Her mother nodded. “Good. I’m glad to hear it. I—Everything’s going so well for us now. Finally. It—it wouldn’t be fair if—”
“I know.” Grace motioned to her mother’s plate. “Are you finished?”
“Yes.”
“Let me take this.”
Standing, she carried the dishes to the sink, wondering what she was going to do now that her mother couldn’t cope with the past. “Do you like your job at Amelia’s Dress Boutique?” she asked, to provide a refuge in the conversation.
“I get a twenty percent discount there,” Irene said, eagerly following her lead.
“You have good taste. You always look so nice.” Grace smiled encouragingly. “Here, I’ll walk you to the car. I don’t want to make you late,” she said. And for the first time since her return, she realized how important it was that she’d come home. Not only did she need her family, her family needed her.
Teddy Archer stood on the doorstep of Evonne’s house, and wondered whether or not he should knock. His father had dropped him off at his grandmother’s place a while ago, but he’d known it was far too early to visit anyone. He’d forced himself to wait as long as he could—and hoped it was long enough. But now that he’d reached the porch, he could see a couple of Vicki Nibley For Mayor signs leaning against the house and guessed his new friend was “in the enemy camp,” as his grandmother put it.
Grandma hated anyone who liked Mrs. Nibley. She called Mrs. Nibley a “bleeding heart liberal” and said she and her friends would ruin the town. But Grace didn’t seem so bad to Teddy. She’d given him that extra dollar when he pulled weeds for her, hadn’t she? It was probably still okay if he collected his cookies.
Making his decision, he knocked and straightened the bill of his ball cap while waiting for Grace to come to the door.
Once she appeared, he immediately felt better because she seemed genuinely happy to see him. “Hello,” she said.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he jerked his head toward the deep ruts he’d noticed in the lawn just before he’d seen the campaign signs. “Someone gave you a lawn job last night.”
She followed the direction of his gaze. “I know.”
“You do? Who was it?”
She frowned. “A man named Joe.”
Teddy recognized that name. “Vincelli?”
“That’s him. You know him?”
“Yeah, he’s funny.”
“Maybe some people think so. But I’m not too impressed.”
Not everyone liked Joe. Teddy had once heard a friend of his grandmother’s say she felt sorry for Joe’s parents, that their son was a “no account” boy. He wasn’t sure what that meant exactly. But he knew it wasn’t good. And he knew there were some things he wasn’t supposed to repeat, so he didn’t mention it. Instead, he pointed toward the signs. “You’re voting for Mrs. Nibley?”
“I am.”
“How come?” he asked, squinting up at her.
“I’m not a big fan of Kennedy Archer.”
“Oh.” She didn’t like his father, either? He wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“What about you?” she asked. “If you were old enough to vote, who would you choose?”
“Not Vicki Nibley,” he admitted.
“So you’re an Archer man?”
He nodded.
“Do you know him?”
He nodded again. He thought he should probably tell her that Kennedy was his dad, but he was afraid she’d hate him, too, if he did. “He’s nice,” he said, hoping to win her over.
“If you say so.” She was still smiling, but something in her voice told Teddy he hadn’t convinced her. “Are you ready for your cookies?”
They’d finally arrived at the cookies. He grinned. “Yeah.”
“Great. I baked a big batch for you last night. Should I get the phone so we can call your mother? Let’s ask if you can come in and have a few cookies with a glass of milk.”
Teddy tilted his head to look past her and into the house. He could smell the yummy aroma he remembered so clearly from his mother’s kitchen; he wanted to go in and pretend his house would smell like that again someday.
But his father had told him he couldn’t go in her house. Staring at the porch floor, he scuffed one sneaker against the other. “Um…my mom’s not home.”
“Who’s watching you, then?”
“My grandmother,” he said. “She already knows I’m here.”
“You’re sure.”
He nodded, but she still seemed hesitant.
“In that case, why don’t we spread a blanket under the trees and eat out on the back lawn?”
Even if she didn’t like his father, she seemed really nice. And eating on the back lawn was probably okay. It was still outside, wasn’t it? “That’d be good,” he said in relief. “And when we’re done, maybe I could work for you again today. If you need me.”
The smile that beamed down on him felt like sunshine.
“I was about to unlock the toolshed and visit the root cellar, which is always an adventure.”
“Why is it an adventure?” he asked.
“Have you ever been there before?”
“Once, with Evonne. I helped her bring up some beets.”
“Don’t you think it’s spooky, with all those spider-webs?”
“I’m not afraid of spiders.” He stood taller so she’d believe him, even though the root cellar was a little scary. “But why do you want to go into the cellar?”
“To count what’s left of the bottled peaches and tomatoes. I’m going to reopen Evonne’s Homestyle Fixin’s.”
“Her stand?” Excitement buzzed through him like a horde of bees. When he’d started spending his days at his grandmother’s last summer, Evonne had let him come over a lot. Somehow being at her place made him feel happy inside. “I can count really good.”
“I’ll bet you can,” she said with a laugh. “In any case, I’m glad to have your company.” She held the door a little wider. “Would you like to help me carry everything outside? After our snack, we’ll get busy.”
Teddy hesitated for only a second. He wouldn’t be inside long, so it wasn’t as if he was really disobeying his father. Besides, his dad would expect him to help. Helping was always the right thing to do. Even Grandma said that.