The Blank Canvas (Apartment #2) (16 page)

When Ethan arrived in Chicago, Greg introduced him to Joan, the owner of a trendy new gallery that was gaining a lot of notoriety in the local art scene for its bold and ballsy collections. They spent the better part of an afternoon going over Ethan’s demands and Joan’s ideas, trying to meet somewhere in the middle. When they finally reached a compromise they agreed to meet the following day to go over the final details of the plans that Joan would finish drawing up that night.

Not quite sure what to do with himself for the rest of the evening, Ethan took a deep breath and called his sister, shocking the hell out of her when he asked if she and Brandon wanted to grab some dinner.

Now, a few hours later, he sat in their lavishly decorated guest bedroom and dialed Lily’s number.

“I was beginning to think you were never going to call,” Lily teased as she answered the phone.

“Sorry ’bout that, baby. I went out with Emma and Brandon. We just got back.”

“Oh, you did?” she smiled. “That sounds fun!”

“It really was,” he said, unable to hide the surprise in his voice. “That Brandon’s a funny fucker once he finally starts talking.”

“I know,” she agreed. “I can’t tell who’s funnier, him or Eric. They both crack me up. Did Eric and Maggie go too?”

“No, he’s out of town until next week and apparently Maggie has been glued to her computer lately working on a new story.”

Lily perked up like a curious puppy. “New story? What new story?”

“I don’t know, fangirl,” he laughed. “You’ll have to ask her yourself. Whatever it is, I’m sure it will have lots of smut in it.”

Lily sighed loudly. “Oh, I hope so! She does it the best.”

“Really? I always thought we did it the best,” he smirked.

“Well, when it comes to practical application, sure, but in the written form it’s all her.” They both laughed lightly, enjoying their easy banter.

“I missed you so much today,” he whispered after a brief lull had settled over the conversation. “I know it’s only been a few days, but I need to have you close to me. I want to be near you all the time, and it’s worse now than it ever was before.”

“How do you mean, ‘worse than before?’”

“Well, before, I couldn’t get you out of my head. I was always wondering if my beautiful goddess was going to visit me. But now that you’re mine, my beautiful Lily, I just can’t be close enough to you. I can’t get enough of you in my life. I’m happy for the first time in years, and the only thing I’m high on is you.”

A loud sniffle could be heard on the other end of the phone. “I love you, Ethan,” she eventually managed to choke out. “I love you so much.”

Every time she said it, his heart skipped a beat. “God, I love you too, baby. So fucking much. I don’t really know how to handle it, it’s so overwhelming.”

“Yeah, me neither,” she chuckled, wiping her eyes.

“What are you thinking?” he asked after she was silent again.

“That I really wish you were here right now… and that we didn’t have to wait any longer.”

“Soon, Lily. So soon. And I can’t wait to be back home so I can hold you again.”

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you refer to Aledo as your home, even though you grew up here. You always acted like you were just passing through.”

“Home is wherever you are. I know that now.”

“God dammit!” she sobbed, shedding fresh tears. “Stop doing that!”

“Doing what?”

“Saying things like that! I don’t know how to take them, and they only make me miss you more.”

“Just take them as the truth.”

“I do. I believe you, it’s just… I’m not used to hearing things like that.”

Ethan smiled. “Well, you better start getting used to it. Apparently you’ve tapped into my inner cheeseball.”

“Then can’t you mix it in with something naughty? Give me a chance to adjust to the little girl you’ve become?” They both laughed at that.

“How’s this? Lily, I love you more than anything and can’t wait until I get to slide myself inside your tight little body again and fuck you senseless.”

“Ooh, yes… that’s more like it!” she giggled.

“It’s true, you know,” he said, his voice growing more husky and heated.

“Hey, don’t start with that voice unless you plan on a repeat phone performance.”

That reminded Ethan where he was, and he shut his eyes in frustration. “Shit! Good point. I’d love nothing else right now, but I’m at Emma’s place for the night. I don’t think I want them to hear us.”

