“Let them come.” Drake looked fiercely protective. “They’ll find out soon enough that’s not how we do things at Summer Lake.”
“It was one of my worst fears,” she said softly. “That they’d find me and drag me back into a life, a world that I didn’t want anymore. And then when I started falling for you, I hated the thought of them dragging you in too.” She wrapped her arms even tighter around him. “But even if those fears never completely go away, I refuse to let them hurt me anymore. And I definitely won’t let anything hurt you.” Her lips lifted into a smile as she told him, “You already have the paintings the gallery needs.”
“Rosa...” He framed her face in his hands. “I made you a promise to keep the paintings of you private.”
“Now I’m asking you to make me a new promise. A promise to show them to the entire world. I can’t stand the thought of letting such beautiful art sit dusty and forgotten beneath tarps for thirty years. And I would never forgive myself if you kept something you created hidden because you were worried about hurting me. You were the one who saw my strength from the start. You were right, Drake. I am strong. As strong as the woman you painted on all those canvases.”
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he looked deep into her eyes as if he needed to make absolutely sure that she wasn’t just saying it to make him happy. Finally, he said, “I’ll show them. All but the last ones.”
Though she understood his instinctive desire to hold back the nudes, Rosa knew better now. It didn’t matter how many clothes she had on—it was who she was beneath them that mattered.
“Especially those last ones.” She tightened her hold on him, wanting to get closer. Always closer. “When people think of me in the nude, I want your paintings to be what they remember. But it’s more than the fact that I’m finally ready for the world to see who I really am. More than anything, I want people to see that true love changes everything. That risking your heart for the right person can give back even the things that you thought were gone forever. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to trust again. To love. But you showed me that I could own every part of myself—the good and the bad—without shame. Without fear.”
“You’re so damned brave.” He tangled his hands in her hair and kissed her before saying, “You’ve showed me how to be brave too. How to stop running. How to let go of the past and fight for a future with my dad. You brought me back here, back to the place I’ve always loved best but never thought could be mine.” He smiled at her, that beautiful grin that always sent her heart flip-flopping in her chest. “Ours, if a his-and-hers art studio and gallery on the lake sounds good to you.”
She’d cried more in the past week than she had for the past decade, but she didn’t feel the need to stop her tears this time. Not when every single one came from pure joy.
“A his-and-hers art studio and gallery sounds like a dream come true,” she replied. “Maybe we can even convince your father to build us a house.”
“Something tells me he’s already started drawing up the plans.”
Epilogue
Rosa was strong and luminous in front of the cameras, and Suzanne couldn’t have been more proud.
Rosa’s brothers, Aaron and Lincoln, were seated with her and their mother on screen. The two boys reminded Suzanne of her own brothers at that age. How they were obviously overprotective of their sister, while also overrun with enough hormones that they homed in on any pretty girl nearby.
Everyone watching the live broadcast in the town hall obviously wanted Rosa to know how deeply they supported what she was doing today. Not just Drake, Harry, Suzanne, and her father, but also Denise and Olive from the yarn store, Christie from the inn, and Calvin and the city hall staff, as well.
The paparazzi had come in droves and had tried to park themselves and their cameras right outside the town hall—but the locals were having none of it, so the closest the photographers and cameramen could get to Rosa was the other end of Main Street.
Suzanne had always loved being at the lake, but after graduating from Columbia with a degree in computer science ten years ago, she’d worked in high tech in New York City ever since. Fortunately, now that she ran her own company, she had the flexibility to come here more often. Sure, she always brought several computers with her, but at least she could see trees, breathe fresh air, even jump into the lake if she was so inclined. But beyond the beautiful natural surroundings, it was the closely connected community that continued to impress Suzanne. She was all thumbs when it came to knitting, but Denise and Olive had been so enthusiastic about her joining in on their knitting nights that she’d gone several times over the years and pretended to knit while mostly drinking wine and laughing with the other women.