She pushed past him to come inside out of the rain, closing her umbrella and leaving it just outside the front door. Oscar got up from his pillow to give her his usual greeting. Suzanne and Oscar had always been good buddies, although it struck Drake as he watched the two of them that it wasn’t quite the level of adoration his dog had given Rosa.
As Suzanne gave Oscar a good rubdown, she said, “I really need to get myself a dog one d—” She looked up and finally caught sight of the dozen canvases lined up all around his living room and kitchen. “Wow.” She moved closer to one that was still wet. “These are amazing, Drake. Absolutely breathtaking. But—” She turned to him. “You never paint people.”
He’d promised Rosa that no one would ever see his paintings of her, but he hadn’t counted on his sister dropping by unexpectedly from New York City. “They’re just something I’m messing around with. I’m not planning on anyone ever seeing them.”
“You’re not going to show or sell them?”
“No. I promised the woman that I wouldn’t. You aren’t even supposed to see them.”
“Don’t tell me this is some weird commission where you’re painting these for this woman’s collection so that she can stare at herself all day in every room?”
“Not even close.” The words came out more impassioned than he’d intended. Then again, given that he’d just spent nearly twenty-four hours painting Rosa in a reckless rush of inspiration, he clearly didn’t have a speck of self-control where she was concerned. “She asked me to burn them when I’m done.”
“You can’t!” Suz looked and sounded horrified. “I know the art world can be really weird, but how could anyone possibly ask you to burn these incredible paintings?”
He ran a hand over his eyes. Eyes he finally realized were burning from lack of sleep and too many hours of laser focus. “It’s not that simple.” They were the same words Rosa had used to describe her relationship with her mother, and though he’d argued with her, the truth was that he understood not that simple.
It was how he’d felt about his father his entire life.
“Wait a second.” Suz turned back to the paintings as if something had just clicked into place. “I know her. That’s the reality TV girl. The naked one.”
“Those pictures weren’t her fault.” His growl caused his sister to gape at him in shock. Oscar looked just as offended, as if the dog could actually understand her.
“You know I didn’t mean it like that.” Suzanne held up her hands. “It’s just that it’s all over the news right now, and I spoke without thinking. What’s happened to her is horrible. Beyond horrible. If I could figure out a way to write a program that would erase all those pictures off the Internet for her, I would. I’ve actually thought about this before—about creating a tech task force that would help women protect themselves from Internet stalkers and trolls.” She put a hand on his arm. “But why didn’t you tell any of us that you know Rosalind Bouchard? Or that you’re painting her?”
“I only met her yesterday.” He wouldn’t give away any of Rosa’s secrets, but he needed his sister to know one important thing. “No one knows she’s in Montauk, so you can’t even tell Harry or Alec.”
“Is she okay?”
Rosa was one of the strongest people he’d ever met. But she clearly wasn’t okay with anything happening in her life right now.
“She’ll figure things out.” He was sure of it. If only he could be as sure about everything else.
Yes, he was fired up to paint Rosa right now. But would that fire translate into anything he could actually show in the NYC gallery in two weeks? And even if it did, how the hell was he going to keep from tracking Rosa down in the future when he simply couldn’t imagine never seeing her again, never feeling her laughter resonate all the way through his body, never watching Oscar worship at her feet?
Damn it, he needed to stop thinking about her, at least long enough to ask his sister, “What are you doing here?”
“If you ever bothered to turn on your cell phone,” Suzanne replied with a little scowl, “I wouldn’t have to drive three hours to talk to you in an emergency. It’s so much easier to reach you when you’re in the city.”
“Emergency?” Now he was the one reaching for his sister to make sure she was okay.
“I’m fine. But Dad isn’t.”
Of course. He should have guessed the emergency had to do with his father. Suz had always been the one to take care of him. Harry too. Alec was usually too busy knocking heads with him.