Lucy piped up. “It’s gorgeous, y’all! I saw it the other day.”
Her mom pouted. “I know you’ve had more work done on it since the first time you showed me.” Jayne rolled her eyes at her pout as she nodded.
Grace glanced surreptitiously out the dining room window to check on the men, who were deep in conversation. “I was impressed when Seth said it was his favorite.”
“Why’s that?” Jayne knew he’d done many, many tattoos over the years but figured it was just because they’d bonded over it.
Lily nodded and pulled out her cell phone, tapped the screen, and began typing. “We thought he was just super-talented and looking for a place to hang his shingle when he came to Divine. We didn’t know he was world famous.”
Jayne’s eyebrows shot up, and she caught her jaw before it dropped in surprise. “He is?”
Grace nodded. Lily turned her phone so that the screen faced Jayne and scrolled through several pictures of tattoos. “He obviously doesn’t talk about it but he has clients that visit him from all over the world to have him do their body art. He wouldn’t think it’s a big deal, but, girls, we sport ink that was done by a world-renowned artist.”
“He’s so down-to-earth,” Jayne murmured.
Lucy quietly said, “Fame doesn’t mean much to him, the big dork.” Her words were teasing but Jayne heard the respect in her tone as well.
The tattoos that Lily continued to scroll through showed a wide variety of styles but all were magnificently done. There was one portrait tattoo on a man’s back that appeared three-dimensional at first glance. Lily handed her the phone and let her scan through the rest as the women talked. Among the pictures, she thought she saw a couple of celebrities.
“That’s what’s so wonderful about him. I think he moved here to get away from all of that,” Grace said as she glanced at the window again. She drew Jayne toward her office located in the back of the house as Frieda, Lucy, and Lily followed. “So you’ll show us?”
She’d already seen their tattoos, which Seth had also done, as well as several others at the July 4th get-together, so she didn’t see any harm. Grace shut the door as Jayne unbuttoned her shirt. “It covers a lot of skin.”
“We’re not shy if you’re not,” Lucy replied as she took a seat in the chair at Grace’s desk. As some of the healing tattoo was revealed, Lucy whistled softly. “Whoa, dude, the shading makes a big difference. He worked you over good last Saturday.”
Honey, you have no idea.
Jayne didn’t think it was possible to be any redder in the cheeks than she was at Lucy’s word choice. Thankfully, in the lamplight no one seemed to notice. She slipped the shirt off and lowered the elastic waistband on her gauzy, flowing blue skirt. “It’s still healing, which is why it looks a little flaky in places.”
As she revealed the lower edge where the rose vine wrapped around her upper thigh, her mother’s lips formed an O and she said, “Wow. It’s beautiful.”
Her mom had been nothing but accepting of Seth since that initial grilling, and hearing those words from her filled Jayne with happiness. She didn’t have any illusions about her dad’s reaction though. He’d have a conniption once he found out that his baby had been tattooed. But it was her life and her body.
“Does it itch?” Lily asked as she leaned closer. “I know mine did.”
Patting an itching rib rather than scratching, Jayne giggled. “Like crazy, but Seth told me that’s normal.” She lifted her bra to show her mom the rose at the top of the design. Frieda asked Lily about her tattoo, and she quickly showed her the multicolored phoenix that decorated her abdomen.
Her mom sighed with what sounded like disappointment. “I wish I’d gotten a tattoo when I had the chance years ago. I wonder if Seth would do something for me. Maybe not that extensive. Does it hurt very much?” Her brows creased as she looked at her daughter.
“I won’t lie to you and say it doesn’t, but it’s worth it.”
Her mom brushed a knuckle over one of the roses on her rib cage. “He does very fine work. It’s so lifelike.” Glancing up at her, she softly asked, “He’s good to you too, I hope?”
Jayne felt tears prickle in her eyes and nodded. “Very good.”
“Hey, Grace, are these all book covers?” Lucy asked as she pointed to the stretched canvas prints decorating the walls around Grace’s desk.
Grace nodded with a grin as Lucy leaned closer to one and squinted at another one. “Caressa MacFarland. I love her books. Do you know her?”