Page 40 of Love's Harvest
The next morning, Sunday, Sarah took the girls to the store with her while she helped to clean and straighten from the Halloween festivities.As she swept and put items back in place, the girls played the toss game, which she’d taken out of the window.
April showed up as expected, and together they worked on putting a fall display in the front window.In a couple of weeks, they’d turn it into a Christmas window, but for now, she liked the transition to fall items.
During a break, Sarah said, “Did you have fun last night?You did a terrific job here at the store.”
April made a face and shrugged.“Wyatt asked me to go with him to meet some friends who were having a party.Lindsay got really mad when she saw us, but Wyatt told her to stop making nasty comments about me.One of the other girls was nice to me, though, and I think I might’ve made a new friend.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Sarah said.“It’s tough when someone picks on you.The best advice I have is to ignore it.It becomes ineffective if there’s no reaction.”
April’s eyes rounded.“Were you bullied in high school?”
“Not really,” said Sarah, “because we grew up together and learned we all were different.Mrs.Genie Wittner, the former owner of the Lilac Lake Inn and a well-respected woman in town, made it a point to befriend us all, and it was she who made sure no one was mistreated.”
“That’s nice,” said April.
“I wasn’t the most popular girl in high school but I had friends even though I pretty much stayed to myself, and was busy working at the store but.”
“My job here is very important to me,” said April.“Wyatt would never have noticed me without my working here.”
“That’s a win-win, then,” said Sarah, giving April an encouraging pat on the back.
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While Sarah worked on tallying sales figures for Saturday, April played with the girls.
Mia and Emily loved having April help them.
Even though the store was closed, someone rang the bell to be let inside.Curious, Sarah went to the front of the store and saw Blake standing outside.
She opened the door.“April is still working here with me, but come inside.”
“I just wanted to tell her that I was going to be late taking her out to lunch.Poppy and I are meeting with a realtor.”
At my look of surprise, he continued.“You know that idea I had for a house?Poppy doesn’t want to stay in her large Victorian house by herself and can’t afford to pay for the upgrades it needs.So, we made a deal.I’ll buy the house from her and fix it up, and she’s going to move into Misty Gilford’s cabin because Misty is moving in with David Graham.”He chuckled.“How’s that for a lot of cooperation?”
“It sounds perfect to me,” said Sarah.“And that’s why you wanted to talk to Dani and Collister Construction?”
“Yes.I plan on doing a lot of work myself, but I need them to guide me.Once this deal goes through, I’ll be in touch with Dani, as you suggested.I want to open up the interior and make some other changes without destroying the character of the house.”
“Dani is an excellent architect, and the house is in a superb location,” said Sarah.“I’m sure Poppy is thrilled with the arrangements.”
“She is,” said Blake.“She and I have hit it off, and it’s been nice for both of us.”
“Oh, yes,” said Sarah, loving how this small-town living worked out so well for some people.
“Hi, Dad,” said April walking toward them.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Sarah said.“I’d better check on the girls.”
Sarah found Mia and Emily in the nail aisle.They’d removed two boxes of box nails off the shelf and were sitting on the floor making designs with the nails they’d dumped on the floor.She whipped out her phone and took a picture of them to send to Dani, hoping she’d see how clever her girls were.Dani doted on them.
After they’d cleaned up, Sarah told the girls she’d take them to the café for lunch.
Excited, they headed for the door.
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At the café, Sarah and the girls were shown to a booth, where she could look at the other people inside.She was glad to see how crowded it was.It was so much more than a place where one could get excellent food.It was where you could meet up with neighbors and friends.
