Only in Dreams(33)

“I actually have all of the designs sketched, a few designs are completed and some of the other pieces are taking form. My biggest problem now is that I don’t have any room to work,” I explain.

“What do you mean?”

“I have fabrics bursting from all corners of my room. What I really need is a studio with a bunch of figures. I’m constantly having to reuse the same figure, and I spend most of my time looking for the right thread because it’s buried under my masses of supplies.”

I look up at Henry; it’s obvious his wheels are spinning.

“What are you thinking?” I ask, knowing him all too well.

“Just brainstorming solutions,” he replies. That’s Henry—always trying to fix whatever problem I have.

“It’s not a big deal, babe. It will be a great story to share when I’m a famous designer one day.”

“Ahhh!” Emmie shrieks as she emerges from the entrance of the gallery, Olivia on her hip. “Henry, we’re so glad you’re here.”

Colin follows close behind her, reaching out to take the baby from her, allowing Em to close in for the hug. She wraps her arms around Henry. I can tell he’s not sure how to respond. Henry is more like me when it comes to affection from people. We’re fine with one another, but an ‘outsider’ makes us terribly uncomfortable. Emmie is family to me now; it is time he learned to accept her as the same.

“Hello, wow,” he says, smiling as Emmie pulls away, staring at him. “What a warm welcome.”

“Are you two hungry? I’ll warn you, the entire place smells of pork. I threw some meat in the crockpot when you left earlier so we could have carnitas tonight,” Emmie explains. In true Emmie fashion, she continues talking. I notice whenever she has guests she rambles on incessantly.

“I’m not sure if Henry has ever eaten food from a crockpot,” I interject.

The group falls silent, and everyone turns to look at me in disbelief. Henry’s brow furrows.

“What?” I ask. “Your family isn’t exactly the crockpot type.”

“I’m not from outer space, sweetheart,” he laughs. “I got through college thanks to a slow cooker.” I wonder how I don’t know this detail.

We head inside, the flow of conversation never stopping. They ask him about his work, about New York, all the things that are part of the world I used to be a part of. I suddenly start feeling insecure, like I don’t have a home. Am I a New Yorker? Do I belong in Texas now? Good Lord, Paige, who in the hell are you?

We move our way through the gallery, back into he kitchen area, and the small dining nook off to the side. I suddenly realize Christian is nowhere to be found. Even though I’m nervous about them officially meeting, I’m also looking forward to getting it over with and moving on with our vacation together.

“You’ve got an amazing set up here.” Henry remarks.

“It works for us right now, but if our family gets any bigger, we might have to think about a house.” Colin explains. “For now, though, it works really well for us.”

“So, Paige tells me your brother has a shop right next door.” Henry says. I’m surprised by his topic transition.

Colin looks at me, then back at Henry. I can tell the subject shift makes Colin uncomfortable. “Yeah, I’d planned to turn the space next to this into additional living quarters, but when Christian came back, he decided he wanted to give his carving business a try. It seemed to work out for everyone.”

“You’re a very generous brother to simply give him the space like that,” Henry comments, leaning over and looking out the window, his words feel a little sharp.

“Well, he does pay rent for the space, so I’m not really sure if that’s very generous.” I can sense a tone of defensiveness in Colin’s voice. “So sorry you won’t be able to meet him on your visit, though.”

“What?” I gasp before thinking. The entire group looks at me. “I mean—I don’t understand. He didn’t tell me he’d be gone.”

“Oh, it was last minute. He got a call this afternoon that the rush order he was working on needed to be delivered right away. Apparently he couldn’t find a delivery company that could take it on such short notice, so he decided to deliver it himself,” Colin explains.

The group is quiet as I contemplate the information. That makes no sense. In the entire time I’ve been here, Christian has not left to make a single delivery. I know I heard him in the courtyard when we got back. Is he trying to be rude to Henry on purpose? Is he playing games of some kind? I’m not impressed and actually quite pissed off about his behavior. I thought we were past this kind of shit.