Page 72 of One Chance to Stay
“I didn’t plan on freeing her…”
TEA BAGS & TESTICLES
Grace: Did I hear right? Dad invited Abraham over?
Grace: What have you done to him?
Gace: Keep doing it.
Grace: Ew. That came out wrong.
I snorted. I shot back a text asking if we could talk about college programs. My finger hovered over the send button as I thought about the humor in the situation. Sure, I’m shagging your dad, but let’s hang out and shoot the breeze. Nothing wrong about that?
“You call him dad. I call him daddy.”
I laughed at my own joke. The breeze on my walk would have been welcomed in the summer. Now, it had me zipping my jacket to the neck. Walking from Valhalla toward downtown, I had to admit my step had extra pep. Not even the cold slowed me.
Gladys: Patrick, I have extra batting if you need it.
Gloria: Do you need help with your bindings?
Gladys: Our meeting is today. I’ll save you a seat.
Gloria: Lies! She just wants gossip.
Gladys: We voted. Omission isn’t lying.
They had been going all morning. I don’t know if it was Abraham, but I had also been added to the ‘Scenic Views’ chat. From snowmobilers on the mountain to morning views from the porch, I already had to mute it. Beautiful, but wow, Firefly took loving nature to a whole new level.
I crossed the street, jumping a snow bank before skidding along the sidewalk. Arms flailed, trying to keep me upright until I smacked into the door to Twice-Told Tales. It was as if I had never encountered snow or ice before. Winter in the city had nothing on winter in the mountains. I pulled the door open, sliding inside.
“Hey, Gladys, I was wondering if—” I froze as a dozen pairs of eyes stared at me over their sewing machines. If I had known the Quilting Guild took over her store, I’d have waited until they cleared out.
Gladys’s head shot up over a sewing machine. “Sorry, ladies, business calls.” One by one, their eyes dropped, returning to their projects. The soft thumping of their machines resumed as they fed them fabric.
I gave everybody a slight wave as I braved my way into their circle. “I need a gift for?—”
“Another record? I have the perfect one.”
“No, I was thinking?—”
“A Tiffany lamp?”
“Not really?—”
“A tea bag holder shaped like testicles?”
“Wait, what?”
“A taxidermy squirrel in a cheerleading costume?”
“What kind of store do you run?”
Behind the oversized glasses, she blinked, the smile creeping up her face. “Everybody has a different definition of treasure.”
“Shaped like testicles?”
She nodded, her smile never faltering. “Though, now that I think about it, I should set that aside for Gloria.”
