Mandy looked at the five paintings on the table with a critical eye. She’d worked on them for two weeks after going to New York and on another cruise. They were good. She took pictures with her cell phone and sent them to Kira. If Kira approved, they’d be at the post office before the end of the day.

Mandy tapped her phone, willing for Kira’s response to come through.

A New York number lit up her screen. “Hi, Kira. What did you think?” Mandy said, without waiting for the caller to say anything.

There was a pause. “Mandy? This is Alice. How are you, dear?”

Mandy’s mouth fell open and a hundred memories rushed around her. She put a hand to her chest, wishing she could go back on that cruise with Alice and Derek. She finally managed to speak and said, “Alice. Hi. How are you?”

“Doing very well. My friend had an amazing time on her cruise with you a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, yes. Dana was very nice. I had a great time with her.” Mandy should have called Alice to thank her for the referral earlier instead of sending an e-mail. The truth was Mandy hadn’t called because she didn’t want to ask Alice about Derek. And Mandy knew it would come up.

“She mentioned you’d gone straight from New York onto your cruise.” Alice’s voice didn’t sound mad, only curious.

“That’s right. I think I mentioned my roommate Liz to you. She lives in New York now with her husband, and they invited me to come and stay with them for a bit in between my trips.” Mandy chewed her lip, wishing she’d seen Alice.

“I hope you enjoyed yourself while you were here.”

“I did. It’s a beautiful city.”

“Well next time you are in town, I hope you’ll let me know so we can go to lunch, or shopping.”

“I’d like that very much. Sorry. I didn’t think about calling this last time. The trip was a little rushed.” And I thought more about your grandson and how to avoid him after I saw him with his girlfriend.

“I understand. And I know just how you can make it up to me.” Alice’s voice was warm but firm.

Mandy laughed. She’d missed Alice, and her very direct way of getting what she wanted. “Name it.”

“I’m throwing a party next week. And I’d like you to attend as my guest. I have several friends who are interested in traveling with a companion and thought it would be the perfect way for you to meet all of them.”

Mandy had no travel for a month. This was going to be her time to work on paintings under her designer label AJ Dreams for Kira. “I’d really like to but—”

“Are you traveling next week?”

“No.”

“Then it’s settled, and I won’t take no for an answer.”

Settled in Alice’s mind maybe, but not Mandy’s. “I’m not going to do many traveling companion trips anymore. I think I might be done with it once I finish out the last few that I’ve booked.”

“I see. Is your art taking off then?” Her voice was kind and interested.

Was it? Sort of. “It’s the passion I want to pursue right now.”

“Well, no matter about drumming up business for you then, but I’d still like you to come as my guest.”

If Alice was throwing a party, Mandy was bound to see Derek. And he’d probably be with his girlfriend. “Will Derek be there?”

There was a pause, and Mandy could picture Alice looking Mandy over, Alice’s eyes missing nothing. She finally said, “Does it matter for your attendance?”

Mandy blanked. Did it matter? Mandy and Derek hadn’t been together. She’d only left the cruise with a vague idea about a relationship with him. It had been what she’d hoped for, but she needed to really move on from him this time. It’d be easier not to see him. “No, I was just wondering if he’d be there.”

“I never know with him, truly. So much work all of the time. He’s invited, of course. But it’s a large party. If you want to avoid him, you can.”

Alice’s pointed analysis made Mandy squirm. She didn’t want Alice to have the wrong impression. Besides. Mandy was a grown-up. She could see somebody she was interested in, without going all nuts that he didn’t feel the same way. She’d be fine. There. Officially over pining for him. “I’m not trying to avoid him. I hope he shows up to your party.” There, that was convincing even to her own ears. “And, I’ll be there.”

“I’m so glad. I’ve missed you.”

Mandy’s heart squeezed. “I’ve missed you, too.”

“Well, I’ll send you over the itinerary for the weekend. It’s formal, but I know you have plenty of gowns from your formal nights.”

“It sounds like fun.”

Mandy hung up, her stomach suddenly in knots. She’d want to wear something new. Something she hadn’t worn when she was on the cruise with Derek and Alice. It was time to look through the pictures from their cruise together and see which gowns she shouldn’t pack. But first, if she was going back to New York, she needed to make one more phone call.

* * *

Jenny and Coco came through the door, laughing. Mandy looked up from where she’d gotten lost looking at pictures of her and Derek together. Why had they taken so many together of just the two of them? They really had grown close on the cruise, and her heart felt raw from the experience of remembering it again.