“I thought you were going to stay at a hotel.”

“I was, but when Emma heard that she insisted I cancel my reservation and stay here.”

Lily sighed again, rolling her eyes. “Damn that little shit, always interfering! Oh well, it’s a big deal to her, you know, having her brother stay over. I bet you made her day by calling her up like that. I’m glad you did. She misses you more than you realize.”

“I think I missed her more than I realized, too.” They chatted for a few more minutes and then said their goodnights, each of them refusing to hang up first, feeling like blushing fourteen-year-olds with butterflies in their stomachs.

* * *

The next morning, Ethan was woken by some ungodly caterwauling in the kitchen that turned out to be a pop song Emma was blasting about yelling timber or something like that. When he walked in covering his ears and scowling, she stopped mixing the pancake batter and turned down the speakers.

“Sorry! Did I wake you?” When he merely grumbled out the word “coffee” and trudged off in the direction she pointed to pour himself a cup, Emma went back to her mixing. After pouring out four large scoops of batter onto the sizzling griddle, she set down the ladle and turned around to face him. “I hope pancakes are okay. I wanted to make you something, but I haven’t been to the store yet this week. So, it’s either this or Grape-Nuts, and if I remember correctly you won’t eat those.”

“
Blech
!” he shuddered, making a face as he walked around the island and sat on a stool across from where she had gone back to scraping and flipping. “How can you eat that nasty shit?” His voice was hoarse from sleep, and he hovered over his steaming cup as if it were the answer to all of his prayers.

“It’s not so bad if you heat it up and sprinkle a little sweetener on it.”

“And thus change everything about it in order to tolerate it. No thanks.”

“I guess that’s fair. I’m like that with Brandon and his grits. No way. I won’t even make them. He has to wait and get them whenever we go out for breakfast.”

“Where is he, anyway?” Ethan asked as he sipped his coffee.

“He had to go into the office. There was a meeting he couldn’t get out of. I canceled my morning, though.”

“You didn’t have to do that, Em. Or make the pancakes.”

“I wanted to. For both.”

“Then thank you very much. For both.”

They were quiet for a few minutes as she dished up two plates, placing one down in front of Ethan and walking around the counter to hop onto the stool next to him. Taking turns drowning their breakfast in maple syrup, they both chewed and swallowed huge mouthfuls in silence, only an occasional grunt or sigh proving that they were enjoying the meal.

“So,” Emma said around a mouthful of food, “how are things with Lily?”

“Mmph,” he grunted, nodding until he swallowed. “Good. Better than good, actually.”

“Oh, I’m so happy for you two!” she dropped her fork and clapped enthusiastically. “Have you guys dropped the L bomb yet?” At the telltale coloring of her brother’s cheeks, she laughed loudly and bounced up and down. “Ooh! You did! You did! Who said it first? Tell me, tell me, tell me!”

“Jesus, Emma, what are you, twelve?”

“Oh, shut it! Can’t I be excited? You’re my brother, and I’ve never seen you so happy.”

“That’s because I haven’t been. Being with her is just… God, Emma, I don’t even know how to describe it.”

“Like you found the other half of you?”

“You too?” he asked, remembering his discussion with Eric about the same topic.

“Story of my life, brother dear.”

“Is it always so… intense?”

“Yes. At least it is for me. But you get used to it after a while. You learn to adapt.”

“Man, I hope so. This shit is seriously consuming me. And you know what scares me the most? The fact that it doesn’t feel weird. I am seriously way too attached to this girl, way too fast, and rather than being bothered by that, I just feel…
right
. Does that make any sense?”

“Of course it does, Ethan. You’re preaching to the choir, here. The first night I met Brandon, I asked him what his last name was. When he asked me why, I told him it was so I could find out what my new name was going to be. Any other guy in the world would have run screaming to the hills, but he just smiled and kissed me. And it just felt right.”

