Page 50 of Finding My Forever

“Don’t worry. Half the time I’m pretending to appreciate the artist’s meaning, but this is the good stuff. I guarantee you’ll recognize most of the works.”

We stepped on and glided to the next floor.

“April, have you taken an art history class?” Eli asked.

I almost made a remark about my Podunk town not having such fancy things, but bit my tongue. “Yes, a few.”

“You’re going to love this.” Liam encouraged.

They were right. I was overwhelmed from the first piece I saw. I’d seen so many of these in my textbooks. I gasped when we walked into a room and a Pollock took up an entire wall.

“I didn’t get it, but I do now.”

Liam stepped next to me. “It’s different seeing it in a book or online.”

I nodded, unable to find words.

He led me through the rest of the room to a collection of Monet’s. My eyes watered when I stepped into the next section. Three panels that were each easily the size of my bedroom walls were connected, depicting a beautiful lily pond.

Silently, I walked forward as close as I could get and stared. The color and textures were more vivid up close. The painting must have been thirty feet long. I was dying to reach out and touch it but I knew better.

“You may take pictures.” I nearly jumped out of my skin when the voice broke through my thoughts. An older woman who wore a nametag stood next to me smiling.

“Thank you.” I reached for my phone and did as she said. They would never do it justice, but it might be enough to convince my parents and maybe even my sisters to come back with me.

“Follow me.” Liam took my head and led us quickly through the rest of the exhibit then across the floor to a back room.

We crossed over a walkway that was open on either side to the ground below. Thank heaven I wasn’t afraid of heights because that was quite a drop.

At first, I thought he was leading me to the café but he turned away and entered another room of art. This was by far the most crowded. I was about to ask why when he brought us around a corner and stopped.

My heart nearly burst when I realized what I was looking at. My favorite painting. The one that had inspired more than one of my stories. I had a print of it hanging in my bedroom. Tears sprang in my eyes and ran down my face before I realized what was happening.

I could feel Liam looking at me, and part of me was embarrassed I got so emotional, but the majority didn’t care.

I had no idea it was in New York. I assumed it would be housed in a museum in Paris or Rome.

The crowd around the painting thinned enough for us to step forward. Others were taking pictures and moving on to the next, but I just stood there with tears rolling down my cheeks.

The brushstrokes were so much more pronounced than I expected. The town at the bottom stood out in a way it never had in print. I noticed details that I missed in the hundreds, no, thousands of times I looked at it.

Starry Night was so much more than I could have ever hoped.

My bucket list was done and I could die happy.

An arm slid around me and tugged me close. He said nothing but it was just what I needed.

Words left me as I stared at the most marvelous piece I’d ever seen. I could almost feel Van Gough’s spirit painting it.

I wiped a final tear and nodded to Liam for us to leave.

“It’s pretty special isn’t it.”

I took a deep breath and cleared my throat. “It’s been my favorite for as long as I can remember. I have a copy hanging in my room, but that doesn’t do it justice.”

He watched me for a moment, then his eyes connected with mine. It felt like we were connecting. Like he just understood a piece of my soul.

“It’s my favorite, too.”