Collie Jolly by Leigh Landry

Author:Leigh Landry [Landry, Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Leigh Landry

Chapter Eight

Ashley scrolled down the home page, checking for errors, wonky design elements, and any last-minute tweaks she needed to make before she showed the final product to Madison. This morning before she’d left, she’d managed to convince Madison to let her revamp her business website as thanks for being so kind and for letting Ashley stay over during the ice storm. She’d been working all afternoon on the redesign, showcasing some of Madison’s best photographs in a carousel on the homepage. It looked gorgeous, but it didn’t feel like enough.

The colorful twinkling lights hanging from the wall behind her cast a cheerful rainbow glow onto the screen. After spending last night stuck at Madison’s, she’d been on such a high and filled with so much nervous energy yesterday that she’d stopped at a store on her way home. She’d bought three more bags of decorations. Now every single corner of her and Theresa’s tiny apartment was crammed with Christmas cheer.

Ashley had been obsessed with the whole holiday season for as long as she could remember. Ever since her parents split when she was a kid, she’d longed for a house filled with decorations, lights, music, and cookies. But neither of her parents had any interest in those things, and they weren’t about to fake it just for her. No matter how much she begged those first few years bouncing back and forth between new parental apartments.

Once she got her own place, she made sure that every December was extra festive. Everything sparkled in celebration of all the good things that happened during the year.

But this year’s decorations were over the top, even for her.

Ashley tried to refocus her attention on Madison’s website, but she couldn’t stop thinking that this wasn’t enough to thank Madison for her kindness and…friendship. Yes, they were using that term now. Officially. They still had a working business arrangement, but they were also friends now.

The word filled Ashley with excitement and joy, but also an unexpected emptiness. She couldn’t stop herself from wanting to stretch the parameters of their friendship just a bit more. But wants and reality were two different things.

She thought for a moment about her stay at Madison’s little duplex apartment. What kind of gift could she give her? What kinds of things did Madison like? She did a mental walk-through of Madison’s home, taking note of her books, items on display, the few wall hangings…

Then, it hit her.

She opened a new search window and quickly typed in the artist’s name from the print hanging in Madison’s guest room. It had captured her attention and lulled her to sleep that night. The artist portrayed the heart of the city in a way that made it feel alive and comforting—comforting even after Ashley’s ordeal on those very streets. The artist’s vision of the city reminded Ashley of the way Madison’s photographs in the living room had also captured New Orleans.

That print had settled into Ashley’s mind so soundly that she’d asked Madison about it over breakfast.

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