“Jesus… I always thought stories like that were bullshit. Now I’m in the middle of one.”

“Well I, for one, am thrilled that you’re not fighting it anymore,” she said, picking up the empty plates and tossing them in the dishwasher. “It’s like you’re a different person since you came back… or more like the real Ethan we all know and love decided to come back to us.” She turned to him again, her face growing serious. “No matter what happens, I’ll always love Lily for that.”

“For what?”

“For giving me my brother back.” She absently wiped at a tear as she spoke, and before he had time to think about it, Ethan had crossed the room and pulled her to him in a fierce hug.

“Hey,” he whispered, rocking her back and forth. “I’m the lucky one. I have my whole family back and a woman I’m crazy about. I feel like I won the karma lottery or something.”

After they had both cleaned up, they decided to take a walk down to the market since Emma still needed some groceries and Ethan’s meeting wasn’t for a few hours. He’d been evasive over dinner the night before when they asked him why he was in town, but Emma refused to let it go a second time. When he finally relented and told her what he was planning, she threw down the cucumber she was holding and started jumping up and down, insisting that he tell her every single detail.

Once Emma had been updated and sworn to secrecy, Ethan paid for her groceries as a thank you for the room and the pancakes, and he even carried them home for her. Noticing that it was getting close to his meeting time, he grabbed his things and kissed his sister goodbye.

“Aren’t you staying another night?” she called after him on his way to the door.

“Depends how late this all goes. I’d really like to get back earlier if I can.”

“Good luck!”

His meeting with Joan and Greg ran longer than he’d hoped it would, both of them wanting to tweak a few more details with the final arrangements, and by the time they were done it was well after dinner time. As soon as they wrapped things up he tried to make a break for it, but Greg took him aside and reminded him that they were going to treat Joan to dinner as a thank you for expediting everything with such short notice. When he started to complain, Greg told him that it was the least they could do for her, and that he and Rachel had done it many times for different gallery owners who hadn’t put in half as much effort in twice as much time.

Huffing loudly, Ethan drove himself separately, hoping to leave town as soon as possible. After he parked at the restaurant he grabbed his phone, shooting off a quick text to Lily on the way inside.

He set his phone to vibrate and joined the others inside. A few minutes later, he felt his pocket buzzing. Not wanting to appear any ruder than he already had, he took it out quietly and peeked at her reply under the edge of the table.

He smiled to himself, eager for the following weekend so that he could show her just how much she meant to him. Glancing up and nodding in reply to make it appear as if he was actually listening to something Greg and Joan were babbling about that couldn’t have interested him less, he quickly typed out another message.

She replied immediately.

“Everything okay, Ethan?” Greg asked him after he broke into a coughing fit trying to cover his groan.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine, sorry. Think I inhaled some parmesan cheese or something.” When they finally slipped back into their conversation, he sent back another.

Deciding that he should at least try to pay attention for the rest of the meal, Ethan worked himself back into the discussion they were having, and before long he was surprised to find that he was actually enjoying himself. Joan had a lot of fun, fresh ideas for her gallery’s future, and Ethan meant it when he told her he hoped his name might help her draw even more business.

“Oh, I can’t imagine that it won’t,” she smiled. “But even if it didn’t, I wouldn’t care. I’ve been a huge fan of your work for years, and it’s an honor to be able to help you now.”

It wasn’t until after dessert and coffee that they finally said their goodbyes, and when Ethan checked his watch again it was after ten.

“Dammit!” he swore to himself as he climbed in his car. Reaching for his phone to call Emma, pissed that he had to stay another night, he was surprised to see that he’d missed another text from Lily about twenty minutes before that.

Ethan’s mind flashed to an image of her curled up in her bed, thinking of him as she drifted off to sleep. Before he knew what he was doing, he had turned his car toward the interstate and finished dialing Emma’s number.

“Hey, there,” she answered on the second ring. “You heading back over for the night?”