Strawberry Wine (Winner of The Write Affair) | ✔️

Chapter 23

Ch. 23

After a moment, Jake pulled away from our kiss and looked deep into my eyes. I felt self conscious and wanted to turn away, but I was more intrigued by the sadness that covered his face. It was hard for me to believe that he felt the same way I did. 

He glanced off into the distance, and then released a small smiled. Finally, he pulled his eyes back to mine. "Come on. Let's go get that picture."

Our fingers tangled together and we set off down the road. I was so distracted by my thoughts, I barely even noticed the artwork we were passing--the pieces I'd been looking forward to seeing. The weekend I had been waiting impatiently for suddenly seemed bleak and depressing. I sighed, wondering if I had ruined the mood.

Jake gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. "Let's make today special," he offered, as if reading my mind. "Let's fill it with happy memories, not sad ones. Okay?"

I nodded my head, knowing it wouldn't be possible. We started walking again, past all of the artists and the beautiful pieces they had on display.

"This is pretty impressive," he said after a while. "There's a lot of talent in this little town."

"There is a lot of talent here," I agreed, trying to snap out of my mood.  "This section is one of my favorite spots at the whole festival. I love looking at all of the art."

"Are you an artist?"

I started to laugh. "No, I'm not very creative. I have more of a scientific mind, I guess. I prefer science to art class. But I do appreciate those who are artistic. I think it's amazing that someone can take a blank piece of paper or clay and turn it into something so beautiful."

Jake looked down at me with a smile, then wrapped an arm around my shoulder, bringing me in close to him. I inhaled deeply, loving the way that he smelled. Like a mixture of soap and citrus--it was a heady combination.

"Here we are," I announced as we approached the caricature artist.

The man was working with a customer so we wandered around the small display, looking at some of the pictures he had created. There were drawings of individuals and couples, and entire families as well. I had been going to this artist every year since I was a little girl, and I preferred his work because he didn't sketch his subjects so far-fetched, like most caricaturists practiced. Instead, his work took on a more serious tone, making the artwork beautiful and not overly distorted.

"Hey, he's really good," Jake commented. "I wasn't expecting the picture's to look so...normal. I imagined they would be crazy exaggerations of the people he drew."

"They're a little abstract, but not in really silly ways."

"Hello, Addy!" the artists said, turning toward us and smiling. He had just finished up with his last subject and gave us his full attention.

"Hi, Mr. Potter."

"I see you have a guest with you this year. Will he be joining you in the  picture?"

I looked over at Jake, my eyebrows raising in question.

Jake caved, just like I knew he would. "Yes, I'll be joining her."

I clapped my hands together then threw my arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. "Thank you," I whispered.

Jake smiled, his blue eyes dancing with amusement. "You're welcome."

"Alright then. If you two want to be drawn together, you're going to have to stop staring at each other," Mr. Potter chuckled.

A slow burn made it's way across my face and I gave Mr. Potter an embarrassed smile. We took our places in front of his easel and he started to draw our portrait .