Paint The Ice

Chapter 24

RILEY

ASHER ISN'T BESIDE ME WHEN I WAKE UP.

I brush my teeth, shower and march downstairs where everyone's eating breakfast. The menu seems to be cold leftovers.

"Good morning." I greet, taking the chair that's closest to the glass door which leads to the porch.

"Good morning Riley. How did you sleep? Good?" Dave asks, holding a mug in his hand.

Shirley pops her head up. "Good morning. Oh! What's that? On your eyes?"

"Yeah, I ended up sleeping great." My eyes flicker to Asher who pitches me a grin. I realize Shirley's talking about my lower lash line. "Oh, it's fishtail eyeliner." My response catches Tommy's attention because then he looks right at me. Normally I'm okay with scaring others but I don't want that same effect on Tommy. He's too cute and adorable and I don't care what Rhett, Tyler or Cole says. I haven't seen that too hyper-sticking-his-little-finger into people's noses side of Tommy yet. Don't get me wrong, I've spent a couple hours with the kid before and yes he was like I expected a three year old to behave but it wasn't a horrendous experience.

"A fishtail what? It looks so good. I need you to teach me how to hide these wrinkles darling." Shirley laughs. "What people can do these days is interesting because I can't do it myself."

"I got you." I can teach her if she wants.

"Can I get gummy bears?" Tommy looks up at me. He remembers. He actually remembers.

I shift my focus to Asher wondering what's his stance on this but he doesn't give me a glance of disapproval so I take the sign. "Yeah. I'll go get it."

After breakfast (no one pointed out that the pumpkin pie was demolished) we all left for the Van Gogh immersive experience that Shirley booked. Inside is more than I could ever imagine. They operate on all your senses. What we hear, what we see, what we touch. We're taken on an adventure through Van Gogh's life, his most famous works, listening to the music they were playing and it was special to me since those are the same sounds I play whenever I paint. Some of my favorite parts about the whole thing were when we had to sit down in a room with a bunch of other people and watch the video projected on the screen. It took over the entire room. Starry Night and many others were shown that I had never seen before. Watching the illustrations was mesmerizing and I'll never forget it. Like a whole other world. Pictures won't do what was seen any justice.

The drawing studio was the spot Tommy enjoyed the most, we got to crayon there. He picked green crayons and we allowed him to do his thing. I know something like this wasn't Asher and Dave's scene but they participated in the activities, were fully aware and in tune. Turns out they clearly liked it because they dragged us to the gift shop by the end without Shirley saying 'let's go'.

As if we aren't tired enough, Asher takes us to the Ore Dock for sightseeing. For me and Tommy than everyone else but still. I feel like a tiny dot when I'm there, the structure being massive compared to me. They talk about how better it looks when the water freezes and people gather to skate. We didn't stay there for an hour. Too bad I won't be witnessing that today. Dave suggests we get something to eat so we stop at The Delft Bistro. Lindsay says it's an old theater and she's right, the setting definitely gives off that vibe. The capital 'Delft' in color and the marquee tells me that much.

On the inside, live entertainment was presented and we were lucky. On the huge screen a fun movie played for everyone. The food? Ten out of ten. The spicy chicken sandwich and cheese curds were shockingly good. I wasn't someone who ate a lot and that's been changing in the past couple of weeks. I've been eating more than I've ever had. Twice Asher's family have seen me stuffing my face like this and I'm not embarrassed about it.