“Okay,” he said. “Call if you need me.” Then he leaned over to give me a hug I could only describe as brotherly. It was all I could do to let go.

Chapter 42. Anna

Chapter 42

ANNA

March 6, 1940

Ever since the anniversary of her mother’s death, Anna had been staying late in the warehouse each day, unable to tear herself away from the mural. At first, she thought she was focusing on her painting as a way to stop the memories, but now she knew she was painting simply for the joy of it, the way she had as a student. There was nothing she would rather do. This was her passion. Her calling. She wondered if she would ever have time for a husband and children. She doubted she could attract a man at the moment, anyway. She always seemed to have paint in her hair and she’d stopped trying to get all of it out from under her fingernails. Looking pretty wasn’t her priority, and she believed Miss Myrtle had completely given up on turning her into a lady.

So, she had no man in her life, but she did have a best friend—Jesse Jameson Williams—and she thought that was even better. What would she do without him? It wasn’t so much that Jesse seemed to know what she needed in the warehouse even before she did—moving the ladder a few feet to the left, or adding a bit of Prussian blue to her palette—but that he was a hungry student and she enjoyed teaching him. He devoured every art book she brought him from the library, giving them back to her when they were due and asking her to check them out again a few days later. She let him read the books in the warehouse, because when he was at home on the farm, he was expected to work—work he loathed.

Peter was no longer helping in the warehouse. Baseball season had begun in the high school, and Anna was surprised to learn that Peter, despite being small and slender, was the star catcher on Edenton High School’s baseball team. That meant he had practice after school every day. Anna missed his industriousness, but she had little work for two boys now that the heavy lifting was over, and to be truthful, Peter was never going to be an artist. He was technically competent and created detailed renderings of car engines and tractors, but he lacked Jesse’s passion and creativity. Anna thought Peter would make a fine engineer someday.