Page 127 of Tears of Ink

I wave as I crunch over the gravel and find him balancing the frame out of the back of a transit van. The frame is wrapped in a black velvet covering which can only be a good thing. “Thanks, Damien. I appreciate this so much.”

“It’s fine, you can give Whitlocks all the exclusive pieces you are going to make off the back of this venture.”

“That reminds me, did you know it was Elijah Fairclough who bought all my pieces?”

He shrugs. “Who cares, so long as they sell?”

I can’t argue with that logic.

We both turn as Lewis crunches across the gravel. “Do you guys need some muscle?” Damien’s eyes light with glee as he takes in Lewis’ strong build.

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Where’s Tabitha?” I ask Lewis.

“In the kitchen.” He nods his head. “She’s not feeling great.”

“Okay, she better not leave me to walk into this ball by myself. Can you guys manage to get this to the painting studio?”

They both nod, and I leave them to seek out Tabitha. She’s got to help me get into that white dress without making a hash of it.

“Hey, what’s up?” I ask as I step into the comforting familiarity of the kitchen. It’s just Tabs, Elaine must be busy somewhere. Tabitha’s eyes are red-rimmed. “What’s going on, have you and Lewis had a row again?”

There are a lot of teenage hormones in charge of their blooming relationship. Makes me kind of glad the last thing I wanted at her age was a boyfriend.

“I’m tired.” She sags a little. “And Mother is being a bitch.”

“Why? And do you mean more of a bitch than usual?”

This makes Tabitha smile, but it doesn’t last long. “She’s sending me to finishing school. I mean seriously, of all the bloody things. Why can’t I just get a normal job, like a normal girl? I don’t know why everything to do with the Faircloughs has to always be so over the top.”

“Finishing school? Is that still even a thing?” I perch on a chair and grab her hand. My stomach plummets. Are they saying they will send her to stop Elijah being with me? Has he told them already? Sweat slicks my palms and I wipe them on my tatty jeans.

“Eli will sort it, you know he will.”

I say the words, but inside I’m tangled into knots. Will Eli sort it when he could be cut off at any point?

All this is because of me.

Is this what love costs?

I blow a breath of air from my mouth and push back my hair. “Do you want to help me get the ballroom ready?”

“Sure.” She pushes back from the table, but she looks green.

“You’re not well enough, don’t worry about it.” I place a soothing hand on her shoulder, but she shakes her head.

“It’s okay. You still haven’t told me what you are putting in there anyway.”

“I’m putting all Elijah’s paintings in there. He’s going to be the main artist.”

Tabitha holds her hand to her mouth. “But that’s a secret. Mum’s always said.”

I shake my head and shrug. “Some secrets aren’t meant to be kept.”

Three hours later the ballroom is ready. By the time I’d put all Eli’s paintings pride of place, and surrounded them by the others from the project, it was too late for Jennifer to say anything. Although the look on her face said it all.

There is no hiding the Eli Fairclough swirled as a signature at the bottom of every canvas.