Chapter 8

“I did. The first design got me through a very dark time, and ever since, once a year, I add something new. Keeps things fresh.” He cleared his throat. “I went to college, focused on being an Art major.”

“Oh?” I said after Gregory’s pause stretched out several long moments.

“I’d always been good at painting and felt it would be my life’s work. And then…”

“Then what?” I asked, not wanting to provide him with a chance to clam up again, especially now that I was starting to learn about his past.

“Then something happened during the summer before my junior year and I…needed a new direction. I came home, and my parents helped me return from the brink. I’ve always loved working with children, had volunteered for lots of programs in my teens. I ended up with the daycare center. Doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned my love of art. I just…combined the two.”

From what I could see, he did it brilliantly. “You seem to be doing well. Everyone raves about this place and rates it highly.”