Sense of Rumor (Mount Faith Series: Book 6) by Brenda Barrett Read Free Book Online Page A

of your head?"
    "Yes." Arnella spun around reluctantly.
    Deidra pointed at one picture. "This would look good in a soft brown leather. This," she pointed to the opposite page, "would look positively divine in black and white."
    She turned the pages slowly and then looked up at Arnella. "You are a genius. Such detail. Such design. You could rival any fashion house with these. I could come up with some shoes to match these. Hunter green, suede, leather."
    "So you like them?" Arnella asked slowly.
    Deidra shook her head, "No, girl. Like is too mild a word. I love them. Here's the thing. I can sell them for you. Share the profit fifty-fifty."
    "Are you serious?" Arnella asked Deidra, who was looking excited enough to burst.
    "I have been waiting for some unique way to take the market by the storm and here, you just gave me the idea," Deidra said, her head filling with styles and designs to go with the handbags. "I am going to call these Nella—Nella handbags, and Dee Bee shoes. Oh, Arnella, you are a Godsend. I have some shoe ideas that would be perfect with these bags."
    Arnella grinned. "Thanks."
    "No." Deidra was happily packing up the sketchbook. "Thank you. You know, if you really want a place to stay, I have a house further up in the hills. The basement is south facing with lots of natural light. You can paint to your hearts content. My sister Charlene won't mind the company. Just yesterday she called me complaining that she's lonely alone in the house."
    "But Char will soon marry Micah, so Arnella may have the house all to herself soon," Kylie said cheerfully.
    "And," Deidra pulled out her car keys from her bag, "here are the keys to my brother James' old car. It's in the garage doing nothing. I was going to have my father sell it, but here you are. Maybe you should park that in a junkyard somewhere." She looked at Arnella's mother's car and turned up her nose.
    "You are a snob," Kylie said, laughing. "I think Arnella's car is classically rustic."
    "No," Deidra said, "sorry Arnella, you are about to become a brand, and brand people don't drive around in rust buckets. Nella bags. I can't wait. So, I'll send you the contract for these designs. As soon as they start selling, you'll start getting paid. In the meantime, sketch fashion to your hearts content and call me when you have a lot."
    Arnella nodded, gripping the new car keys in her hand and feeling a little surreal. She didn't even know what type of car it was; all she knew was that it had to be much better than the one she was currently driving.
    "Oh, I need your number," Deidra said excitedly. "We can talk periodically. Kylie will show you where the house is, and Char will give you a set of keys. I'll call her later and let her know she is going to have company."
    Just like that, Arnella had gone from starving artist, to a university student and a handbag designer with a studio in the hills.

    Chapter Five
     
    Arnella walked around in the house she shared with Charlene. She still couldn't believe that she was living there. Everything was just so expensive-looking and clean. It was her second day there after her encounter with Deidra, and her head was still spinning at the swiftness with which her circumstances had changed. If she had known that this was how things would turn out, she should have packed up her stuff and moved to Mount Faith a long time ago, but all things happen in their own time.
    The basement that Deidra recommended was huge, airy, and well lit. It was just right for her needs. Charlene had helped her clean up a shelf in her greenhouse for her to store her paints when she buys them. All she needed now were several more easels and she would look like an honest to goodness painter.
    She was living her dream, except for that promise she made to her uncle that she would be attending the university for two years, pursuing General Studies. It sounded like hell to her.
    She sat in one of the overstuffed chairs in the living room and stretched and rubbed