The cedar hedge grew too high and too thick between her property and that of Kevin Matwin, as far as Tanya was concerned. She patrolled the hedge again, searching for any thin area of growth, pushing at the stubborn branches, looking for the smallest break. She braced herself and shoved, forcing through a tiny break in the growth, her face and hands scratched by the branches, her hair yanked by the leaves. With a final thrust, she pushed her body through and landed in a tumble of broken twigs on her neighbor's property.
She stood quickly and brushed herself free of the debris, then looked around to be certain she was alone. The elegant Italian villa before her seemed to be unoccupied. She slipped through the shadows of the bushes, feeling like a naughty child trespassing on forbidden grounds. She giggled.
The walk before her, paved in white marble streaked with rust and brown veining, encircled the front of the villa. She drifted closer to the building, watchful and nervous. Two Ionic columns flanked the portal in the middle of the facade, while small painted columns decorated each window, reproducing the motif of the facade. The ivory stucco walls provided the perfect backdrop for the rich color of the solid walnut doors. A stand of cypresses, all of the same height, bordered the villa on the left. On the right, a large pool shimmered in the sun, surrounded by a patio.
She circled the house, then, a wash of guilt flooding over her, she slipped back into the break in the hedge. On her own property once more, she sat back on her heels and stared at the hole. "I have no idea why I did that," she said, softly, "But I'm not going to lose this doorway." She placed several small branches against the broken hedge with the intention of using hedge clippers to keep the opening free of growth. She blushed. Why am I doing this? she thought.
It would be nice to meet her neighbor, her thoughts continued. If he's half as attractive as he looked in his picture, he'd be a good subject for my work. He'd be a great model. She could try a full-body portrait of him, her first.
A blush rose from the middle of her stomach and washed over her face. She hadn't trespassed on his land because she thought he'd make a good model. Nor was that the reason she couldn't get him out of her mind. His face… Tanya shook her head and forced herself to think of something else, anything else.
She forced her mind to the competition she had entered well before her troubles began-'Wonder in Children.' The deadline was fast approaching, just a few weeks away, and she hadn't chosen a subject as yet. The choices were narrowed to two: a black boy with big round eyes and a little, frail girl.