Read Online Among the Tulips by Cheryl Wolverton - Free Book Online Page A

“And what is that?” she asked archly as she made her way to the stool.
    He took the crutches from her and steadied her as she seated herself.
    â€œI’d like to teach you Dutch.”
    Surprised, she gawked. “You’re kidding?”
    He shook his head. Returning with a paint-covered shirt, he handed it to her. “Slip this on over your dress so you don’t soil it.” He pulled on an oversize shirt and rolled the sleeves to his elbows. As he did, he continued, “We could do simple things like colors and phrases. It’d be a great learning experience for you. And think how that would impress your friends back home.”
    She thought this guy would impress them much more than a few Dutch words. “I’m not sure how good I am at languages. I mean, you speak so many.”
    He shrugged. “You won’t know if you don’t try.”
    That sounded like a challenge to her. “I can try,” she said and smiled.
    â€œGood. Rood, ” he said and pointed.
    She looked down at where his finger was. “Paints?” she asked.
    â€œNo. That means red.” He went from color to color as he started squeezing them out on her palette. “Rood, oranje, groen, geel, blauw.”
    She tried to repeat them. “Rood, oranje, grung…”
    â€œ Groen and blauw. Green and blue.”
    â€œGr-oen and…blauw.”
    â€œGeel,” he said gently for yellow.
    â€œGeel.”
    â€œNo. Put your tongue like this and let it simply roll off.”
    She tried. It didn’t work.
    He grinned. Coming around behind her he nestled up until his front was to her back. “We’ll work on the names as we paint.”
    Leaning forward he picked up the paint-daubed palette. He reached around her with both arms. “Let’s put this on your hand to start with. If you get tired, you can lay it down. Don’t worry about what we do today, I’m just going to teach you some strokes and things about different brushes. I put out samples of some of the basic colors so we can have fun with them and so it won’t be boring as we learn, okay?”
    â€œSure.” She was having trouble concentrating. Again she realized just how physical this man was. Neither Harry nor the children were very physical beings. Her mom had been. Her dad hadn’t, though more so than Harry. But Victor seemed to touch all of the time.
    He currently surrounded her on three sides. It made her want to relax and simply enjoy his presence. She sighed as her body relaxed against his. She’d missed companionship, she thought and really liked this.
    â€œYou have the palette comfortably in your hand?”
    She nodded and could feel his chin brush the side of her head. He began explaining about the different brushes, and one by one he picked them up and positioned them in her hand. He showed her how to hold them, what each one was used for and encouraged her to try different colors as she learned how to wield her weapon, as he’d called it.
    But best of all, he made her laugh. It didn’t take long for her to become accustomed to him. They were having fun as they tried different colors and different strokes of the brushes. At one point he moved away from her to gather his own brushes. When he returned to her side, he wielded his own brush, showing her the differences and helping guide her through her learning experience.
    She thought this was probably the best time she could remember having had in the last several years. And she thanked God that she was here to enjoy it.
    All things truly did work out. Had she not been questioning God about life lately and whether this was all? And He had blessed her with this wonderful experience and this wonderful man to share it with.
    As they continued laughing and painting, she didn’t think life could get much better.

Chapter Five
    â€œO h, my! This is wonderful!”
    The blindfold removed, Annie stood in front of the dinner