Portrait of a ghost

the long version

Art is life to painter Claire McCormac; all she hopes to understand and everything she thinks she needs. Her dream career begins with a commission to paint a little boy, Bright, the pride and joy of a family rooted in the limestone industry, and it includes a free studio and apartment. Nothing could be more perfect; but when she steps into the lives of her host family, she's walking into the dead center of a devastating secret. It's a secret Claire had an unknowing hand in creating, and it becomes increasingly dangerous. Even her cheerful carousel painting, begun so hopefully in San Francisco and leading her back to Indiana, is at risk. It all began with that painting, peopled as it is with troubled characters, and as she works on the portrait of the little boy, the secret gains its focus. In order to save those she comes to care about, she must learn to see the larger composition of her life, and learn the art of living.