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Saturday morning,Lucas’s twin brother, Jace, flew in to introduce his new girlfriend, Jennifer, to the family. Jennifer was going to the same med school as Jace and planned to become a psychiatrist. Carson’s little sister, Elsie, came home from college for the weekend to meet Jennifer and Olivia, thus turning the holiday into an impromptu Clark family reunion.
“Your parents will like Jennifer better than me,” Olivia told Carson while the two of them drove to the river to meet up with the group.
“Don’t worry about that,” Carson said, “It’s not a contest. They can like both of you.”
But how could Olivia not suffer by comparison next to soon-to-be Dr. Jennifer? Then there was Jace to worry about. He and Lucas were only a couple of years younger than Olivia, so Jace had known about the infamous party incident and had taken his brother’s side. Olivia wasn’t sure if he still held any grudges toward her.
When Olivia and Carson arrived, Jace gave Olivia an approving smile and said, “I can see why Carson changed his mind about you.”
And just like that she was forgiven.
The family spent the day hiking and kayaking. Jennifer was brunette, chic, and pretty. She’d grown up in LA and had an effortless sophistication that Olivia would never be able to replicate. The downside of the family gathering was that Olivia didn’t have Carson to herself very often. The plus side was that his family was so busy getting to know Jennifer that they didn’t pay much attention to Olivia. Which was fine.
Jennifer was clearly smart. She threw out references to philosophers like some people quoted movie lines. Olivia also had the vague feeling that she was psychoanalyzing everyone. Sometimes when Jennifer was listening to other people, she pressed her lips together and nodded to herself.
Elsie was more fun to talk to. She had Carson’s sense of humor and seemed happy just having other women around. Overall, the day went well with everyone chatting and laughing together. This was the sort of family outing Olivia had seen from the outside and always envied. Now she was a participant. She could have basked in the feeling.
The group went back to the Clark house for dinner of pot roast and vegetables. While they sat around the table eating, Jennifer found out Olivia painted. She proclaimed herself an art lover and said she wanted to see some of her work. Olivia pulled up a picture on her phone of a still life she’d done—a bowl of red apples next to a pair of white candles.
Jennifer studied it with a furrowed brow. “You chose the subject matter yourself?”
“Yes.” Olivia’s mother liked fruit paintings, and Annie had a pretty green bowl and a pair of brass candlesticks that went well with the red apples. Olivia had thrown in a white scarf to balance the composition and painted it for her mother’s birthday.
“You’re quite talented.” Jennifer passed Olivia’s phone around the group for the others to admire. “You do a great job with contrast.”
“Thanks.” Olivia used the picture to show her students contrast in composition. Not only did the dark apples contrast with the white cloth and candles, but the right side of the painting showed light coming from an unseen window, while the left side of the painting faded into darkness.
Mrs. Clark, whose house was adorned with family portraits, inspirational sayings, and a print of George Washington praying in Valley Forge, smiled politely at the picture. “The apples look very realistic.” She passed it to her husband.
“Very realistic,” he agreed.
“It’s a deeply meaningful piece,” Jennifer told them as though they’d missed the whole point. “Apples are representative of the Garden of Eden, of a loss of innocence and new beginnings.”
Jace nodded as though he agreed.
Olivia said, “Actually, I just had apples lying around because I like to eat them.”
“Right,” Jennifer said. “You chose them because they spoke to you. The candlesticks represent the light and a way forward from a broken past.”
Broken past? What did Jennifer know about Olivia’s past? Had Jace told her about Olivia’s father or—and this was a worse thought—had Olivia subconsciously put things into the painting that she hadn’t realized?
Olivia swallowed. Maybe she was worrying unnecessarily. Jennifer was probably talking about the broken past of the Garden of Eden. “I guess candles are frequently a symbol of light,” Olivia allowed, even though she’d only put them in the painting because their tall shapes contrasted with the squat round shapes of the bowl and apples.
Jennifer sent her a meaningful look. “It’s a very conflicted painting.”
Carson had the phone now. He tilted his head, trying to see what Jennifer was talking about. “How are a bunch of apples conflicted?”
Jennifer gestured to the phone. “The white scarf and candles represent purity alongside red apples that represent sexual desire.”
“What?” Olivia sputtered. “I thought you said they represented the Garden of Eden.”
“Right,” Jennifer said. “Eve’s sexual desire was what caused her to eat the apple.”
Lucas snorted and leaned back in his chair. “I must not have been paying attention during that part of church.”
Mrs. Clark coughed in a disapproving manner. “I’ve read the Bible, and that’s not part of the story.”
“The story is symbolic,” Jennifer said with dismissiveness. “You have to read between the lines.” She turned her attention back to Olivia. “I love how artists can express things on so many different levels. You’ve done such a good job with the window light portraying that we need to illuminate what we might otherwise keep hidden: How sexual desire is forefront in human existence.”
