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

Diana gave her a hug. “That would have been so much more believable if your bottom lip hadn’t trembled.”

Hot tears filled Penny’s eyes. “I love him.”

“I know you do. But sometimes, no matter how hard we try, it just isn’t the right time.”

Penny wiped her eyes. “He could have tried harder.”

“Maybe he did, but he didn’t tell you.” Katie jumped when Barbara poked her in the ribs. “What did you do that for?”

“Shh!”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” Katie whispered. “Anyone would think none of us have been in love before.”

Diana unwound the bright orange scarf from around her neck. “Not everyone’s happy-ever-after ends happily.”

Katie blushed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”

“That’s okay. My ex-husband was a jerk.”

Barbara grinned. “Good for you. That’s the first time you haven’t made excuses for his behavior.”

“It must be living beside the lake. I feel…liberated.” Diana smiled and waved the scarf in front of Penny’s nose. “I’m tying this over your eyes so you don’t peek. That way, when you speak to Wyatt, you won’t have to lie about it being a surprise.”

“Okay. Fine. Cover my eyes, but make it quick. I still have to call Pastor John and collect the paint from Dad.” As soon as the scarf was on, Penny lifted her chin toward the veranda ceiling. “If I was really sneaky, I could walk like this and see where you’re taking me.”

Someone’s hands landed on Penny’s nose, squashing the scarf close to her face.

“What about now?” Barbara asked.

“I should have known it was you,” Penny muttered. She lowered her head and turned to where her sister had been standing. “I promise not to peek.”

“Good.”

A key clicked in a lock. “All right,” Barbara said. “Diana, you take Penny’s arm and move her to where we need to go. Katie, you lock the door after us. I don’t want reporters coming anywhere near us.”

Moving through Wyatt’s house without him being there felt wrong. There was an eerie silence to each room. It made his temporary home feel abandoned and unloved.

“That should do it,” Barbara said from behind her. “Don’t take the scarf off yet,” she warned when Penny lifted her hands to her head. “We still have a few things to do before you see the surprise.”

Somewhere behind Penny, a switch flicked on and a glow of light appeared through the scarf.

Diana moved her slightly to the left. “That’s better. How are you feeling?”

“Worried.”

“You don’t need to be. Are we ready?” Diana waited a heartbeat before squeezing her hand. “Okay. You can take the blindfold off now.”

Penny lifted the scarf off her head and blinked a few times.

Looking straight ahead, she saw the shelves Wyatt had added to his studio. There were no brushes, but all his paints were there. “Why did you want me to see Wyatt’s storage shelves?”

Katie grinned. “It’s not the shelves you need to see. Turn around.”

Slowly, Penny turned to face the other side of the room. Sitting on an easel was the finished portrait of her grandma and great-grandmother. It was even more beautiful than she remembered. “I don’t understand. I thought Wyatt sent this painting to Chicago.”

“He never intended it to go anywhere except to us.” Barbara smiled. “He knows how special this is and he didn’t want it sitting in a room somewhere gathering dust.”

Penny doubted dust would get anywhere near it. The painting was exquisite and every detail made her grandma and great-grandmother’s images seem more real. So real that she could imagine them stepping out of the painting and talking about their lives.

“He’s given us the painting?”

Diana nodded. “He’s a good man.”

“I can’t believe it,” Penny said in awe. “The portrait must be worth a fortune.”

Barbara shrugged. “He had it insured for more than one hundred thousand dollars before he left. A security company was here a few days ago, installing cameras and a special alarm. If we want to move the painting to our house, Wyatt said he’ll pay for a high-quality alarm system to keep the painting and us safe.”

“I thought the people in the van were doing some maintenance on the house.”

Diana pulled her gaze away from the portrait and looked at Penny. “I spoke to them before they started. They don’t put advertising on the outside of their vans. The fewer people who know they’re installing a security system, the better it is for everyone.”

“That makes sense.” Penny sighed. At that moment, it was the only thing making sense. Why would Wyatt give them the painting? It was an absurdly generous gift that she wasn’t sure they deserved. From the first moment he’d seen the photo of the woman and child, he’d connected with them. This portrait belonged to him in a different, but equally important way.

“What are we going to do with it?” Penny asked her sisters.

Barbara wrapped her arm around Penny’s waist. “Until we’ve finished our remodeling, I think we should leave the portrait here. It’s safer than taking it to our house and having dust and paint floating around it. We can decide what to do with it after we see how the Bed and Breakfast goes. What does everyone else think?”

Diana nodded. “I’m happy with that.”

“Me, too,” Katie added.

“In that case,” Barbara said. “I think we should get back to work. We can look at the portrait again tonight after we’ve organized a few more things.”

Penny took one last look at the magnificent painting before turning to her sisters. “I still can’t believe Wyatt didn’t send the portrait to Chicago.”

“He wanted us to have it.” Katie handed her a piece of paper. “This is his cell phone number with all the international codes at the beginning. We thought you might want to call him to say thank you.”

She looked down at the crumpled piece of paper.

Katie smiled. “You came downstairs before I got the chance to hide it. It got a little scrunched in my pocket.”

Penny didn’t care. She was just grateful she had an excuse to call him. “I’ll talk to him tonight.”

Diana handed Penny her