Page 136 of Through the Storms

“Pardon?”

“It’s paint. I know she’s been using her art to work through her feelings, so I thought she could use some more paint.”

Chloe looked at Riley with surprise. “Oh, I didn’t realize you knew about that.”

Riley tapped the cellphone case attached to her belt. “Mia’s been texting me pictures of some of her artwork. I thought you knew.”

“I didn’t.”

Riley shifted in her seat. “If it bothers you, I can ask her to stop.”

“God, no.” Chloe shook her head. “I just didn’t realize. It’s good that she talks to you. She clams up with me sometimes.”

“Same here. She mostly just sends me pictures of her work. When I ask her about what she was feeling when she did it, she brushes it off and says she just paints.”

Chloe smiled. “Typical Mia.”

“Is she still having nightmares?”

“Less. But just last night, she woke up screaming in the middle of the night.”

“I can’t even imagine how scary it was and then to lose friends on top of it.”

“She still blames herself for Sara.” Chloe shivered. Mia had been on her way to Sara’s house when Lucas showed up. “She thinks if Sara had the benefit of Oakley’s instructions, then she would have survived.”

“Or…” Riley abruptly stopped. “No, we aren’t talking about the or.”

“Please, no.” Chloe swallowed back bile. “I still can’t believe how amazing Sara’s mom was. I’m not sure if I could have beenthat gracious.” At the funeral, Sara’s mom had gathered all the kids around her and told them to honor Sara they needed to live their lives to the fullest.

“You would have been.”

“I’m just glad I didn’t have to find out.” Chloe rubbed her chest. “Did Mia tell you she wants to get a tattoo?”

“No.”

Shit.Mia would shoot Chloe for letting the cat out of the bag, but now that Riley sat staring at her, she needed to say something. “She wants to get a tiny butterfly tattoo on her ankle to memorialize Sara. Apparently, Sara had a thing for butterflies.” What Chloe didn’t say was she wanted to get angel wings to honor Riley.

“Are you going to let her?” Riley asked.

“Hell, I don’t know. But I think, probably.” Chloe groaned. “The boot has to stay on a while longer, so I have time to decide.”

“Will Dennis let her?” Riley asked.

“Oh, trust me, he’ll decide whatever I tell him to. While it’s not illegal to leave a fourteen-year-old home alone, he knows he royally screwed up. He’s even agreed to change the visitation schedule, so I won’t miss her birthday going forward.”

“I can’t believe you were so gracious with him,” Riley said.

“That’s what Lana said, too. But he’s still her dad, so there’s no sense making it hard on Mia.” Chloe waved her hand. “But I don’t want to talk about him. Tell me more about Mia’s paintings. She’s tight-lipped with me.”

“On a positive note, the last couple of paintings haven’t been quite so dark.” Riley gave Chloe a sheepish smile and nodded toward the package. “I got a paint set with more vibrant, happy colors, hoping she’d use more than just the dark ones.”

Warmth spread across Chloe’s chest. Riley was still the woman she’d met a month ago. Thoughtful. Caring. She glanced down atRiley’s strong hand that gripped her glass of tea. Chloe wished Riley was holding her hand that way.

Chloe jumped up from the couch. “I’m gonna put this on Mia’s bed.” She rushed from the room before Riley could respond. After delivering the package, she took several deep breaths. She needed to get a handle on herself. What happened with Riley was in the past. Chloe had blown it, and then the tornado had slammed the door shut.

In the past month, whenever Chloe had seen Riley, she’d gotten no indication that Riley wanted to revisit what happened. She was all business, and now she was just here as a courtesy since she was in town. Their conversation had been polite and mostly centered on Mia, which was probably the real reason Riley had stopped by. Likely, she was disappointed that Mia was gone. Chloe needed to get over her silly notions.

Drawing on as much confidence as she could muster, Chloe marched back into the living room. “How did the meeting go today?”