You did not!" I said.

  She looked at me with a serious expression and nodded. "I did too. Ethan went over there with me."

  "Did you threaten him?" I asked, looking shocked.

  She shrugged. "We didn't threaten him, I just told him I would kill him if he messed around with you, trying be casual and broke your heart. I could see how much you and Isabel liked him and I didn't want to see either of you get hurt."

  "Oh my gosh, Macy, did you seriously do that?"

  "Yeah but it wasn't a big deal. It was a friendly conversation—not like I threatened him."

  "You just said you told him you would kill him."

  "I did."

  "That's threatening!"

  She smiled. "Obviously, he didn't take me seriously, or he wouldn't be texting you with all these deep conversations." She tilted her head again. "Or maybe he did take me seriously, and he's fully committed."

  My stomach clinched at her words. Drake did want to be with me, I knew he did by the things he said and the way he said them. He was interested in me, and it honestly seemed like he cared about Isabel. I started to feel like it was too good to be true but then I labeled that feeling as a wasp. Against all odds, the scary little bug had become a symbol of peace to me, and I smiled at the way God would use such a contradiction.

  "You are so in love," she said, seeing me smile.

  "Nu-uh, I just feel good. I feel happy. Peaceful. I'm glad I made the decision to email Michael, too. Did I tell you I heard back from him?"

  She shook her head. "I haven't seen you."

  "He said they hated to lose me and would transfer me if I wanted to move and stay with the company."

  "Did you tell him what happened with you and J.R.?"

  I shook my head. "I told him there were personal conflicts. I complimented the company a bunch, and skirted around why I was leaving. I CC'd J.R. on the email. I was hoping for the best, and I think I got it. Mike said he'd have J.R. wr
ite my letter of recommendation from the company and added that they'd always like to have me back."

  Macy shook her head in amazement. "Did you hear anything back from J.R.?" she asked.

  "No."

  "Mom told me he came by the house."

  "I figured she would."

  "Are you scared of him?" she asked.

  I shook my head. "I think I might have been if I hadn't experienced the wasp. It sort of shifted my perspective about fear. I know that sounds crazy and honestly I don't know how long it'll last, but right now, I just don't really feel scared of things. If he turns out to be a problem, I'll deal with it then."

  She smiled, looking at me sideways. "Are you some kind of zen master now or something?"

  I smiled. "I don’t even know what zen is.

  "You just seem so chill."

  "I am so chill."

  She flicked her head toward the coffee table, which looked like a shelf at Best Buy since both of our cell phones were sitting there, along with my laptop and Isabelle's tablet.

  "Text him if you're so chill."

  I made a confused expression, and she gave me a huge grin.

  "You should pick up your phone and text him. I want you to. I want to see if he'll text you back." My sister let out a giggle like it was the most fun thing she could think of doing.

  "What are you, in seventh grade?"

  "Yes. What? So? He's my friend and you're my sister. My friend is trying to hook up with my sister. I want to text him. I want to see if he'll text back. I want to see what he'll say."

  "I'm not gonna text him with you sitting next to me," I said. "Don't be ridiculous."

  "Then I'm going to text him from my phone."

  "Don't. What are you gonna say?"

  "I'm just gonna ask him if he loves my sister."

  Chapter 15

  "Macy, don't you dare. We are not in high school. You're not texting him to ask if he likes me. People don't do that."

  "I can do that if I want," I said. "It's a perfectly natural thing for a person in my situation to ask."

  I lunged for her phone, but she turned and easily evaded me. The worst part about the whole thing was that I secretly wanted her to send the text. I knew I should be above those types of things, but on the inside, I didn't mind at all that Macy wanted to reach out to him.

  "What are you writing?" I asked. I acted nervous and reluctant about it, but Macy knew I didn't mind all that much. There were things I could have done to let her know I was serious about her not texting him, but I didn't do any of them. All I did was add a little disapproving tone to my voice, which was basically saying go ahead and do it. "What are you saying?" I asked as she typed. "Seriously, I don't know if it's a good idea. I was thinking it might not be so weird, but you know what, it's weird. He'll call me when he gets back in town. He said he would so that I could come by and get the prints."

  "Do you not want me to?" Macy asked, staring at me with her thumb over the send button.

  I shook my head. "Not yet. What'd you say?"

  She stared at her phone, reading the screen. "I saw the pictures of my sister and niece. Bravo, and thanks for taking them! I want to get in on the next set."

  "That's good," I said.

  "I know." She pressed send before turning off her phone and throwing it onto the coffee table. "How much have you told him about your work situation?" she asked.

  "I mean, I haven't given him exact details but he knows the general idea of what's going on. I haven't talked to him since I heard from Michael."

  "You should tell him," she said. "I bet he'd be happy to hear about it."

  "I don't know if we're to that point yet," I said. "Where I text to update him on something like that. I was just going to wait till I heard from him. I especially don't want to do it now that I know he's at Amy Ambrose's. Plus, you just sent him a text, anyway. I'm not trying to blow up his phone."

  It was then that Macy's phone dinged, indicating that a text had come through. We both let out an excited squeal and then giggled at ourselves for doing it. One glance at the screen, and I knew by the little green bubble that it was a text message. Macy picked it up swiftly and held it to her stomach, turning from me like she wasn't planning on letting me see what it said.

