Megan followed Chloe into a room behind the
kitchen. Soft yellow walls greeted them. In one corner stood a small table with
candles arranged in a circle. A rug
covered the floor in front of the table, and several pillows stood against one
wall. A large window looked out onto the
back of Chloe’s property. On the walls
were watercolors unlike any of Chloe’s other work. In one picture a soft gray circle appeared with
what looked like sunbeams in bright yellows and soft pinks painted in wide
brush strokes. Another had a soft blue-gray
shape of a human along one side with narrow, bright swirls of color coming out
from the figure. Each painting possessed
an essence that Megan could not describe.
She felt she had stepped into sacred space.
Standing next to Megan, Chloe quietly said,
“No, these are not for sale.”
“They are amazing. Yet as I say that, I really don’t know what
they are. Looking at them I want to
suggest soul work. They seem hallowed.” Megan hesitated. “Am I making sense? I am so touched to be here. This obviously is a very personal space for
you.”
“Megan, it’s true, this is my sacred space. I have had similar spots in other places I’ve
lived, but somehow this room is a combination of all the good parts of my other
spaces. This is where I meditate, and often
after meditation I am drawn to my watercolors to paint images. I guess you’d say that I use this particular
medium to express myself spiritually.”
“Chloe, I feel honored to see this
room. Thank you.” Megan felt truly touched.
As they walked back into the living room,
Emily came running toward them with paper in each hand. When she held out her paintings, Chloe
praised them highly. “These are very
good, Emily. Would you be interested in
taking a class this spring?”
“I’d love to!” Emily jumped up and down. “Mom, I can, can’t I?”
“Yes, of course you can! I’ve always told you I thought you had a
talent for drawing.” The pride on
Emily’s face was evident.
That night, as Emily got ready for bed, she
continued to talk about the evening.
“Mom, Chloe is really cool! I’ll
bet Kaitlin will want to take lessons too.
Will you talk to her mother?”
Megan felt melancholy. Her little girl was growing up. At the same time she felt happy that in spite
the divorce, she and Jonathan were doing a pretty good job raising this
beautiful young girl. “I’ll talk with
her. We’ll find out when Chloe plans to
begin. Now, it’s late—you can only read
15 minutes.” Megan leaned down and gave
Emily a squeeze and kiss on the forehead.
Later, as Megan lay in bed, she again
thought of Chloe’s meditation room and the paintings. She felt drawn to something about the room,
but she didn’t paint, didn’t even draw.
She did believe, however, that she had a lot to learn from Chloe.
On Wednesday morning of the following week,
Megan heard from Stephen. “Hey,
my Friend, what’s happening in your world?”
“Stephen, how great to hear from you! I want to know what you're up to."
“Other than trying to cope with a bad bit of weather that's come through, we've just spent lots of time talking--what I'll do, and adjustments, etc. And then, of course, my trip to Italy. I think I’ll wait around until June, and
then leave. Want to come with me?”
“Don’t temp me. Em and I had dinner last weekend at Chloe’s
and she and I discussed that possibility.
I just don’t know.”
“Look, Megan. I’m serious—if you and Emily want to go, I’d
love to have you both as traveling companions.
Think about it anyway.”
They caught up on local news and reactions
to his announcement. Surprisingly, Megan
had heard little. He asked about
Isabelle, and although she didn’t mention the insurance check, she talked about
her growing pastry business.
To be continued...
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