Excerpt: Willa

Brian eyes went to her boots. He watched how she stepped out and set her foot down precisely, trying to minimize the noise of her heals on the marble floor. Slowly he brought his gaze up the full length of her taking in her long lean legs and her slim build, all the way up to her strong jaw and beautiful green eyes. She was so beautiful, ruggedly lean and rock solid. Her Levi’s hugged her ever so nicely and her T-shirt fit her well, but wasn’t stretched tight over her breasts like many girls. It all served to set her a part from everyone else he knew. Carrie was completely unlike any other girl he had ever met. She didn’t try to impress him or anyone else. She did not show any interest in fashion or hairstyles or makeup and she never wore nail polish. As far as he knew she never wore any kind of makeup. Her long honey colored hair was so natural and hung in thick soft waves all the way down her back reaching nearly to her waist and looked like spun silk. She often pulled it back with a band or barrette at the crown or into one long braid. Carrie never seemed to waste her time being concerned with how she looked or how other people perceived her. The Levi's she wore today was her usual style. He could not remember ever seeing her in a dress. It was as though she had stepped out of another era. He had seen her showing her horse and competing in the rodeo circuit. On those times she would wear a western dress shirt and Cowboy hat and western slacks with her dress boots. It was the most dressed up he had ever seen her. Carrie had once said that her childhood hero had been Annie Oakley. He could just picture her dressed as Annie Oakley doing trick riding and shooting a gun, just as Anne did in those old west shows. Carrie looked as if she was ready to stride right outside, sidle up to her horse, jump on and ride off into the sunset. Brian knew she had spent a lot of time on the rodeo circuit riding competitively; at least she had until she had gotten married. He wasn’t certain, but he thought a lot of things had changed for Carrie since her marriage. For one thing she didn’t seem nearly as happy in the past year as she had the two years he had known her before. He wished there was something he could do to make her happier, but then he really wished that she had found him attractive. But even though Carrie seemed to like him, he had had little success in stirring her interest in him. It was worth another try though.“Did you notice that Harry had one of your best paintings on display in there?” “I saw that he had the one I did of Starshine in there. I’m not sure why he picked one of mine.”“Well, I do, because it is really very good. Did you notice that he didn’t have any of mine up for display?” Brian tried to sound offended, but even though he was disappointed that Harry had not picked any of his paintings, it had not surprised him. After all, Brian thought, Harry wanted to display the best students work. Brian didn’t try to fool himself into believing that he was nearly as good as Carrie or some of the other students. His desire was there, but his talents were not just yet. That was why he was going to Europe to study with some of the best. Maybe he just needed fresh ideas and a different teacher with a different teaching style who could bring out his hidden talents. It was worth a try. And being young and free in Europe would not hurt anyone, especially a viral young man eager to grab hold of everything the world had to offer. “Thank you Brian for your vote of confidence, but my work has a long way to go. There is so much I need to learn yet to be considered ‘really good’.” “You don’t give yourself credit. You certainly don’t think Harry would have put your painting on display for all those snobs with the deep pockets if he had another student who had more talent and more potential. He is no idiot. Harry knows talent when he sees it and so do I. You most difinately have got it. But you’re not living up to your full potential, especially lately. You have had other things controlling your mind and time. I think you have been a lot distracted and preoccupied.” Deep down he felt he knew what was distracting her and it did not look good to him. Something was definitely not right in Carrie’s life