Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 96512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“You will?” I ask her.
“You always say it’s your dream to go to the Met. And today you get to go.”
“But if you want to go up the Empire State Building, I can check the price of tickets.” I should have thought about it before now. Maybe if I’d booked them earlier, I might have gotten them cheaper.
“I want to go to the Met more than I want to go up the Empire State Building.”
“Really?” I ask.
She nods her head.
“Are you sure, because, like you said, the Met is my dream, not yours.”
“I’m sure. I can see the Empire State Building from the outside anyway. My dream is coming to New York and seeing Vivian Cross in concert. I’m literally having two dreams come true in one day! And I want your dream to come true, too. And I also really, really want to go to the Met. Do you think we can get a selfie outside—the two of us?”
“I think we can arrange that.” I can’t help but let my mind wander to what might have happened if we’d have come with Fisher when he’d asked us. He said he’d take us to the Met. I still miss him like he left Star Falls two days ago. It doesn’t make any sense. He wasn’t in town long enough for me to feel like I do. It’s like he took a part of me with him when he left, and I can’t function properly without it.
We come to another crossing and I pull out my phone with the screenshot of the gallery’s address. “I think this is it. Except I don’t know which part of the street it’s on. Let me pull it up on a map.”
We stand on the corner of the street as I try to figure out which direction we’re heading. “Ahh, it’s right,” I say. “Just down here.” I scoop up Riley’s hand again. “You think you’ll be okay looking at the art while I talk to Grace?”
“Sure,” she says. “I’ll be even better if you give me your phone.”
“Not happening.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“I promise I’ll be really good, Mom. I won’t—”
“It’s not happening, Riley. The gallery will be full of beautiful art, and I brought your book. If you finish looking at the art, you can read.”
“You did?” Her eyes light up like I just told her she could eat candy all day. “I didn’t know that.”
I pat my handbag and chuckle to myself at her excitement about reading. Let’s hope it stays like that.
“I see the sign,” she says as we continue up the street.
My stomach flips as I see where Riley’s pointing across the street at a simple white sign with black lettering. This is it. I’m in New York. About to talk to a gallery owner about my paintings.
The door is all glass, but when I try to enter it, it doesn’t open. My heart starts to race. Did I get the wrong time? The wrong day? Has she changed her mind and decided to keep the place closed to avoid me.
“You need to ring the bell,” Riley says, as she presses the buzzer on the doorframe. “It’s for security,” she says, sagely.
Grace appears in a few seconds, beaming at us both as she approaches the door.
“She’s really pretty,” Riley mutters.
“Yeah. She really is.”
“Riley, Juniper!” Grace says as she opens the door. “Thank you so much for coming. How is your first trip to New York?”
“Awesome,” says Riley.
“Awesome is good,” Grace says. “And you’re going to see Vivian Cross tonight, I hear?”
Riley nods. “She’s my favorite singer,” she says.
“Mine too,” Grace says, offering her a high five.
“Riley’s brought her book so we can talk.”
“Great,” Grace says. “My assistant has Connect 4 in the back if you’re interested? I’m warning you though, she always beats me.”
Riley grins. “I like that game.”
“Good,” Grace says. “Tanya, come and meet Riley.” She turns to me. “She’ll be perfectly safe. The door is locked, and if we get anyone in the gallery, Tanya can bring her in to sit with us, if you’d prefer.”
“Thank you.”
“Tanya, show Riley around the gallery. If she wants, she can read her book in the chair over there. That way she can see us while we’re in my office. Or you two can play Connect 4.”
“Got it. Gallery tour first?” Tanya asks.
Riley glances at me and then nods.
“I know what a worry it can be. When I bring my children into the city, I always get nervous, even though I’ve lived here my entire life. Anyway, enough about me. Come on back. I hope you don’t mind, but I invited a friend of mine to join us.”
My breath catches in my chest, and I brace myself. She’s told Fisher I’m here. I’m going to see him. I won’t be able to hold it together.
“She’s an agent,” she says. “I think you might like her.”