All Things Beautiful, page 14
Casey wasn’t used to taking no for an answer when striving for things she wanted. She didn’t understand why they couldn’t figure something out. Sure, she could suggest they wait to date until she graduated, but so much could happen in two years. Leighton could meet someone else between now and then. Or she could simply lose interest. And Casey’s experiences had proven things did not remain unchanged. Waiting terrified her.
Nearby, the bells of the Iglesia Ni Cristo church chimed the hour, the ringing foreboding rather than uplifting.
“You have class soon.” Leighton’s tone dripped with civility.
“Yes, with you.” What a way to start the day. Casey wasn’t ready. For one thing, she wanted to stay in this beautiful loft and soak in the ambiance of Leighton’s sanctuary. She wanted to learn more about her marriage and divorce. She wanted that kiss she’d come so close to getting. Her desire had pushed its way to the forefront and wouldn’t be helpful as she tried to pay attention to the lecture. The morning would be tricky as class time forced them to share the same space.
Casey was going to need a minute to collect her thoughts. “I’ll take the stairs.”
* * *
Casey had poured a cup of coffee and eaten half an apple fritter from the pastries Jaiden had brought by the time Leighton entered the studio. Perhaps she’d also needed a moment to regain her composure.
Stefan shot Leighton a questioning look, but she ignored him.
As expected, Leighton continued her lesson on the Flemish Method, and Casey was on the third of the seven steps: the second umber underpainting. She squeezed a dime-sized amount of paint onto her palette, as Leighton addressed them.
“Today we’ll be creating the major value contrasts, darkening the darks, and unifying our compositions. Gather around my easel, and I’ll demonstrate.” She hadn’t chatted or made small talk before class, as was her normal style.
Casey didn’t push the issue, even when Leighton stopped by her station to check her progress. She finished right before lunch and propped the canvas with the painted side toward the wall so dust wouldn’t adhere to it. Mark offered to take her out for warm pretzels before he headed to work, but she declined. Instead, she ate the tuna sandwich she’d brought and flipped through a book in the library. After lunch, with most of the other students tending to different areas of their lives, only Casey and Mikala worked in the studio with their instructors. It seemed a good time to start the Bargue plate she’d chosen, Leg of Germanicus.
She’d sharpened her graphite pencil to a two-inch long point, the exact specifications Leighton had shown her, and it lay ready. With one eye closed, she held a long piece of black twine tied to a hexagonal nut at arm’s length and used the makeshift plumb line to divide her reference image in half.
“What’s that?”
Casey turned. The small voice belonged to a little girl with straight blond hair.
Before Casey could respond, Leighton spoke from her doorway.
“Kalyssa, don’t bother her.”
“I’m not.”
“She’s not.” They answered in unison, which earned Casey a lopsided grin from Kalyssa.
Ah, Kalyssa. Casey took in more detail. She could see Leighton in her features—her high cheek bones and almond-shaped brown eyes—and her periwinkle PAW Patrol T-shirt perfectly matched her Skechers.
Leighton crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe.
“Is that a ring?” Kalyssa pointed to the end of the string, clearly undaunted by her mother’s interruption.
Casey showed her. “It’s called a nut.”
She giggled and shook her head, making her hair sway. “You can’t eat that.”
“No, you can’t.” Casey smiled at her. Leighton watched them with evident interest, making Casey’s skin warm and her fingertips tingle.
“What’s your name?” Kalyssa fiddled with the nut.
“Casey.”
Kalyssa stared at her, wonderment in her expression. “That’s my name, too!”
“Really?” Casey squatted to her level. “I thought your name was Kalyssa.”
Her head bobbed. “It is. Kalyssa Catherine Vaughn.” She pointed toward the lounge. “But Uncle Stefan calls me K.C.” She wrote the letters in the air with her index finger.
“Ah, I see.”
Kalyssa touched the pencils on Casey’s taboret at her eye level. She seemed careful, so Casey didn’t discourage her.
