Page 24 of Best Served Cold
“Yep.” I took a pull off my beer. “Spent the whole time chasing after a two-year-old with zoomies and a baby who doesn’t like to be put down and insists on being held every second of the day.”
“You have kids?” River asked.
“My sister’s kids. I help her with them.”
“Is that why you moved here?”
I nodded. “Her asswipe of an ex her to moved her here right before my niece was born and kicked her out when my nephew was only eight weeks old.”
“And she didn’t move back home? Wherever…that is?” he casually prompted.
“No reason to. We’re from a really small town. The kind where everyone knows everyone and is all up in your business. We both needed to get out of there.”
He took a drink of his beer, giving me an open space to continue. There was a look of genuine interest in his eyes. That was…rare.
“She was a teen mom,” I explained. “Our parents are very pro-life, but not pro-single-teen-mothers.”
He nodded, understanding crossing his features.
“They convinced her to marry her ex, even though he’s an asshole who never treated her well, and encouraged them to move away for ‘better opportunities.’” I made air quotes with my fingers. “But everyone knew that was their way of kicking her out without actually doing it. They get to keep their delusions that they’re good parents and wash their hands of all responsibility for Becca or the kids.”
“It’s nice you moved here to help her.”
I shrugged and looked into my glass. “I couldn’t stay there either, but I didn’t have a reason to leave until she needed me. It’s better for both of us to be away from all that. Way better for the kids, too.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate.” He toyed with the edge of his sketchbook.
“No more than most people. Do you draw?” I motioned to the sketchbook, unable to ignore it any longer.
He put his hand on the cover, like he was protecting it in case I tried to snatch it away. “Sometimes.”
“What do you draw?”
His features relaxed. “Pretty much anything that gets stuck in my brain. I’ve been doing a lot of portraits lately, but I don’t really have a style or a signature. You draw?”
“I used to, but painting was more my thing. It’s been a while. Haven’t had much inspiration lately.”
We both looked at the sketchbook.
Should I ask if I could see his work?
Some artists don’t mind showing people their sketches, but others do. I was super curious, but didn’t want to put him on the spot.
“Are you trying to think of a way to ask me to see it?” He smiled knowingly.
“Guilty.”
Chuckling, he pushed the sketchbook toward me. “These are just doodles. I keep this with me for when I get bored.”
I flipped the book open as I took a sip of my beer then promptly choked on it.
River pounded me on the back as I coughed and tried to simultaneously put my drink down and cover my mouth so I didn’t make a mess or spill on his sketchbook.
“Holy fuck. These are doodles?” I managed, wiping a tear that had gathered in the corner of my eye during my coughing fit.
The first page was a pencil drawing of a man I didn’t recognize. The detail was incredible and so hyper-realistic it looked like it was coming off the page.
“That’s my buddy, Kai. I want to draw a portrait of him and his boyfriend as a going-away present but haven’t gotten the spark yet. I’ve been practicing drawing them for when it does hit.”