“That’s fine. Let’s start with colors.”

“Red, white, and pink,” Ryann said.

Brenda chuckled. “Makes sense for Valentine’s Day. Let’s see what we have here in those shades.” She riffled through the swatches, pulling two for each of the colors. She slid one of each to them. Each swatch had about thirty different squares on it, all variations of the same color.

“Wow,” Ryann said. “I didn’t realize so many different reds existed. Or pinks or whites, for that matter.”

“Actually,” Brenda said, “there are far more than you see there. If you don’t see the exact color you want on one of those, I can show you more.”

Ryann and Maddie made eye contact, and Ryann raised an eyebrow. She was totally lost, with no idea which of these Jai and Stuart would like.

“Any ideas?” she asked. “You’re the artist, so that makes you the expert.”

They were still holding hands, and Maddie squeezed hers again, lightly, almost as if for reassurance.

“Let’s aim for the classic Valentine’s hues,” Maddie said. “What do you think of this one?” She pointed.

While Ryann could clearly see the difference between most of the reds (some were very subtle), she couldn’t really see why one might be better than the other. That said, the one Maddie indicated did in fact seem very “Valentiney”—a bold, bright red that reminded her of the various paper cutouts and streamers she’d seen around town.

“Looks good to me.”

Brenda made a note. “Okay—Candy Red. The next two are a little harder.”

“Why don’t you pick the pink, hon?” Maddie asked.

She couldn’t help but glare at this endearment, and Maddie smirked in response. She focused on the color swatch to avoid saying something but immediately felt out of her element. It was true—there were a lot of pinks in the world. Some seemed closer to red, some to white, obviously, but a whole swath in the middle were something else—maybe a little blue or purple? She couldn’t tell. She’d seen greater variations in the pink decorations around town, as well. She couldn’t determine a correct choice here.

“Boy, I don’t know,” she finally said. She glanced at Maddie. “They’re all so different.”

“Which one do you think would go best with our red?” Maddie asked, holding out the swatch to her.

Why was Maddie making her do this? She’d meant what she’d said before—she trusted Maddie’s eyes more than her own. Still, she could see that Maddie wanted her to choose, and it wasn’t as if she’d never selected colors for an event before. She started dragging the swatch of Candy Red near each of the pinks, finally stopping next to two that stood out to her.

“One of these?” she asked, uncertain.

Maddie bent closer and nodded. “Good choice. I like them both. You decide.”