Oh, she thought. Theresa Wayman’s father and president of the bank. She set down her pencil and walked toward him, dusting her hand off on her smock before holding it out to him. “How do you do?” she asked, but he seemed to want nothing to do with her hand. She felt him eye her up and down, taking in her slacks, her charcoal-smeared smock, her oxfords. A cold wind had blown into the warehouse with him and Anna shivered despite the warmth her two space heaters were putting out.

“I want to know why you brought in this colored boy and kicked my daughter out,” he said.

“I didn’t kick her out,” Anna said. “Theresa told me you wouldn’t allow her to work with me if Jesse stayed. She chose to leave.”

“She was with you first.”

“But I have room for three students to work with me and Jesse was referred to me by his art teacher,” Anna said. “I would have loved to have Theresa stay. She’s quite talented.” Was she? Anna hadn’t actually seen any of her work. “It was her choice to leave.”

Riley Wayman folded his arms across his big barrel chest and looked at the cartoon, frowning. He studied the drawing for so long and so silently that Anna said, “I’m happy to take her back if she chooses to come,” simply for something to break the silence.

He turned back to her. “You don’t belong here, little lady,” he said. “You know that, don’t you? You don’t fit in; you could live here twenty years and you still wouldn’t fit in. People here like you right now because you’re a novelty and they’re excited our post office was chosen for one of the paintings, but they’ll get past that pretty soon and realize it was a mistake bringing you here.”

“I’m doing fine in Edenton.” Anna stood her ground. She was doing fine in Edenton, but she knew what he meant. She knew exactly what he meant. She’d been in Edenton nearly a month and a half and there were some things she would never understand. She would always be thought of as a furriner, no matter how long she lived in the town.

She knew arguing with Mr. Wayman would get her nowhere, so she took on a different tack.

“Please let Theresa come back,” she said. “She’s interested in art and this could be a very good experience for her.”