Emerald Fire (Christian Romance) (The Jewel Series) by Hallee Bridgeman Page A

completely alone and isolated from everyone she loved, she would still never be hungry again.
    Maxine moved through her apartment. A brick wall on the far end made the room feel very “Newbury” Street to her. She loved it and had installed it, brick-by-brick, herself.
    Her big red leather couch sat against that wall covered in bright pillows designed with stripes, polka-dots, zigzags – it didn’t matter to Maxine. She sought a hodgepodge look with the patterns and kept a similar color scheme going. Angled with the couch sat a love seat in a red and blue with yellow floral design. Maxine found it at a flea market and fell in love with it so instantly that she sat on it while bargaining over the price because she worried someone else would come and take the treasure away before she could complete the deal. A large area rug with a large, modern floral design in muted reds and blues and soft yellows sat on the hardwood floor between the two couches. She covered the walls with her art, picking up little details from the furniture pillows or rugs or bright knickknacks and painting them to tie all of the room together.
    Against the picture window looking out onto the street she dearly loved sat her Christmas tree. She surprised herself by going traditional with it – a green tree with reds and golds and silvers. She had it decorated with angels and stars. On the top of the tree sat a tacky plastic lit-up star covered in worn-out gold tinsel. Robin bought that to go on top of their very first Christmas tree when Maxine was sixteen. She’d been with Robin for just a few months, then, after being separated from her for two long years. As they put that cheap little star on the top of their sad little tree, they vowed that no matter what, they would win. They would win in this battle they called life – the pitiful hands they’d been dealt would win the house.
    The first Christmas after Robin and Tony married, she and Maxine fought over who got to keep the star. They ended up drawing straws for it. Maxine won, and in the subsequent three Christmases, she had her sisters over for dinner and together the three of them decorated her tree and topped it with that star.
    She moved past her living room and through her dining room with the stark black table and Amish backed-chairs. A flat gold bowl of red ornaments sat on the center of the table.
    Maxine had remodeled the kitchen almost immediately upon completion of the studio. She loved to cook and loved to entertain, so she had a large island work station installed along with a commercial-grade stainless steel stove, double ovens in the wall, a massive refrigerator, and deep steel sinks. She could spend hours in the kitchen, preparing recipes, making big trays of perfect little hors d’oeuvres, applying frosting to a sister’s birthday cake. She loved the whole art of preparing food and often hosted dinner parties with church friends or work colleagues.
    She reached the sink and used the back of her hand to flip the handle to open up a stream of warm water. Before going to her studio to paint, she’d left a dish of olive oil by the sink. She dipped her hands in it and started scrubbing the paint off. The oil worked the oil paint off her hands in no time. Then she used a light soap to remove the oil.
    Grabbing the towel she’d lain out for herself, she went back through the dining room and living room to enter her bedroom. This room she’d decorated in grays and turquoise. A thick gray rug covered the floor, a shade lighter than the walls. A turquoise spread covered the bed accented with dark and light gray pillows.
    The open suitcase on the bed made her stop. Little butterflies of anticipation reawakened in her stomach and started fluttering around. Her heart beat a little bit faster and sweat beaded her upper lip. Why in the world had she agreed to go with Barry to Las Vegas?
    Shopping bags covered the bed. For some reason, her extensive wardrobe didn’t seem to suit for this