Country Roads Read Online Free Page A

willing her to understand how important this was. “It seemed like the right choice.”
    Claire’s gaze was still puzzled as she scanned Julia’s face.
    Paul’s drumming ceased when he entered the conversation. “Julia’s agent—who’s also her uncle—wasn’t sure about the market for these paintings, so Julia decided to consult with an expert. Knowing your interest in her work, she came to you.”
    Julia threw him a grateful look as he glossed over the whole car disaster and put her quest in blandly commercial terms. Of course, he probably didn’t realize how gut-wrenchingly important Claire’s judgment of her work was to her. “Exactly,” she said, nodding emphatically.
    Claire still looked as though she wanted to ask more questions, but after a quick exchange of glances with Paul, she smiled and stood up. “Well then, let’s take a look.”
    Unable to sit still as her fate was being decided, Julia shoved up out of her chair, and Paul came to his feet beside her. Together they walked closer to the easel.
    Claire took a pair of scissors from the desk and carefully cut the tape holding the plastic covering in place. She put down the scissors and peeled the plastic down from the surface of the canvas.
    The terror roared back to life, clogging Julia’s throat with the conviction her new work was garbage. Blackness crept along the edges of her vision as memory transported her back to the day of her first public portfolio review at art college. The professor was notorious for his scathing criticism, and Julia had wanted so badly to do well. As he walked up to critique the first painting, Julia had blacked out, regaining consciousness to find the teacher and her classmates staring down at her as she lay on the floor, their expressions ranging from concern to downright fear.
    Trying to stave off the panic, she reached out and grabbed Paul’s hand. He looked startled, but he wrapped his fingers around hers and tucked her hand in against his elbow.
    Julia closed her eyes. She focused on the pressure of Paul’s fingers over her hand, the solidity of his rib cage against her forearm, and the steady beat of his pulse where his wrist touched hers.
    When she had beaten the fear down, she opened her eyes to see Claire standing in front of the painting with her hand to her mouth. Both the woman and the painting were clear and well-defined.
    If Julia was going to have a seizure, this would be the moment, but no aura darkened her vision or heaved at her stomach. She swallowed and tried to speak, but all that came out was a croak.
    Paul’s fingers tightened on hers. “Claire, you’re torturing Julia. What do you think of the painting?”
    “What? Oh yes.” Claire’s hand dropped as she turned. Julia struggled to draw in air. “It’s extraordinary. Such a huge leap forward from what you’d been doing before. It’s got so much more power and intensity.”
    “You like it?” Julia had to gasp for breath as she spoke.
    “I think
like
is too mild a word for what you’re doing here. I’m blown away.”
    “Oh, thank God!” She sagged so hard against Paul, he dropped her hand to wrap his arm around her waist.
    “You need to sit down,” he said, shifting his grasp as he grabbed the rolling desk chair and eased her down onto it.
    “Let me get a bottle of water,” Claire said, starting toward the door.
    “No, no, I’m fine,” Julia said. “I just need to breathe for a minute.”
    As oxygen flowed into her lungs, a tear of sheer relief zigzagged down her cheek. She let her head fall back, muttering to herself, “I knew it was good. I knew it.”
    Someone touched her knee, and she tipped her head forward again to find Paul kneeling in front of her, his brows drawn together in a frown of concern. “Are you all right?”
    “I’m better than all right. When you’re barraged with criticism all the time, you begin to doubt your own judgment. You can’t imagine the relief of knowing I wasn’t crazy or