more than a week away, blessedly. Which meant that she had a few more days to carry on with her not-very-social life. She’d grown accustomed to a schedule that included her family, riding, art, and pets. She was familiar with those things and content, for the most part, with her undisturbed peace.
She’d changed out of her riding clothes and into even comfier stuff hours ago: yoga pants, slipper socks, and a lightweight burnout hoodie. She perched on her stool and used the tip of her brush to swirl pale pink watercolor paint along the top of a fairy’s wing.
Yes, indeed. Undisturbed peace was wonderful! And would be even more so if Jake Porter would quit stealing into her thoughts.
It had been three days since he’d tried to fire her. Since that time, he’d treated her the same way he’d treated her on her previous workday mornings. In return, she’d endeavored to treat him the same, too. He’d decided to let her keep her job, for the time being anyway, so she’d been polite and friendly to him. She’d tried to pull him into conversation just as often.
Inwardly, though, her feelings toward him had shifted. Before he’d tried to fire her, Lyndie’s emotions for Jake had revolved around compassion. She’d felt about him the way she’d feel about an injured lion limping around, doing its best to soldier on. This week, though, the lion had proven that he had teeth. And ever since, she’d been stewing in a peculiar mix of frustration, empathy, hurt, and cautiousness.
If her libido would quit noticing the lion’s handsomeness, then all the rest would be a lot easier to manage.
Drawing back, she tilted her head to study her painting. She’d been praying for Jake twice as often as she had before his phone call to her. Again and again, she’d asked God to intervene in Jake’s life. She kept telling God that she was ready to do whatever He might call her to do on Jake’s behalf. She just needed Him to show her what that looked like.
She dropped the brush into water, picked up a pen, and added a bit more thickness to a unicorn’s tail. After capping her pen, she jabbed it into her bun and left it there. She almost always twisted her hair into a topknot while painting. It got the unruly strands out of her way and made a serviceable pen and pencil holder.
The watercolor paper mounted on her easel revealed a scene she’d drawn first in ink. A majestic gray unicorn inspired by Silver dominated the drawing’s center. Just beside and behind him stood a smaller chestnut unicorn inspired by Blackberry. A short fairy with wavy blond hair that tumbled all the way to her thighs gazed up at the unicorns fondly, her hands interlaced behind her back. Zoe, in fairy form, hovered in the air in front of the unicorns, her knees bent and feet crossed, her smile broad, her hand outstretched to the animals.
Mrs. Mapleton rubbed against Lyndie’s ankle. Gentleman Tobias let out a shuddering snore from his spot on the chair in the corner, Empress Felicity asleep beside him. Both spaniels had, as usual, ignored the perfectly good doggie pillow Lyndie had placed on the floor for them.
Music helped Lyndie’s creativity, and she always chose tunes that matched the mood of the piece she was working on. Sometimes happy, sometimes dramatic or adventurous. At the moment, a track that sounded mystical and contemplative played.
As Lyndie considered her painting, she leafed through the potential plots she’d come up with for these four characters. She wanted to write a book about friendship and bravery and kindness—
She gasped softly as an epiphany expanded inside her.
Slowly, she brought her hands up to her cheeks. She looked in turn at each of the characters she’d painted, her pulse skittering excitedly.
She . . .
She may have just stumbled upon Silver Leaf’s secret.
Chapter Seven
T he moment Lyndie finished riding and cleaning tack the next morning, she went in search of Jake. She found him inside one of the training
She’d changed out of her riding clothes and into even comfier stuff hours ago: yoga pants, slipper socks, and a lightweight burnout hoodie. She perched on her stool and used the tip of her brush to swirl pale pink watercolor paint along the top of a fairy’s wing.
Yes, indeed. Undisturbed peace was wonderful! And would be even more so if Jake Porter would quit stealing into her thoughts.
It had been three days since he’d tried to fire her. Since that time, he’d treated her the same way he’d treated her on her previous workday mornings. In return, she’d endeavored to treat him the same, too. He’d decided to let her keep her job, for the time being anyway, so she’d been polite and friendly to him. She’d tried to pull him into conversation just as often.
Inwardly, though, her feelings toward him had shifted. Before he’d tried to fire her, Lyndie’s emotions for Jake had revolved around compassion. She’d felt about him the way she’d feel about an injured lion limping around, doing its best to soldier on. This week, though, the lion had proven that he had teeth. And ever since, she’d been stewing in a peculiar mix of frustration, empathy, hurt, and cautiousness.
If her libido would quit noticing the lion’s handsomeness, then all the rest would be a lot easier to manage.
Drawing back, she tilted her head to study her painting. She’d been praying for Jake twice as often as she had before his phone call to her. Again and again, she’d asked God to intervene in Jake’s life. She kept telling God that she was ready to do whatever He might call her to do on Jake’s behalf. She just needed Him to show her what that looked like.
She dropped the brush into water, picked up a pen, and added a bit more thickness to a unicorn’s tail. After capping her pen, she jabbed it into her bun and left it there. She almost always twisted her hair into a topknot while painting. It got the unruly strands out of her way and made a serviceable pen and pencil holder.
The watercolor paper mounted on her easel revealed a scene she’d drawn first in ink. A majestic gray unicorn inspired by Silver dominated the drawing’s center. Just beside and behind him stood a smaller chestnut unicorn inspired by Blackberry. A short fairy with wavy blond hair that tumbled all the way to her thighs gazed up at the unicorns fondly, her hands interlaced behind her back. Zoe, in fairy form, hovered in the air in front of the unicorns, her knees bent and feet crossed, her smile broad, her hand outstretched to the animals.
Mrs. Mapleton rubbed against Lyndie’s ankle. Gentleman Tobias let out a shuddering snore from his spot on the chair in the corner, Empress Felicity asleep beside him. Both spaniels had, as usual, ignored the perfectly good doggie pillow Lyndie had placed on the floor for them.
Music helped Lyndie’s creativity, and she always chose tunes that matched the mood of the piece she was working on. Sometimes happy, sometimes dramatic or adventurous. At the moment, a track that sounded mystical and contemplative played.
As Lyndie considered her painting, she leafed through the potential plots she’d come up with for these four characters. She wanted to write a book about friendship and bravery and kindness—
She gasped softly as an epiphany expanded inside her.
Slowly, she brought her hands up to her cheeks. She looked in turn at each of the characters she’d painted, her pulse skittering excitedly.
She . . .
She may have just stumbled upon Silver Leaf’s secret.
Chapter Seven
T he moment Lyndie finished riding and cleaning tack the next morning, she went in search of Jake. She found him inside one of the training
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