The Brighter the Light by Mary Ellen Taylor

Author:Mary Ellen Taylor [Taylor, Mary Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2022-06-30T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

DANI

Saturday, January 22, 2022, 10:00 a.m.

The text soured an already overcast day. Dani hated the grays, which drained all the color from the world and not only ruined her view of the Currituck Sound from her sunporch but always dampened her mood. Color signaled life and vitality and transformed the two dimensional into three.

She typed back a response. No worries. I’ll figure something else out. One way or another, she’d find a ride into Norfolk.

Dani looked toward Ruth’s seascape, which hung on the wall facing her desk. She had never seen this painting before but guessed Ruth had created it shortly before the big storm. She had mingled and then transferred her frustrations, emotions, and talents onto the canvas.

In those days, Ruth had talked more about Ivy and wished she’d return home. Dani had considered calling Ivy a few times to tell her, but she never could bring herself to make the call. Now, as she stared at the painting, she wished she had.

“Mom!” Bella shouted.

Dani lifted her glasses, rubbed the bridge of her nose, and turned from the view of the sound’s choppy waters toward the easel holding her own half-finished painting, which she had started three months ago. It should have been finished by now but wasn’t for a variety of valid reasons.

“In here, Bella!” she said.

Her daughter’s feet thundered through their small house, rattling dishes in the cabinet. Bella was tall for an eleven-year-old, and if the pediatrician’s prediction was correct, she would be six feet tall like Dani. She had her father’s blue eyes and his dark hair, always tied back in a ponytail, and his olive skin tones, which didn’t burn in the summer sun. If not for Bella’s height and long limbs, no one would have pegged the kid as Dani’s.

Bella stopped at the sunporch’s threshold. She clutched her smartphone, which she’d held nonstop ever since Matthew had given it to her at Christmas. Dani had asked Matthew to hold off giving their daughter the phone until she was twelve, but once her ex-husband got an idea in his head, he ignored any negative input. He’d listed all the safety reasons supporting why a girl should have a phone, knowing she’d do anything to protect Bella. Now, Dani was left to deal with the daily battles over screen time.

“Can we go see the puppies today?” Bella asked.

Dani had mentioned the puppies to grab Bella’s attention from her phone a few days ago. It had worked. Too well. Since then Bella had not stopped talking about the puppies or analyzing the picture of the trio.

Dani glanced toward the ashen sky. The sun promised to peek out by eleven and brighten the day. As much as she didn’t want to crowd Ivy, she would have no peace until Bella saw the puppies. “Let me call Ivy.”

“Can you call her now?” Bella smiled as sweetly as she had as a toddler.

Dani’s heart melted. She loved those smiles, one of which now had her reaching for her phone.

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