by Linda Mayes
***
Grace worked, the kids adjusted to life in a small town, and Maggie showed signs of enjoying her role of Grandma. She had volunteered to keep the kids on Sunday when Grace had to work because her shop was closed. The kids gave her a “please say no” look, but Grace told Maggie that it was very nice of her, and yes, she could keep the kids. The last thing Grace saw as she backed out of the driveway that morning was Macy’s accusing face in the window. She tried to concentrate on work, and not think about how things were going at home, but it was hard. When five o’clock came at last and her shift was over, she drove home expecting Maggie to be locked in her room, and the kids still angry with her. Instead, she walked into a home that smelled like chocolate chip cookies, and her mother and oldest daughter sitting on the couch in the living room quilting.
“Well, hey there,” Grace said as she came in the door.
Macy looked up at her and smiled. “Hi, Mom!”
Lucy and Brock came out of the bedroom, both of them with chocolate on their faces. “Hi Mama!” they said in unison. “We made cookies!”
Grace smiled at them. “I see that.”
Maggie looked worried. “I only let them eat one each so they wouldn’t spoil their dinner.”
“It’s fine, Mother,” Grace told her. “I’m glad you all had a good day.”
“Grandmother and I are making a quilt for my bed,” Macy said. “See it’s all pictures of horses.”
Grace went over and sat next to her daughter. “It’s a beautiful quilt. Your grandmother is the best quilter there is.”
Maggie looked at Grace and smiled, the first genuine smile Grace had seen on her mother’s face for quite some time. “Thank you, Mother.”
“I had a good day too,” Maggie told her, shrugging it off and going back to her quilt. “There’s a roast in the crock-pot, it’ll be ready in an hour.”