“Momma and I have matching last names. The atelier matches my name, too.” Atelier came out more like AT-a-lay. “I’m the only one at preschool with their mom’s name and not their dad’s.” Kalyssa squeezed her hands into little fists and jumped.
Casey looked at Leighton and smiled.
Leighton sort of shrugged, but amusement shone in her eyes. “Let me know when you’ve had enough.”
Casey chuckled. “We’re fine.”
Kalyssa picked up the nut Casey had laid on her easel. “Why did you tie this on a string?”
The questions kept coming. “The nut is heavy, so it straightens the string.” Casey held it up. “See? I can check if the lines on my drawing match.” She stood and showed Kalyssa how to use it.
“It makes you draw it straight?” A dimple appeared between her eyebrows.
“Well, I have to draw them the best I can, but this helps me check.” Kalyssa’s interest charmed her. Would Andy be so chatty in two years? “Would you like me to make you one?”
Her eyes lit up. “Yes, please.”
Casey opened a drawer and dug around for another nut. At the supply closet, she cut a shorter length of string. Her little shadow followed. Casey tied a knot, snipped the excess, and made a loop on the other end. “Here you go.”
Kalyssa grinned.
“Do you remember how to use it?” Casey put her hand on the column beside her. “Can you check this for me?”
Kalyssa held the string high in front of her with one eye closed and her nose scrunched. “It’s straight.” She confirmed it with a serious nod, like Casey had asked her to determine the building’s structural integrity.
“Good.”
Kalyssa held the plumb line between her and Leighton, who still leaned against the door’s frame.
“Momma, you’re not straight!”
A loud guffaw emanated from Stefan, who’d been reading a book on the large sofa.
Casey bit her lip and looked at Leighton. A bloom of rose spread across Leighton’s cheeks. She didn’t seem to find as much humor in Kalyssa’s quip as Stefan had. Casey averted her eyes.
“Uncle Stefan, stand up so I can check you.” Kalyssa skipped toward the lounge area.
From her easel beside Casey, Mikala snorted.
“I already know the answer, K.C. I’m definitely not straight.” He grinned and blew her a kiss before going back to his book with a chuckle.
Leighton shepherded Kalyssa, whose attention was now on trying to shove her little finger through the nut, toward her office. “What do you say to Casey?”
“Thank you.”
Casey didn’t mind the automatic response. Kalyssa seemed sweet and curious, and Casey liked her.
“You’re welcome.”
Casey glanced at Leighton. She didn’t know whether to credit Leighton’s beaming smile and expressive creases at the corners of her eyes to being with her daughter or witnessing them together, but it almost made her forget the tension between them.
Leighton turned Kalyssa toward her office. She mouthed thank you and squeezed Casey’s forearm.
Her gratitude and warm touch left Casey, once again, wanting more.
Chapter Eighteen
Stefan, can you do me a huge favor?” Leighton rushed into the studio’s kitchen before realizing Casey was also there. She didn’t have time to acknowledge her. “I forgot this is the night I’m supposed to sit on that art history panel at Columbia. Shit! Can Kalyssa stay with you for a few hours?”
He took a pint of ice cream from the freezer. “Sorry, I can’t. I’m teaching a live figure drawing class at the Art Students League.”
Leighton let out an exasperated sigh.
Casey tore off a sheet of aluminum foil, the metallic rattle reverberating through the kitchen.
Leighton hated Casey bearing witness to her frazzled state, but she didn’t have time to concern herself with that now. She’d have to take Kalyssa with her, and she worried about a four-year-old’s ability to entertain herself for an entire hour. However, life limited Leighton’s babysitting options, and she wasn’t hiring a stranger on an app.
“I’d take her with me, but she’d be bored.” Stefan took a bite of ice cream. “Plus, tonight’s model is well-endowed and doesn’t hold still, if you know what I mean.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Casey bit her lip, likely holding back a smile.