It made her encounter in Renaldi’s feel even more painful. He was over her. She needed to flip a switch and get over him too.

Coco looked at the table in front of Mandy. “Um, okay. So that is a lot of empty ice cream containers.”

“Each of them only had a few bites left in them.” Or maybe there was close to half the ice cream in each little pint. Mandy couldn’t remember. She only knew that Liz wasn’t picking up her phone, and Jenny and Coco had been shopping all afternoon, while Mandy said she had to finish up her work on the paintings.

But her sundaes for breakfast sugar need couldn’t be held off any longer, and so Mandy had grabbed all of the containers, thinking that Coco and Jenny would join in the minute they came home. Two hours later, Mandy had polished off all of the ice cream, and still stared at the pictures of her and Derek dancing on the top deck, followed by the one of them kissing. It had her stomach fluttering in all directions, and the sugar hadn’t helped with that sensation.

Jenny dropped her purse on the small side table. “Okay,” she said, “since you’ve already had dessert, let’s talk over food.”

“There’s nothing to really talk about.”

Coco sat by Mandy, peeking at her phone screen. “Except for the cute guy you’re kissing. Derek, right? I thought you said when you came back from New York you were over him.”

Jenny gathered up the ice cream cartons and lids, eyeing the labels. “Wow, you even ate the peanut butter ripple. No, Coco, no way Mandy is over him.” Jenny threw the empty containers away.

Mandy told them about Alice’s phone call, then said, “That’s why I was looking at the pictures. I wanted to make sure I didn’t wear the same things I wore before.”

Jenny smiled. “Let us help you pack. And my vote is for your red sequin gown. I’ll let you borrow my heels.”

Mandy nodded. She had the best roommates. “Thanks.”

* * *

Back in New York. Already. And this time Mandy was sure to see Derek. Alice suggested Mandy come a day early and stay in the guesthouse, and Mandy had agreed. At least this way she’d get some time with Alice before the festivities started.

Alice would pick her back up at the airport in five hours, but Mandy had enough time to go into Manhattan.

She walked through The Edge’s doors. “Mandy Jones. I’m here to see Georgia.”

The receptionist glanced at her book then said, “You’re late.”

“I have a fifteen-minute appointment that started two minutes ago.” She couldn’t help the traffic, and what she had to say was only going to take a minute anyway.

She was ushered into Georgia’s corner office. The sun gleamed through the spotless windows. Georgia sat on a sofa, drinking from a small teacup. “You’re late.” Her hair was completely spiky this time and her glasses were a burnt orange. Mandy wondered if they were prescription or just a tool in making her eyes look larger.

“I won’t be long,” Mandy said. It was time for her to discover new oceans and she needed to leave the shore. But in this case, she was going to stay on land to do it.

Georgia gestured for her to take a seat, but Mandy remained standing.

Mandy said, “I eat, drink, and sleep my art and my designs. I love working for The Edge, and I’ve been grateful for the freelance work that has been flexible with my personal schedule. I’ve contributed to several different lines over the last six years and my designs are used.”

“I could have read that on a résumé,” Georgia said impassionately, looking at her bright blue nails. “You came late to a meeting just to tell me that?”

“I came to tell you that if you can’t see my value as a necessary asset on the Tropical Line, then you’ll never see me at all. Freelance work has worked for me in the past, but it won’t work with my schedule now. I’m pursuing my art full-time.”

Georgia’s eyebrows raised just above her glasses but she didn’t say anything.

Mandy continued, “I have plenty of other options for freelance and full-time work, but being lead on The Edge’s Tropical Line is my first choice.”

“Telling me what your dream is, isn’t good negotiating.”

“I’m not here to negotiate,” Mandy said. “I’m here to tell you that if I don’t have a full-time position as lead on the Tropical Line by the time I walk out those doors, I’m not coming back. Not for freelance or any other job you offer me in the future. I’ve got other options. But if you think I’m as good as you said I was in our last meeting, I can’t see why you wouldn’t jump at the chance to take me on right now full-time as the lead graphic artist.”

Georgia put her cup down slowly, blinking several times before pursing her lips. “Is there anything else you’d like to add?”

Mandy swallowed and kept her face steady. She’d announced to the head of New York’s premier graphic design company that she was willing to walk and there were other places she could go. How was that a helpful thing? “I think that pretty much covered it.” She headed toward the door with her suitcase.

