Summer Breeze Read Online Free PDF Page B

she first arrived, she’d been buzzed with determination. She bought groceries and wine, got a card at the local library, and checked out a number of books she’d always intended to read. She’d set up her easel and dragged a table in from a guest bedroom to hold her paints and rags. She’d taken out her portfolio and thought about what she wanted to work on. She studied her own sketches. She arranged her favorite art books on the coffee table.
    The first few nights in the enormous house had kept Natalie on edge. After the noise of the city, the sirens and shrieks of tires, the shouts and laughter of passing neighbors, the overall enveloping whir, the quiet of the country spooked her. The brushing of the fir tree against an upstairs window made her jump.
    Last night she’d fallen asleep easily, knowing she had nice neighbors.
    She hadn’t had a chance to get to know Morgan and Bella well, she realized. It was one thing to be in a group, quite another to be with “just the girls.” Grinning, she checked her watch to be sure it wasn’t too early, then picked up the phone and invited Bella and Morgan over for drinks this Friday night.
• • •
    At six, Morgan and Bella arrived. Bella wore a headband to hold back her bouncing blond hair, but she’d changed into skinny capris and a black tee, so she didn’t look quite so young and cute. Morgan wore khakis and a loose blue shirt of her husband’s. They had all agreed to be comfortable, so Natalie was in jeans and a black cotton hoodie.
    “What do you think?” Natalie asked them. “Shall we start out on the deck?”
    “Oh, let’s,” Morgan pleaded. “The weather’s so gorgeous.”
    “In honor of the day, I’ve made strawberry daiquiris,” Natalie announced. “With just a touch of rum, so we can drink all we want without getting hammered.” She took the pitcher out of the refrigerator, and the other two women brightened at the sight of the frothy pink liquid, which Natalie carried out to the deck and poured into wide-rimmed glasses.
    They settled in Eleanor’s comfortable wicker chairs around a table set with a plate of cheese, crackers, and fruit. A strong sun had warmed the deck, and as it slowly moved overhead, it cast slender shadows through the trees.
    “It’s finally June.” Bella sighed, stretching her arms. “I am so ready for it.”
    “I’m so ready for this.” Morgan put her glass on the table. “I don’t mean the drink, although I’m certainly ready for it, too. I mean a girls’ night out. I had no idea how desperate I was to talk to women my own age.”
    “I totally understand,” Natalie agreed. “Although Louise has been by a few times, to see if I need anything.”
    “Yes,” Morgan said. “She helped me when we first moved in, too. She’s a very cool lady.”
    “She’s beautiful,” Natalie said. “I’d like to paint her.”
    “Speaking of work,” Bella said, “Natalie, would you show us what you’re painting?”
    Natalie jumped up. “I thought you’d never ask. Bring your drinks, ladies. The more you drink, the better my work looks.”
    Natalie led them back into the house and up the stairs to the front bedroom she’d turned into a studio. This week she’d continuedto transform the room into her place. Now whenever she entered, she stepped into a stimulating, resplendent cocoon. She’d dragged in long tables from the rest of the house and dug out Aunt Eleanor’s most vibrant shawls, tablecloths, and pots. She’d stacked the shelves along one wall with her big, heavy, glorious art books: Rembrandt, Monet, Pissarro, Wyeth. She’d hung a few of her own favorite paintings, all still lifes, and against one wall she’d set up a still life of a silver bowl with apples.
    Bella studied the beginnings of Natalie’s painting on the easel.
    “Your work is astonishing,” Bella said.
    “Thanks. But I don’t know, I’m not feeling it.” Natalie cast a critical eye at what she’d done. “I think it’s the season.