“It’s okay. I can wait,” Mitch said. He stopped kissing her and looked into her eyes. “You’re worth waiting for.”
His words sunk into her like an insulin shot, giving her body exactly what she’d been looking for: a man who thought she was worth waiting for.
The barn door opened again, and they broke apart sheepishly. By the time the door slid far enough open to let Rocky in, they were on opposite sides of the art book, admiring “ ’34 Waterfront Strike.”
Rocky took in her brother’s reddened lips and April’s mussed hair, and shot April a knowing glance, but she didn’t say anything. She pointed to the book and offered her hand for a high-five. Mitch and April obliged.
“I’ll leave you ladies to your fun,” Mitch said.
April was amazed at how much she wanted to go with him. She’d been looking forward to stamping with the girls; now, that seemed like a poor substitute. But as he opened the door, Mary Lou and a still-pregnant Kit were there, followed by Suzi and Deana, so April waved good-bye.
Having Mitch for a friend would be okay. A friend, like Rocky. Or Mary Lou. He was someone interesting to talk to. He was wise and steady. He was artistic and creative. The fact that he was good-looking was just an added bonus. She felt Rocky’s eyes on her, and she blushed. That was it, no more thoughts of Mitch. No point in fueling Rocky’s speculations.
The barn was filling up. The stampers were noisy and congenial, calling to each other and showing off their projects. April felt the empty space replaced with something more.
Bonnie showed up with her seven-layer bean dip and homemade nachos. Clive followed, carrying a box of CDs.
“I thought you might like some music to stamp by,” he said.
“I’ve got music, Clive. But I don’t own a Kickapoos album.”
Looking through her iPod, he said, “Your music is weird.”
“Just because you’ve never heard of Maroon 5 or Rilo Kiley, don’t make fun. You’re just an old fart, anyhow. A musical snob. You don’t really have too much room to judge. I mean, didn’t you write ‘Last Bus to Scranton’?”
“I loved that song,” Mary Lou put in. Kit rolled her eyes.
“You loved that song,” Bonnie put in.
“I was ten,” April protested.
Clive pouted. “That song has been very good to me. The farm I bought. The Suburban. The last herd of sheep.”
April laughed. Clive was irrepressible. She looked to her mother for help, but Bonnie just shrugged. She was very happy that her two favorite people were getting along.
“Don’t bother me,” Bonnie said gruffly. “I’m going to bake these cheese straws. Leave me out of the musical choices.”
Clive found an album he approved of and soon the sounds of the Beatles filled the space. He walked around the room, admiring the stampers’ projects.
Mary Lou threw an arm around April’s shoulder. “Thanks for having us here.” She opened her bag on the table and started taking out papers, scissors and punches.
“How are you?” Deana hugged her and held her close for an extra moment. “Doing okay, really?”
April nodded in her shoulder. “I really am doing okay. Ed’s free, the bad guy is in custody. What more do I need?”
“Ken call?” Deana asked.
April shook her head. “Not today. Maybe he’s getting the message.”
“Which is? You going to stick around Aldenville for a while?” Deana asked gently.
“Dad wants me to work with them. And we’re back on the Mirabella job. That will take at least six months,” April said.
“And after that?” Deana asked, looking into her friend’s eyes.
April smiled. “I’m thinking my parents are of an age where I shouldn’t go off and leave them.”
Deana looked at her askance. “Your parents are in their fifties, and both have wonderful partners. They need you less than they did fifteen years ago.”
“Well, maybe I just want to stick around and see how things turn out. Besides, you need someone to help you with your stamping route, don’t you?”
“My stamping route?” Deana asked, her eyebrows arched high. Kit started giggling.
April looked around the table. “I figure it’s like a paper route, only with franchised paper products.”
“You offering to help?”
Her first week back in Aldenville, she’d made more friends than she had the first sixteen years she’d spent here. She liked Rocky and Mary Lou despite, or maybe because of, their wicked tongues. She couldn’t wait to see what Kit’s babies turned out to be. Piper and Suzi were growing on her. Tammy was a lost soul, for now.
“Maybe,” April said.
The stampers went to work. The smell of toasted cheese soon filled the barn. Clive whirled up a batch of margaritas. Her mother smiled at her, and April felt the love across the room.
“Oh, yes, tequila,” Mary Lou said over the noise of the blender. “I always work better with a buzz on.”
April laid out the project she’d started at the all-nighter, a collage with one of her favorite birds, the cardinal. She’d missed seeing cardinals in California, but she’d been afraid the image might be overdone.
Looking at the page now, she saw her fears were groundless. Even though the image was iconic, her treatment of it was anything but trite. The red bird had only been a jumping-off point. The collage had started with images of California but morphed into images of Pennsylvania. Green rolling hills, pink, full-blooming mountain laurel, white fluffy clouds. The result was a lush panoply.
Her underlying message—one she hadn’t even known was in there—came through. She missed home. Nothing more, nothing less. April looked around the table. She had found a deep connection in a place she’d not expected to find one. Home.
She looked out the window. A cardinal came to the bird feeder, his mate as pretty although not as vibrant as he. The juxtaposition of the red feathers against the green pine tree was something she wanted to see again and again.
Stamping Project
Skull and Scrolls Tag
SUPPLIESBlack stamp pad
Skull stamp
Tag (from office supply store)
Scroll stamp
Scratch paper
Colored pencils (white and gray)
DIRECTIONS
Using a black stamp pad, ink the skull stamp and then press stamp firmly to tag.
Use the same black stamp pad to ink the scroll stamp, BUT first stamp it on scratch paper and then on tag (this will give it a lighter feel).
Using a white colored pencil, color in details of skull and scrolls.
Go back in with a gray colored pencil and add subtle shadowing.
*Project design courtesy of Holly Mabutas. Visit her website at www.eatcakegraphics.com.
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