Leighton didn’t find any of this funny. “No, that’s no place for a child. I can’t believe I forgot about this fucking panel. I’d try to worm my way out of it, but I promised Maxine I’d do it. She’s the moderator.”
“She could stay at my place.” Casey shrugged like she didn’t care either way and rolled her brushes in the foil. “I can watch her.”
Leighton hesitated. She was supposed to be keeping her distance from Casey, not having her babysit. Still, what choice did she have?
“Are you sure it’s not an imposition?” Her heart rate had already slowed at the possibility of finding a solution.
“Nope.” Casey pointed at her chest with her foil-wrapped brushes. “It’s just me, Andy, and a pizza tonight.”
“You’re a lifesaver.” Leighton failed to maintain her frosty exterior. Casey’s offer saved her, and Kalyssa, who adored younger children, would love meeting Andy.
Stefan leaned against the counter and licked ice cream from his spoon.
Leighton wished he’d go to his office or anywhere other than here. She hadn’t told him anything that had happened since the day he’d chastised her for snapping at Mikala and learned about the kiss she’d witnessed. He was bound to have more to say about that, and now there was this decision to comment on.
Leighton glanced at the clock. “Does six thirty work for you?”
“Anytime. I’m headed home now.” Casey stepped around Stefan to return the foil to the drawer. “I can take her on the train with me, if that helps you.” She dropped her brushes in the chest freezer.
Leighton waved off the idea. “I’ll drop her on my way. I have time.” No one besides her took Kalyssa on the subway. It was too dangerous, too exposed.
“Okay. I’ll text you my address. I can get your number from the phone list.”
“Great.” Leighton hurried to the alcove and pushed open the door to the stairwell. “Thank you. It means a lot.” She headed upstairs, wondering how much this would cost her in emotional strain. But for now, what’s done was done.
* * *
After Leighton finished the panel she wished she hadn’t agreed to, she knocked on Casey’s apartment door and waited. When Casey opened it, giggles floated out, making Leighton smile. The sight of Casey greeting her might’ve had something to do with it, too.
Kalyssa and Andy sat on the carpet playing some kind of memory game. Neither looked up at her arrival, but the sparkle in Casey’s eyes made up for it.
“She’s going easy on him.” Casey glanced over her shoulder. “He gets not-so-subtle hints during his turn. He’s making a killing and loving it.” She stepped aside to allow Leighton to enter.
The simple but clean space was small even by Manhattan standards and the décor and furnishings dated. Leighton had lived in a similar-sized apartment when she’d been in college, and again in Florence, though she’d never had to make do with used furniture. Her mother would never have allowed it. It gave Leighton a sense of missing out on something as she took in the fun, mismatched chairs and colorful throw covering the couch. It pleased Leighton that despite Casey’s limited income, she’d made a lovely home for her and Andy.
“So, she behaved?”
“She’s been a sweetheart and so good to him.”
Leighton scooted around Mark’s bicycle to stand beside Casey. Erica had mentioned Mark and Casey roomed together when they’d applied to the atelier, and Casey said Mark helped her with Andy when he could, though Leighton had forgotten about their arrangement in the interim.
Andy took a turn. Kalyssa’s focus on the game meant she had yet to register Leighton’s presence.
“Hi, baby. Did you have a good time?” Leighton smoothed her hand over Kalyssa’s hair.
Kalyssa looked up with a start. “Hi, Momma. This is our fourth game. We had to eat pizza first, then we had ice cream.”
“It sounds like Casey was good to you. You’ll want to come over all the time.” Why had she said that? This was a one-time deal.
Casey touched her elbow. “Have you eaten? Why don’t you take off your jacket, and I’ll warm some pizza for you.”
If she sat, she worried she might not get up again. In the end, her empty stomach made the call. “I haven’t, and that sounds wonderful. Are you sure we’re not keeping you from something?” Leighton shed her jacket and laid it over the back of a chair.
“Not at all. Can you watch them for a minute?”
