The Lakeside Inn, Leeanna Morgan [rosie project TXT] 📗

Diana followed Penny into the hallway. “Thanks, Wyatt. I hope you enjoy the muffins.”

“I know I will. Thanks for baking them.”

Before they made it to the front door, Barbara looked back over her shoulder. “Thanks for letting us see the painting. And just for the record, I think you’re a really good artist.”

“Barbara!” Diana hissed. “Leave the poor man alone. He came to Sapphire Bay to get away from everything, not to add another person to his fan club.”

Penny sighed and silently mouthed, “Sorry,” to Wyatt.

“It’s okay,” he said. Because he knew it would be. Penny and her sisters wouldn’t tell anyone he was here, Ethan and Natalie were sworn to secrecy, and Pastor John had his confidentiality clause with God to uphold.

As long as Penny’s mom didn’t discover who he was, everything would continue on as normal.

Penny was undercoating the new door frame in the dining room when Barbara hurried toward her.

“You won’t believe this.”

For her sister to be this excited, it must have something to do with her job. “Have you been asked to manage the social media accounts for the company in Dallas?”

“This isn’t anything to do with work. I just searched for Wyatt’s name on the Internet. I was right. He is a hotshot in the art world.”

Penny wasn’t surprised by his success, but she was annoyed with her sister. “Wyatt’s here because he needs peace and quiet. If he doesn’t finish the paintings for his exhibition, it can’t go ahead. Snooping into his life won’t help anyone.”

“I wasn’t snooping. If you know the name he paints under, the information is there for anyone to see. Do you want to know how much his last painting sold for?”

Now she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She should have looked on the Internet after they came home from Wyatt’s house. But, while they were gone, Charlie had torn apart two cushions. By the time they’d cleaned up that mess, fed him, and taken him for a walk, it was time to add another coat of paint to the door frame.

“It sold for one hundred twenty-two thousand dollars!”

Penny nearly dropped the paintbrush. “Are you serious?”

Barbara nodded. “And it wasn’t the largest painting on display. That one sold for an undisclosed price.”

Suddenly, everything about Wyatt began to make sense. He talked about his family and friends, but not about his career. Apart from his upcoming exhibition, Penny didn’t know what he planned on doing for the rest of the year. Maybe he thought she would tell the world where he was or sell his story to a newspaper.

But if he was so secretive, why was he organizing the tiny home village art project? It was such a feel-good activity that it was guaranteed to generate publicity. And the last thing Wyatt wanted was extra attention.

“Don’t tell anyone who he is or what his paintings are worth,” Penny warned her sister. “Especially Mom and Dad. If it gets anywhere near the community Facebook page, he’ll think we said something.”

Diana walked into the dining room with Charlie trotting at her heels. “Who thinks we’ll say something?”

“Wyatt,” Barbara said. “Penny thinks we shouldn’t tell anyone the name he uses for his art.”

“That sounds fair. I wouldn’t want everyone poking their noses into my business, either. Have either of you seen the color chart I left on the chair in the living room?”

Penny shook her head. “Not since last night.” She glanced at Charlie. “You don’t think he ate it, do you?”

Barbara studied their canine buddy.

Charlie’s tail banged excitedly against the side of a chair.

“He doesn’t look guilty.”

Diana frowned. “He never looks guilty, especially when he’s been up to mischief. I’ll have a look in the attic. I don’t remember taking it there, but you never know.”

After Diana left, Barbara stayed behind. “What do you think of Wyatt?”

Penny held the paintbrush a little firmer. “He’s okay, why?”

“You seem to get along really well. You haven’t dated all that much since you broke up with your last boyfriend.”

“I’ve been too busy working. And speaking of work, I need to finish this frame before I paint the attic.”

“You can’t change the subject that easily. Most mornings you go for a walk with Wyatt. You take him muffins and you’re helping him with the art project. That sounds as though you’re more than friends.”

“That’s because you haven’t had a friend who was male in years.”

Barbara made a scoffing noise. “Most of the men I meet are even more caught up in computer programming and website development than I am. I’d sooner be on my own than have dinner with someone who talks about search engine optimization techniques.”

Penny laughed. “At least they speak your language.”

“It’s not that language I want them to speak,” Barbara muttered. “But I’m not the one with a handsome neighbor who spends every spare minute he has with you.”

“Wyatt doesn’t do that.”

“Of course he does. But that’s not the point of this conversation. What I want to know is; what are you going to do about him?”

“Nothing.”

Barbara sighed. “You can’t do nothing. Ask him on a date.”

Penny blushed. “He’s leaving Sapphire Bay soon and, as much as I can tell, he isn’t coming back.”

“Ever?”

“Ever.”

Barbara tapped her chin. “In that case, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”

Relieved that their conversation was over, Penny dipped her brush into the paint. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. Do you have any ideas for our Bed and Breakfast website?”

“A few. Do you want to be more than friends with Wyatt?”

“I thought we’d finished talking about him?”

Barbara grinned. “We’ve only just begun. So, do you want to be more than friends?”

Penny remembered the feel of his hand in hers, the way her heart pounded as they walked around the lake, and the way his eyes lit up when he saw her. She was thirty-three years old but, when she was around him, she felt as though they were at the beginning of something