Page 46 of Sew Matcha in Love
“Go on.” I set what remained of my Matcha Madness on the trash can next to the bench. I didn’t want any distraction while she told me about herself.
“Okay. I was born here. My parents met at a military ball in Colorado Springs, fell in love, and made our home their base. My grandparents were still living here at the time, but with Mom and Dad assigned elsewhere, there was no point in putting roots down. They didn’t plan on having children, so I was a surprise. Mom wanted to continue serving, so Dad left active duty as soon as he could to stay home and raise me. He had a lot of money saved, so he dabbled in wildlife photography. He’d take me on walks and hikes and sold some of his photos to magazines and even a jigsaw puzzle company.”
“That’s pretty awesome,” I said. “I’d love to see some of his work. It’s all in the room?”
She nodded. “Everything I could find. Help yourself. I keep meaning to go through it all, but it’s still too hard. I still can’t believe he died from a snake bite.”
Arwyn looked away. I wanted to comfort her. My arm moved of its own accord, circling around her back and pulling her to me. “I’m so sorry, Wynn. I can’t imagine.”
She laid her head on my shoulder. “Thanks. He was missing for two days. The worst two days of my life. Mom came home for a bit after that, and we grieved. But then she was off again. I don’t know where she is most of the time. She’s undercover and emails when she can. I think she’s a secret agent.”
“Wild,” I said. I wanted to know more about her elusive mom, but I wanted her to smile again more. “What about the years in between? How did you come to love the fashion of the past? Learn how to make costumes?”
“My dad got a photography job at thePalmer City Gazettewhen I was in kindergarten. He spread the word that he needed after-school care for me, and Shanna’s mom got the job. Shanna and I were already friends from the schoolyard—we both liked to read under the same tree next to the playground. I saw her reading there the first day Dad dropped me off for his job. I didn’t want to play on the apparatus—it was too crazy, unlike mine at home, which was just for me. The next day, I brought a book and sat with her.”
“And you were instant friends.”
“We were. Her mom would take us to the library some days. Other days we’d play while her mom sewed—she had a tailoring business upstairs. The ice cream shop didn’t bring in a bunch of money in the winter. And she taught me how to sew. I wanted to make the dresses the girls in my historical books wore. I naturally leaned to the late Victorian to Edwardian era, thanks to the stories and the way our house was built and decorated. It was easy to pretend I was the characters in those books since my house was like theirs with the patterned wallpaper and dark wood and knickknacks.”
“How many years older than you is Shanna?” I asked.
“Five. It was like having a big sister.”
“Must have gotten lonely when she changed schools.”
“Not really. I had my books, sewing, and I’d see her after school. She got married young, though. Her parents moved to a retirement community, and she and her husband moved upstairs. They had two little ones a year apart, and I’d babysit while she worked in the store.”
“That’s how you became the nanny of nannies. Nice. And how did you meet Tasha?”
“I knew Tasha from school. We were in classes together growing up, but she was friends with the popular girls, and I kind of stayed to myself. One year she needed her cheer uniform altered because she’d lost a lot of weight, and Shanna’s mom was hired to do the alteration. She showed me how to do that. So Tasha and I got to talking, and she told me to come by the Bevvie Bar if I wanted to hang out. We had some things in common, and over the years, most of her friendships dropped off. I’d invite her and Penny over to my house for tea and movie nights in. I rarely went out, and she had all those jobs, so when she wasn’t working, she wanted to unwind. And then she got the job coaching at the high school cheerleading squad and had zero time.”
I’d heard about Tasha’s jobs to pay her medical bills. I couldn’t imagine how hard that must have been. And for her friends, who she wouldn’t allow to help her and had to watch her fight an autoimmune disease and work literally just to live.
“I like my quiet life,” Arwyn confirmed. “But you’re right, it is a bit lonely. I like to be by myself a lot. That’s when I do my best work and my best thinking. But there are times when I just need people around, and that’s usually when I’ll go to the Soda Shoppe. Or call Tasha and see what she’s doing, or Penny. But they’re so busy now with their husbands and with Melody that it feels even lonelier.”
“I get that. The last six months nearly killed me. Living alone is hard, especially when you’ve never had to. It feels like you’ve lost everything.” I’d never admitted that out loud before.
She turned to me. “It does feel that way. I think Tasha noticed I was a bit off, and that’s why she suggested I work for you. She thought I missed working with little kids, and she was right. A couple of kids I can handle. And I’m not afraid to be myself around them. They just want to play and be loved, and I have a lot of love to give.”
“Do you?” I murmured. “How much more?”
The last sentence was out before I could stop it. Her eyes widened, and I wished I could’ve taken it back. She shifted out from under my arm, arranging herself sideways on the swing.
I didn’t want to lead her on, but darn it, I wanted her to stay in my life. And in my girls’ lives. And it was crazy to think that in just a couple of weeks, she’d made herself such an irreplaceable part of our family.
The distress on her face said it all. I hurried to make a joke of it. “Because—” I leaned in. “I could buy you a cat.”
Her expression relaxed, and she laughed. “Don’t you have to get to practice?”
I pulled out my phone to check the time. “Yeah. We should head back.”
I stood and offered her my hand to assist her up from the bench swing. We deposited our cups into the trash, and once her arm was tucked in mine again, I dared to ask her about her date with Adler.
“So, Wednesday. I should be home by five. Are you looking forward to your date with Adler?”
She was quiet for a beat. “Not really. I should be, though, right? I mean, I’m at the age where I should want a relationship and a family and all that. But…”
“But?” I prompted.