“One moment.” Georgia stood, walking closer to Mandy, pulling down her glasses to the tip of her nose and studying her the way most would study a work of art. “Art can be faked. Talent even, can be faked. But passion, that’s something that can’t be. I’m not looking for good artists or great artists or seasoned artists at this company. That is not what makes us cutting edge. I need artists who have the passion to boldly speak their minds. The last time you were in here your passion wasn’t your driving force. But it shines through on you now.”

Wait? Had that speech been in her favor? “I just chewed you out for not seeing me as an asset.”

Georgia grabbed her arm. “And you did it with passion. It’s what I need in a Creative Director. I know your art is good and it will get better. But until one shows passion, the talent is wasted.”

Creative Director? That was a significant leap over a lead graphic artist. “So…”

Georgia shook Mandy’s hand. “Welcome to The Edge, where you’ll jump and fall and fly. And you’ll do it all with passion. I expect you’ll be here within a month, settled and ready to start.”

Mandy’s mouth hung open. “I…thank you, yes, I can make that time frame work.”

“Sign the papers with my secretary. Give her a few minutes to get the right date on your contract. After our last meeting I told her to wait to reprint your contract until I knew you were serious about working for us this time. No need to waste the trees.”

“You would have given me the job last time?”

“I was only going to give you what you wanted to take on. I made it clear that the job wasn’t for freelance artists. You were the one who decided to stay a freelance artist, not me.”

Mandy smiled. “Thank you.”

“Passion. Don’t lose it when you sign the paperwork.”

* * *

Mandy signed the paperwork and made it back to the airport in time to spare.

A man in a dark suit and white gloves held a sign with Mandy’s name on it. She smiled tentatively. Alice said she was going to arrange transportation, but Mandy thought that meant Alice would pick her up. Of course it made sense Alice would send someone, especially right before hosting a major event.

Mandy followed the chauffeur to a sleek glossy car. He opened the door for her.

“Thank you, um Mr.…”

“Chenworth, miss. My pleasure.” His voice was smooth and kind.

During the drive to Alice’s estate, Mandy asked Chenworth questions. He mostly nodded, not commenting much, even when she asked him a direct question.

They pulled up to a dark iron gate in the middle of a long stone wall. Chenworth punched in a code, and it opened.

Tall trees bordered the wall on the inside. The drive was lined on either side with shrubs and flowers. Water cascaded down the large fountain in the center of the roundabout. “Wow. This is beautiful,” Mandy said.

“That it is.”

They drove past the massive estate and a pool then turned onto a smaller drive. He parked the car and helped her out. “This is the guesthouse,” he said, pulling her suitcase out of the trunk. “You’ll find everything ready for you. When you are settled, Mrs. Thompson is in the main house.”

“Thanks,” Mandy said. She looked up at the enormous building. Bigger than any of the houses in Mandy’s neighborhood, and yet it was just the guesthouse.

“Shall I take your suitcase up to your room?”

“I can manage. Thank you, Chenworth.”

“Very good, miss.”

The inside was finely furnished with dark wood trim and marble floors. The main floor had an open kitchen and living room space. A dining room held a table with place for twenty. On the kitchen island, Mandy found a note to her from Alice—“Make yourself at home. The kitchen is stocked.” Mandy opened the fridge to find fresh fruits and vegetables, and the rest of the staples.

She took her suitcase to the bedroom at the top of the circular stairs. The large room was the size of an apartment. A sitting room with a fireplace, couches, and a large bookcase stood on the far end of the room. Several paintings hung on the walls. Mandy stopped at one of them. Another Shorvan. Wow. Mandy would have to ask Alice about it.

Everything was light and airy. The dark wood was still present in the room, but the light bedspread with the silvery embellishments added a more whimsical feel. Mandy went to the window, opening the window doors wide to step onto the balcony. She had a view of the pool and gardens, and from here could see the back side of the estate.

Preparations were already being made for the party tomorrow night. Lights were strung through the gardens, and white silky tents were put up. A gardener edged a bush and several others tended to the flowers.

Mandy went back inside, letting the air blow through the opened doors as she hung her gowns in the closet. Alice had said the party would last all weekend so she brought a few options. She fingered the red sequin gown.

Texts exploded on her phone once she told roommates that The Edge offered her a job. It was time to celebrate with some pampering before she met with Alice.