Although she tried to downplay what was going on, Joshua wasn't buying any of it. He listened politely to her glossed over version of what had happened, then said, "Okay, now tell me what's really going on."
Leave it to Joshua to want to delve into the meat of the matter. He wasn't the type to put up with casual niceties. He didn't believe in putting a face on things. He was the most honest person—intellectually and emotionally—she had ever met.
Their friendship had developed strangely; he'd been a regular at the restaurant where she worked. He was a few years older than she was—kind of like Clay—and went to school with one of her brothers. He was always more than polite, and was an extravagant tipper, and he started to always sit in her section. They chatted, and eventually he'd asked her if she'd like to go to a gallery opening with him the following Saturday.
He seemed harmless enough, and she'd never seen him in the restaurant with anyone else—male or female. And he'd hit on her weak spot for anything involving any type of art. It seemed highly unlikely that a gallery opening would end up with her dead in an alley, so she said yes.
That was the beginning of a beautiful, if somewhat unusual, friendship. Joshua had never made any sort of overture towards her that smacked of anything but friendship and affection. She'd known him since just after April had died, and she'd never heard of him dating anyone. Elodie had come to the conclusion that he was pretty much asexual, which she assumed was highly unusual, especially in a man. But there he was. It was also very likely he was gay, but Elodie didn't feel it right to ask unless he wanted to offer. It didn't matter to her… he was her friend, and that was what was important.
He was actually the best friend she'd ever had—besides April. He was warm and truly affectionate, and she never had to worry that his hands would wander during one of his phenomenal hugs. He was supportive, but also forthright without being pushy. He'd told her that she should shop her paintings around; that she was very good to his amateur eye, and that he thought she should try to contact someone and see if they would show her work.
But he never overstepped his bounds.
Joshua knew she sometimes forgot to eat, especially if she was in the grip of a creative streak, so he'd started leaving pots of food on the stove for her—on the stoop until she gave him a key—stews and pretty good Kao Pau chicken and jambalaya. Sometimes they were the only meals she ate all week. He consciously made sure they were things she could ladle into a bowl and shove in the microwave. That was the full extent of Elodie's culinary talents.
Elodie bit her lip, debating about whether or not to really spill her guts to Joshua. On impulse, she ran into her bedroom and finagled the portrait of Clay out of her closet, bringing it back into the living room and coming to stand in front of Joshua, with the painting facing her.
Joshua was just licking his fingers from the buttery garlic bread, and looked up at her with his index finger still in his mouth. Elodie turned the picture around and heard his indrawn breath as he stared at it for the first time.
"Wow—it's friggin' gorgeous!"
He stood and took the portrait into his own hands, trying to see it in a better light. Then, seconds later, he looked up from Clay's face and into Elodie's, then back down and up again. "You love him."
Elodie didn't say a thing, but she knew Joshua knew the truth in his heart.
"Oh, honey, only someone who felt very strongly about him could have painted him in this way." Joshua put the painting to one side and tugged Elodie up into a hug. "What are you waiting for, girl, go get him!" He turned her loose with that enthusiastic suggestion, but Elodie just sank back down into her chair.
"I can't do that. He's—he was—my brother-in-law."
If Joshua had rolled his eyes any harder, they would have fallen out and onto the floor. "Puh-leeze! This is not the fifteenth century. Marry him, quick, before some wench snatches him out from under you!"
Elodie had to laugh at Joshua's sheer enthusiasm. He was all for grabbing as much love and fun in this life as you could—mostly love, although he didn't necessarily follow his own advice. "I don't think so. He's off limits."
"He is not. Stop restricting yourself so much. If he's the one you love," Joshua looked pointedly back at the portrait, "and he obviously is, then you go get him!"
On a giggle, Elodie replied, "You are such a cheerleader! If you want him so much, you go get him."
"I don't want him. But you do. Don't let another minute go by!"
Elodie sighed. "That's kind of why I ended up going to Red Creek with him. I thought of what happened to April, and decided what the heck. So now he's got me going out once a week with him—but I can't afford it!"
Joshua wasn't going to let her use that as an excuse. "I will lend you the mo—"