put into it all.”
“If I can do anything . . ,” I said.
Maggie smiled. “I know. Thanks.” She held both arms out a bit from her body and shook
them. Then she started for the middle of the room. “Circle, everyone,” she called.
Mags took her usual place with her back to the wall, facing the door. Ruby slid in
beside her as everyone else spread out. Taylor stopped to pull an elastic from her
pocket and pull her red hair up into a high ponytail. Roma smiled at me and patted
the air to her left. I took the empty space next to her.
Rebecca was already hurrying across the floor. She joined the circle beside me. “Hi,
Kathleen,” she whispered.
“Hi,” I whispered back as Maggie started the warm-up.
“Have you gotten the rocking chair back together yet?” Rebecca asked. Her arms were
swinging forward and back and the light sparkled off the diamond ring on her left
hand.
I was happy that Rebecca and Everett were getting their happily ever after, even though
it had taken close to fifty years for it to happen. And I had a permanent little bubble
of warmth in my chest knowing that the cats and I had played a very tiny role in helping
the two of them find their way back to each other, though I couldn’t imagine that
it wouldn’t have happened anyway. As Ruby liked to say, “What’s meant to be will always
find a way.” I wasn’t a big believer in fate, but in the case of those two, I was
willing to make an exception.
Before I could answer Rebecca’s question, Maggie called across the circle to me, “Kathleen,
bend your knees.”
I gave a melodramatic sigh and everyone laughed. It was a running joke in the class.
I thought I was bending my knees. I was trying to bend my knees. It just seemed that
my knees didn’t know that.
I got down a little lower to the ground and Rebecca gave me a sympathetic smile, the
way she always did. “To answer your questions, yes and no,” I said, keeping my voice
low.
“I’m sorry,” she said, not the slightest bit out of breath even though she was twice
my age. “I’m not following you.”
I was already a tiny bit winded. I made a mental resolution to leave the truck at
home more often and walk to the library. “I got the rocking chair all together okay,
but it had a decided list to one side,” I said.
“Oh, dear,” Rebecca said, two frown lines appearing between her blue eyes. “Maybe
Oren could help you.”
Oren Kenyon was a jack-of-all-trades. He’d duplicated the old trim for the library
restoration and created the beautiful carved wooden sun that was over the entrance.
If Marcus couldn’t fix the chair, maybe I would ask Oren.
“Marcus is going to try to put it together for me,” I said.
Rebecca beamed at me. “He’s a very nice young man,” she said, with a gleam in her
eye that even with her gray hair made her look about as old as Taylor King. “I’m glad
the two of you have become friends.”
“You’re as bad as Maggie,” I said.
Rebecca gave me a look that was all innocence. She was much better at it than either
Owen or Hercules.
Marcus had figured out that Maggie had been trying to get the two of us together.
I wondered if he knew that it seemed as though everyone else in town was trying to
do the same thing.
Maggie worked us hard. By the time we did the entire form at the end of class, the
neck of my T-shirt was wet with sweat. Some of my movements still needed more practice,
especially Cloud Hands, but I could go all the way through all one hundred and eight
movements of the form.
I walked over to Roma and Taylor, who were standing by the table while Roma made herself
a cup of tea that smelled like cranberries and cinnamon. “I’m never going to be able
to do that,” Taylor was saying as she shook her hair out of its ponytail.
“If you mean the entire form, yes, you will,” Maggie said, joining us. She’d peeled
off her T-shirt to uncover the red
“If I can do anything . . ,” I said.
Maggie smiled. “I know. Thanks.” She held both arms out a bit from her body and shook
them. Then she started for the middle of the room. “Circle, everyone,” she called.
Mags took her usual place with her back to the wall, facing the door. Ruby slid in
beside her as everyone else spread out. Taylor stopped to pull an elastic from her
pocket and pull her red hair up into a high ponytail. Roma smiled at me and patted
the air to her left. I took the empty space next to her.
Rebecca was already hurrying across the floor. She joined the circle beside me. “Hi,
Kathleen,” she whispered.
“Hi,” I whispered back as Maggie started the warm-up.
“Have you gotten the rocking chair back together yet?” Rebecca asked. Her arms were
swinging forward and back and the light sparkled off the diamond ring on her left
hand.
I was happy that Rebecca and Everett were getting their happily ever after, even though
it had taken close to fifty years for it to happen. And I had a permanent little bubble
of warmth in my chest knowing that the cats and I had played a very tiny role in helping
the two of them find their way back to each other, though I couldn’t imagine that
it wouldn’t have happened anyway. As Ruby liked to say, “What’s meant to be will always
find a way.” I wasn’t a big believer in fate, but in the case of those two, I was
willing to make an exception.
Before I could answer Rebecca’s question, Maggie called across the circle to me, “Kathleen,
bend your knees.”
I gave a melodramatic sigh and everyone laughed. It was a running joke in the class.
I thought I was bending my knees. I was trying to bend my knees. It just seemed that
my knees didn’t know that.
I got down a little lower to the ground and Rebecca gave me a sympathetic smile, the
way she always did. “To answer your questions, yes and no,” I said, keeping my voice
low.
“I’m sorry,” she said, not the slightest bit out of breath even though she was twice
my age. “I’m not following you.”
I was already a tiny bit winded. I made a mental resolution to leave the truck at
home more often and walk to the library. “I got the rocking chair all together okay,
but it had a decided list to one side,” I said.
“Oh, dear,” Rebecca said, two frown lines appearing between her blue eyes. “Maybe
Oren could help you.”
Oren Kenyon was a jack-of-all-trades. He’d duplicated the old trim for the library
restoration and created the beautiful carved wooden sun that was over the entrance.
If Marcus couldn’t fix the chair, maybe I would ask Oren.
“Marcus is going to try to put it together for me,” I said.
Rebecca beamed at me. “He’s a very nice young man,” she said, with a gleam in her
eye that even with her gray hair made her look about as old as Taylor King. “I’m glad
the two of you have become friends.”
“You’re as bad as Maggie,” I said.
Rebecca gave me a look that was all innocence. She was much better at it than either
Owen or Hercules.
Marcus had figured out that Maggie had been trying to get the two of us together.
I wondered if he knew that it seemed as though everyone else in town was trying to
do the same thing.
Maggie worked us hard. By the time we did the entire form at the end of class, the
neck of my T-shirt was wet with sweat. Some of my movements still needed more practice,
especially Cloud Hands, but I could go all the way through all one hundred and eight
movements of the form.
I walked over to Roma and Taylor, who were standing by the table while Roma made herself
a cup of tea that smelled like cranberries and cinnamon. “I’m never going to be able
to do that,” Taylor was saying as she shook her hair out of its ponytail.
“If you mean the entire form, yes, you will,” Maggie said, joining us. She’d peeled
off her T-shirt to uncover the red
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