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Authors: Kim Vogel Sawyer
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“Aunt Rebecca?”
Aunt Rebecca lifted her foot, silencing the machine. “What is it?”
“This organdy … could you maybe hold onto it a little longer?”
Her aunt scowled. “Katy, I told you — it isn’t practical. No one —”
“I might have a use for it. But I’m not sure yet. So could you wait until I know for sure?”
“When will you know?”
Katy drew in a breath and held it. Homecoming was only two weeks away. “Soon.”
Aunt Rebecca pushed the machine treadle. She raised her voice over the hum of the motor. “There’s a two-week return policy, and it came in yesterday. So it has to be postmarked by February twenty-sixth.”
The day of the dance.
“I’ll know before then.”
“All right, Katy. Set it aside then, and start vacuuming. I think I’ll be able to send you home early today.”
“Thank you!” Katy whisked the curtain back into place and trotted to the table. She scooped up the fabric and held it to her beating heart. Closing her eyes, she envisioned herself gliding around the dance floor with Bryce, the lights in the gym making the lavender fabric shimmer. She heaved a huge sigh followed by a little giggle. Then she set the bolt on a shelf in the corner of the storeroom and headed to the closet for the vacuum cleaner.
On Sunday after worship services, Gramma Ruthie invited Katy and Dad for lunch. She also invited Annika, and Annika eagerly accepted the invitation. Katy had never known Annika to refuse the opportunity to eat at someone else’s house. Annika did much of the cooking and cleaning up in her own home and complained about it. But guests weren’t expected to clean up, so Annika enjoyed being a guest. Katy wondered if Annika would ask people to her home for meals when she married and started a family of her own.
“Do you know what your grandma’s making for lunch?” Annika asked as the girls walked to the row of vehicles lined up on the sunny side of the church yard. “I hope she made a pot roast. Hers is always more tender than anyone else’s.”
Katy laughed. “Dad would say that’s because he butchered the beef.”
Annika rolled her eyes. “Of course a man who never does the cooking would try to take the credit.” But she grinned, so Katy knew she was joking.
The girls leaned against the hood of Dad’s truck and waited for the grown-ups to end their conversations and head for home. Even though it was February and supposedly winter, the past two days had proven mild and sunny. No one seemed in a hurry to leave the churchyard. Across the yard, Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Albert visited with Caleb’s parents. Katy smiled, thinking of how Aunt Rebecca had spoken to her like an adult rather than a child when she’d been so upset yesterday. Even though AuntRebecca hadn’t hugged Katy, she’d spoken kindly. And Katy knew her aunt would follow through on her promise to pray for her.
Remembering Aunt Rebecca’s promise to pray reminded her what Caleb had said. Whirling toward Annika, she grabbed her friend’s arm. “Annika, I have to ask you something.”
Annika shifted and gave Katy her attention.
“Have you heard the young people talk about me? At parties or singings?”
Annika frowned. “Talk about you? How?”
“Calling me names, like stuck-up or —” Katy tried to think of a term Caleb would use. She said,“Smart aleck. Anything like that?”
Annika squirmed. “Why do you want to know?”
The hesitant reply confirmed Katy’s fears. She cringed. “Do I really act that way?”
Annika looked down and rubbed the toe of her shoe over the flat, brown grass. “Not on purpose, I don’t think. But sometimes, well …” Annika scrunched her face and peeked at Katy. “It’s just that you’re different. The way you say things. Probably because you’re always reading. You use words other people wouldn’t. It makes you seem kind of … weird.”
How Katy hated that word! She pressed,“But the others didn’t call me weird — they called me
Aunt Rebecca lifted her foot, silencing the machine. “What is it?”
“This organdy … could you maybe hold onto it a little longer?”
Her aunt scowled. “Katy, I told you — it isn’t practical. No one —”
“I might have a use for it. But I’m not sure yet. So could you wait until I know for sure?”
“When will you know?”
Katy drew in a breath and held it. Homecoming was only two weeks away. “Soon.”
Aunt Rebecca pushed the machine treadle. She raised her voice over the hum of the motor. “There’s a two-week return policy, and it came in yesterday. So it has to be postmarked by February twenty-sixth.”
The day of the dance.
“I’ll know before then.”
“All right, Katy. Set it aside then, and start vacuuming. I think I’ll be able to send you home early today.”
“Thank you!” Katy whisked the curtain back into place and trotted to the table. She scooped up the fabric and held it to her beating heart. Closing her eyes, she envisioned herself gliding around the dance floor with Bryce, the lights in the gym making the lavender fabric shimmer. She heaved a huge sigh followed by a little giggle. Then she set the bolt on a shelf in the corner of the storeroom and headed to the closet for the vacuum cleaner.
On Sunday after worship services, Gramma Ruthie invited Katy and Dad for lunch. She also invited Annika, and Annika eagerly accepted the invitation. Katy had never known Annika to refuse the opportunity to eat at someone else’s house. Annika did much of the cooking and cleaning up in her own home and complained about it. But guests weren’t expected to clean up, so Annika enjoyed being a guest. Katy wondered if Annika would ask people to her home for meals when she married and started a family of her own.
“Do you know what your grandma’s making for lunch?” Annika asked as the girls walked to the row of vehicles lined up on the sunny side of the church yard. “I hope she made a pot roast. Hers is always more tender than anyone else’s.”
Katy laughed. “Dad would say that’s because he butchered the beef.”
Annika rolled her eyes. “Of course a man who never does the cooking would try to take the credit.” But she grinned, so Katy knew she was joking.
The girls leaned against the hood of Dad’s truck and waited for the grown-ups to end their conversations and head for home. Even though it was February and supposedly winter, the past two days had proven mild and sunny. No one seemed in a hurry to leave the churchyard. Across the yard, Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Albert visited with Caleb’s parents. Katy smiled, thinking of how Aunt Rebecca had spoken to her like an adult rather than a child when she’d been so upset yesterday. Even though AuntRebecca hadn’t hugged Katy, she’d spoken kindly. And Katy knew her aunt would follow through on her promise to pray for her.
Remembering Aunt Rebecca’s promise to pray reminded her what Caleb had said. Whirling toward Annika, she grabbed her friend’s arm. “Annika, I have to ask you something.”
Annika shifted and gave Katy her attention.
“Have you heard the young people talk about me? At parties or singings?”
Annika frowned. “Talk about you? How?”
“Calling me names, like stuck-up or —” Katy tried to think of a term Caleb would use. She said,“Smart aleck. Anything like that?”
Annika squirmed. “Why do you want to know?”
The hesitant reply confirmed Katy’s fears. She cringed. “Do I really act that way?”
Annika looked down and rubbed the toe of her shoe over the flat, brown grass. “Not on purpose, I don’t think. But sometimes, well …” Annika scrunched her face and peeked at Katy. “It’s just that you’re different. The way you say things. Probably because you’re always reading. You use words other people wouldn’t. It makes you seem kind of … weird.”
How Katy hated that word! She pressed,“But the others didn’t call me weird — they called me
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