AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Yes! You know that woman, Alice, who was supposed to contact me but didn’t? Well, she did, but it took her long enough! Anyway, she came over, and loved the ‘Bliss’ painting,’ Cara sprang up and down on her toes, ‘so she bought it to sell in her shop!’
‘Really? How much?’
‘She gave me one hundred and fifty dollars, reckons it’ll sell for double that, maybe more.’
‘That’s great, although I hope she gave you a good deal, we should probably research the market and make sure she didn’t rip you off.’
‘Oh, Pete, I don’t care, I can’t believe someone paid good money for something I whipped up in a couple of hours!’ Cara jumped about, and Jacob joined in. She couldn’t wait to share her good news with The Club.
‘Is she going to buy any more?’
‘Hopefully. She said she’d see how easy this one is to sell first, and if it’s worthwhile, she’ll get me to bring in some more. She also said there might be a market for doing portraits from photographs. She’ll establish if there’s any interest and let me know.’
‘That’s great news!’ Pete gathered Cara in his arms, and Jacob huddled in between them like the meat in a sandwich. ‘I’ve got an idea.’ Pete pulled away. ‘You should set up awebsite too, see if you can sell some direct to the public so you get the full profits.’
Cara nodded. ‘Might be a good idea. Although, I’m happy to forego some of the profit if Alice can sell some for me, saves me having to do any promotion of my own.’
‘True, but you might as well do both, and now that you’ve got one buyer, you can be more confident approaching others.’
Cara nodded again. ‘Maybe we should go into business together, honey.’ She winked. ‘The Collins family art business, huh?’
‘Haha, notjustyet. We’ve still got to pay for all this expensive food! I think I’ll keep saving lives for a bit longer, until you become the next Picasso anyway.’
Cara hugged her husband, then pulled back. ‘Sorry, what were you going to say before, about your long day?’ she asked.
‘Oh, I delivered a baby, that’s all.’
‘That’s all? That’s amazing! Were you in the ambulance, or...’
‘No, at the mother’s house. By the time we got there she was ready to deliver. Two weeks early the little boy was. It was her second child, and she thought it was going to be a long labour like her first so she didn’t hurry to the hospital, but he was out within a few hours.’
‘Lucky her!’ Cara thought back to her three childbirth episodes, all agonising, and none under ten hours long, Lily’s being sixteen. She couldn’t bear the thought of going through it again, it would be so much easier if women’s bodies came with in-built zippers on the stomach – just unzip painlessly like a jacket when you’re ready for the little darling to enter the world.
‘There was a complication, though. The cord waswrapped around the baby’s neck, and once he was out, he was blue, so I gave him a couple of quick breaths to get him breathing.’
‘Oh God, is he alright?’
‘Yeah, they were both fine when we took them to hospital. The mother was so grateful.’ Pete seemed distant, like his eyes were open but only seeing the past. ‘Beautiful little bub, he was. Remember when the kids were first born, how tiny they were?’
‘I do, although they didn’t feel tiny when they were coming out of me!’
Pete chuckled. ‘Anyway, we should be celebrating your sale! How about we pour some bubbly?’
Later in bed, Pete fell asleep instantly, while Cara lay awake thinking. She was happy about her sale, and grateful for her husband’s support, but there was still that nagging feeling she was letting him down. She saw it in his eyes tonight, the way he spoke about that baby, and how tiny their kids were when they were newborns. He wanted to feel that new parent euphoria again, but couldn’t. Cara hoped that someday, Pete would be okay with the fact that she was never going to give him another child.
‘Canyou believe it’s September? Where has the year gone?’ Miranda gave Cara a brief hug after she walked through the door of The Ruby Room.
‘The years are flying by faster than ever, before I know it my kids will be in High School.’
‘I guess you’ve gotta make every moment count then, huh?’
‘That’s very true.’ Cara’s moments were usually spent thinking about the next moment, and the next, and the one after that. Living in a constant state of rushing was a hard habit to break, but at least she was trying. ‘Oh, before I forget.’ Cara touched Miranda’s arm. ‘Pete was catching up with a few of his friends the other night, and one of them has been single for a while now, so .... how do you feel about arranging for the two of you to meet?’
Miranda tossed her head back. ‘Umm...’
‘He’s really nice, a very sweet guy.’ Cara leaned closer to Miranda. ‘And cute! Don’t forget, finding a great guy is your top passion, and what did Liz tell us?‘Always choose in favour of your passions’.’
‘Yes, I remember. Thanks for the offer, but my friend Trisha has already arranged a blind date with a friend of her husband’s, so maybe I should see how that goes first.’
