own art there and that’s how I’d get my start. If the building is
big enough—I haven’t even seen it yet—maybe we could even
have half the place as a gallery and half the place as her store.
That would give her a chance to keep expanding her business,
and it would give so many other aspiring artists a chance to get
their names out there too. I’m assuming the building has a
place to live, since she wouldn’t have agreed if it didn’t, and I
know Dani will be there, so I know she’ll be okay. If you don’t
want me to keep living at home, I can move out. I could share
the place with her, but that’s quicker than I’d like to move, so I
could also get a job and find an apartment somewhere.”
“We’d like you stay,” Sandra said, her voice cracking and
wavering on every word. “We’d really like you to stay. I’m
sorry that we haven’t listened to you. I just didn’t think you
were truly serious. You were always such a dreamer that you
thought anything was possible. I didn’t know you’d have the
drive to keep going with your art. I thought the first setback
would break you and then you’d give up entirely and you’d be
aimless, with no career, no job, no way to make money for
yourself.”
Emily nodded. “The building wasn’t my idea. That was
Dad’s. I never would have considered property management or
investing like that.” She turned to her dad. “It’s a great gift, but
I don’t think you should just give it to me. If you don’t want to
be partners, I promise I’ll pay you back, slowly but surely.”
“I don’t want to be paid back,” Peter clarified. “We bought
houses for each of your brothers. I was going to talk to you
about the building I purchased and tell you that if you
managed it correctly, you would soon have enough money to
use as a down payment for your own condo or a small house if