“Sure.” She sat on the sofa near Kalyssa.
“I have wine and beer. Or milk or water, if you don’t want alcohol.” Casey held open the refrigerator.
“Beer, please.” She didn’t want her to have to open a bottle of wine, and after that panel, she could use a drink.
Casey returned with a Corona.
“Thank you.” Leighton took a long swig. “You don’t know how good that tastes.”
Andy won the game to no one’s surprise except his. Leighton found the delight on his face contagious. He resembled Casey quite a bit, especially when his dimples appeared.
“Do you want to play something different?” Casey returned the game to its box. “Andy, where are your tracks? Why don’t you show Kalyssa your train?”
Andy pushed himself up and went to a shelf where primary-colored baskets held toys and books. He noticed Leighton, and shyness seemed to strike him. He sucked his thumb as he stared at her.
“Andy, this is Leighton. She’s Kalyssa’s mom.” Casey took his thumb from his mouth, but he put it back.
Kalyssa lifted a basket down with a loud groan. “That’s heavy.” Tracks soon littered the floor. She snapped two of them together. “C’mon, Andy.”
Andy squatted beside her, but his eyes remained on Leighton.
Kalyssa elbowed him. “Help me. Let’s make a big circle.”
Although still wary of Leighton, he used his free hand to pull train cars and a red engine from the basket.
Leighton winked at him as he joined Kalyssa.
Casey brought her a plate with two slices of pizza. “Do you mind eating in here? You’re also welcome to use the table. And I brought you a knife and fork in case you need them.”
“Thank you.” Leighton took the plate. “Here is fine. I’m enjoying watching them.” She forwent the utensils and took a large bite.
Casey sat beside her, and when Leighton moaned, Casey laughed. “Isn’t it the best? We always order from them. I ate three slices.”
Leighton wiped her mouth and looked her up and down. “You didn’t.”
Casey nodded and blushed.
“Yet you only brought me two.”
Her statement made Casey grin.
Leighton’s self-imposed mandate to remain frosty around her had failed, at least for now. She needed a moment to relax after the panel, the worn softness of Casey’s couch eased the tension in her tired body, and she was hungry. Besides, curt exchanges and avoidance would be inappropriate in front of the children, not to mention rude and ungrateful given the huge favor Casey had done for her this evening. Her mandate could take a night off.
Andy and Kalyssa had almost completed a closed ring of the track when Kalyssa noticed additional lengths. She snapped two sections apart. “Look, we can make it bigger.”
Leighton and Casey didn’t talk while she ate her second piece. When finished, she sipped her beer. “That was fantastic. Thank you. And what do I owe you for tonight?”
“We’re not doing that. You’d never accept payment if the tables were turned, and you know it.”
No, she wouldn’t. Casey already knew her so well it unnerved her. And she’d injure Casey’s pride if she pressed the issue.
“Would you like another slice?” Casey moved to get up.
“No.” Leighton stopped her with the press of her fingers to Casey’s leg. “We should be going. It’s past bedtime.” She withdrew her hand. They should leave, but she enjoyed the pleasure of a moment’s relaxation. The blush that colored Casey’s cheeks whenever Leighton touched her pleased her more.
Andy padded over to her with a book held against his chest.
“Hi.” Leighton smiled. Maybe he’d warmed to her.
“He heard you say bedtime.” Casey brushed his hair from his forehead.
He pushed the book between them. With a knee on the sofa’s edge and a kick for momentum, he heaved his little body onto the couch and flopped on Leighton’s lap.
“Oh!” She hadn’t expected that.
Andy handed her the book and settled into the crook of her arm. His thumb went into his mouth.
Casey’s forehead wrinkled. “Do you want me to take him?”
Leighton shook her head and smiled. “No.” His warm body felt good against hers. She missed Kalyssa being this small.
Kalyssa abandoned the train tracks and stood between her legs. “Isn’t he so cute, Momma?” She took Andy’s face in her hands. “His cheeks are so chubby.”
