Muskoka Hearts by Carolyn Miller

Author:Carolyn Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carolyn Miller

There was a degree of torture in watching the woman he loved stand so close to others in a way he longed for her to do with him. Toni’s lesson—the magazine person still hadn’t arrived—had progressed through basic color theory, picture composition, and techniques with painting. At the start of the lesson he’d glimpsed Maude’s work from yesterday—a rough sketch on her canvas with a couple of dabs of paint—so the fact her canvas now held a layer of paint across the top third indicated she’d already completed more than the entire day yesterday. Maybe the cappuccino—for which she’d been almost pathetically grateful and apologetic for—had proved the fuel she needed to paint. Or maybe she’d decided to try a little harder, seeing her husband was working alongside her. Alistair—who had murmured his apologies over his wife’s behavior—had the room’s greatest enthusiasm for Toni’s task. Toni had pinned an enlarged photograph of a vibrant maple tree to the board, and their task was to sketch out the tree’s shape onto their canvas. Matt had found the actions strangely therapeutic, even as he carried a sense of tension that had nothing to do with the art, but everything to do with the artist.

He watched her again as she moved to help Maude.

“Now, Maude, if you can please just hold the paintbrush like so.”

He felt, rather than heard, Maude’s sigh, and bit back a smile. The woman was as cantankerous as his own grandmother, with a bite to her words bigger than a bear’s, but that also suggested she was frustrated in her own life, just as his own grandmother had been.

Toni glanced up, and their gazes connected, and he smiled.

She blinked again, and hastily ducked her head, giving soft direction about which colors might best approximate those in the photo.

Alistair cleared his throat. “So, how long have you and Antonia been friends for?”

Antonia. It felt funny to hear her called so. So much more formal than the sassy, sarcasm-prone woman he knew. “For several years now. Her brother is my best friend.”

“That’s often the way.”

Huh?

Maybe his confusion showed because Alistair winked. “I can tell you have a soft spot for her.”

Great. So if strangers could see it, then Toni must be writhing inside to have the man she’d said no to here with her today. Maybe that’s why she’d suggested he get a coffee earlier. She didn’t want him around. Pain reared, and he leaned over his palette, taking his time to recover a neutral face as he swirled paint colors together. He should call Joel and get him to collect him. Man. He rolled his eyes at himself. How much like a six-year-old did that make him sound?

A drift of something sweet, like honey, scented the air and made him still, just as he had when she’d clutched his arm before.

“I like the colors you have chosen,” Toni said softly.

He glanced up, his gaze drowning in hers. I like you, his heart roared. He ducked his head.

“May I?” she asked.

He

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