Part 22 (2/2)
Despite his misgivings, he sat. Stiff. Like a board. He couldn't remember ever feeling so self-conscious. He'd never had his picture painted before, and he wasn't sure what to expect. Something to do with berets maybe, or Rivka standing in front of him holding up her thumb. French accents. Oh, h.e.l.l, what did he know about painting?
Rivka's silence didn't make things any more comfortable. She worked in silence, unbroken except for the scratch of her brush against the canvas. Her pretty face was furrowed in concentration, and he had time to study her.
”Sarah says you're the pretty one and she's the smart one.” He wanted to break the silence with something, even lame conversation. ”Some kind of family joke?”
”Yeah. Our parents refused to compare us, so we had to do it for ourselves.”
”So why did Sarah get the short end of the stick?” The whole idea suddenly irritated him. He still wanted to lay blame, to ease the ache inside him.
Rivka bit her lip and studied her work. ”What, you think being pretty is better than being smart? I always thought I got the short end.”
Agreeing with her would make him sound exactly like the sort of man Sarah thought he was. ”I just meant that I don't think Sarah isn't pretty.”
Rivka looked up from her painting to stare at him seriously. ”She's d.a.m.n gorgeous.”
Taken aback by the force of her words, Alex s.h.i.+fted on his chair. ”Well, yeah. But she doesn't think so. And I want to know why.”
Rivka sighed. ”Because of us comparing ourselves. Because of William Darcy. Because of women like your sad excuse for a hostess. Why, why, why? Who ever feels totally comfortable with the way they look, Alex? Bad Billy was the biggest part of why my Sarai shut herself away, but he's just one piece.”
”So what can I do?” Alex slammed his fists down on his thighs. ”I love her, Rivka!”
He got up from the chair, not caring that he might be ruining her portrait. He felt the embarra.s.sing acid sting of tears, and he didn't want to cry in front of Sarah's sister. Instead, he stalked the length of the tiny studio and back. If only he could run and run, until all of this just melted away. Until he melted away and didn't have to think about it any more.
”I don't know, honey.” Thankfully she didn't try and hug him or anything like that. He heard the faint scritch scratch of her brush, ever moving, on the picture. ”I wish I could wave my magic wand and turn it all to gold, but right now it's all just a big pile of dog doo. And frankly, gold dog doo isn't much better than the regular kind.”
Surprisingly, Alex felt a chuckle bubbling in his chest. It had escaped his throat before he knew it and sounded loud in the tiny s.p.a.ce. He turned back to the woman still busy at her canvas. Tendrils of hair had come loose around her face and gave her a wild appearance. Paint had smeared one cheek. She looked every bit as eccentric as she liked people to believe she was.
”You are such a kook.”
She paused, looking at him with one raised brow that he recognized as the patented Lazin sisters glare. ”Moi?”
Alex sighed and sat back down so she could paint him without so much effort. ”I guess I'm the kook. The jerk, the numbskull, whatever. And I'd gladly tell Sarah that, but...”
”But she won't see you.” Rivka nodded. ”I know. She's like that. Stubborn.
It's a family trait. But that won't matter because you'll both be at the opening of the gallery and so will he.”
”He? You mean Darcy?”
”I invited him to the opening.”
”You did what?” Shocked, Alex glared at her.
Rivka smiled. ”Down, boy. Relax. It'll be all right.”
He couldn't believe Rivka would subject her sister to seeing the man who had
hurt her so badly. He figured Sarah would be tense enough about seeing him there, much less her old boyfriend. ”Why?” It had become obvious Rivka wasn't going to explain herself.
”Because it's time Sarai got over him. And besides, I have some information that's going to help you a lot.”
”You do?”
Rivka grinned wickedly. Whatever she had up her sleeve was going to be good. ”Our Bad Billy isn't keeping his marriage vows.”
Alex looked at her cautiously. ”What?”
Rivka kept painting--her arms moving faster as she applied paint with both hands. ”He's cheating on his wife.”
”How do you know this?”
”I've seen them together, him and his fling.” Rivka frowned, adding a dab of
paint here and another there. ”Harrisburg's a pretty small town, Alex. Word gets around.”
”So what does this have to do with me and Sarah?”
”If you were planning on doing anything for Sarah tomorrow night...”
”Yes?” What she left unspoken intrigued him.
Rivka shrugged too casually. ”I just thought I'd let you know William is going to be there, that's all. In case you had some things you wanted to tell him. Or make him tell her. Or something.”
An idea had begun forming in Alex's head, and he grinned. When Rivka returned the smile, he knew he was thinking exactly what she wanted him to. He winked at her. ”Thanks, Rivka. I think I'd like to meet that guy.”
<script>