  "I get to read it first," she said.

  "Why?"

  "Because I’m the one who texted him."

  I didn't care. I was too nervous to read it anyway. I just sat back on the couch and looked away. "It might not even be him," I said.

  "Oh it's him," she said.

  I straight sat up. "It is? Is it? What'd he say?"

  "Hang on, shhh, let me read it." She stared at the screen for second and then up at me. "I am not letting you read this," she said.

  My heart dropped. "Why?"

  "Because it's way too sweet. It really is."

  "You scared me. I thought it was bad," I said.

  "It's good," she said.

  "Let me see it."

  She knew by my expression that I was serious, so she handed be the phone.

  Drake: "Macy, I love your sister's face. I have a photo from the other day that I haven't even showed her yet because I want to be the only person who's ever seen it. She is a work of art. Not just on the outside. I see actual goodness coming through her pores. I'm hooked on Isabel, too. Congrats on being related to them."

  I stared at Macy who grabbed her phone out of my hand.

  "I've gotta respond to that," she said, typing out a text. "I'm not even going to ask you what you want me to say."

  I didn't mind her taking the reins because honestly I didn't know what to say to him. I was speechless.

  "What'd you say?" I asked, when she pressed send and sat back on the couch. "I said I'm sitting right next to you on the couch and that he could call and talk to you if he wanted."

  "What? You did not. Did you? Please tell me you didn't do that."

  I knew she had indeed done it when my cell phone began ringing. I stared at her with a panicked expression. "Oh, my gosh I can't believe you just did this."

  "I can't believe you're going to leave him hanging after he said all that sweet stuff and is now calling you. He probably stopped in the middle of a photo shoot to do it."

  She was pushing my buttons and teasing me at a time when I was already completely freaked out. I made a sisterly scowl at her as I picked up my phone and pressed the button to connect the call.

  "I only have two minutes, if that," Drake said when he heard the call connect. He sounded like he was in a hurry, and I instantly hated my sister for making him call.

  "I'm sorry," I said.

  "Don't be. I wanted to call. I'm glad Macy told me you were sitting right there. I was gonna call you later to ask about Isabel's arm. How'd she do?"

  "Good," I said. "It's skinnier than the other arm."

  "Was she scared?" he asked.

  "No. She was thinking about stopping at the toy store on the way home."

  I heard him let out a tired sigh. "I want to know all about it, but they're waiting on me. Text me later tonight. I'm gonna be home at noon on Saturday. I have some things to take care of at my apartment, but I'll be at the studio by two or so. Will you meet me there?"

  "Sure," I said.

  "Okay, good. Text me later."

  "Okay." I said.

  "All right, bye."

  "Bye."

  I hung up the phone and stared at Macy.

  "What'd he say?" she asked.

  "A bunch of stuff," I said, feeling dazed.

  "Sounded like he was asking about Iz."

  "He was."

  "Who was?" Isabel asked from the doorway.

  "Nobody. I was talking to Aunt Macy."

  "Dwake?" she asked.

  "Yes," I said.

  "What was he asking about me?"

  "About your cast."

  "Did you tell him I took it off?"

  "Yes."

  "What did you say?"

  "That you got your cast o
ff today and you got to pick a toy."

  "Did you tell him what kind of toy?"

  "No, but I'll tell him later."

  "What did he say? Tell me all the things."

  "You mean about the cast?" I asked.

  She nodded.

  "He asked if you were scared to get it off."

  "What did you tell him?"

  "That you were brave."

  "Was he pwoud of me?"

  I nodded. Macy's knee pressed into my leg. Isabel went back into the bedroom, and I looked at her.

  "Did he mention being at Amy's house?" she asked.

  I shook my head. "He just asked about Isabel and then asked if I would meet him at his studio this Saturday."

  "Did he say a specific time?"

  "Afternoon. I think he mentioned 2 o'clock."

  "I was supposed to work a shift at the collective," she said. "But, I'm only there till 3, and Isabel would have fun being up there for a little while, anyway. You could drop her off with me before you head over to Drake's. Why are you looking like that's a bad idea?"

  "I'm not, I just didn't even think of… I'm just thinking about what you're saying. I guess I just assumed she would come over there with me."

  I saw some movement in the doorway and Macy and I both turned to find that Isabel was standing there, listening to us.

  "I thought you could hang out with me at S&S while your mama goes to visit with Mr. Drake this Saturday."

  Isabel made a serious expression like she wasn't quite sure what to make of Macy's suggestion.

  "It'll be fun," Macy said. "Lane and Zoe have a new puppy."

  "Do you want Aunt Macy to babysit me?" Isabel asked, looking at me.

  I usually did my best to be pretty honest with Isabel, so I tried to put this in a way she could understand and respect.

  "Well, peanut, you know that I kinda like Mr. Drake, right?"

  "Uh-huh," she said.

  "For a boyfriend, right?" I asked, just making sure we were on the same page.

  She tried, but she was unable to stop a smile from spreading across her face as she nodded.

  "Well, to see if I like him and he likes me, we need to spend a little time together."

  "Awe you having a date?" Isabel asked.