Read Online Scrapbook of Secrets by Mollie Cox Bryan - Free Book Online Page A

color. Smooth, milky vellum papers were their own category. Handmade paper, like mulberry, was in its own stack. The rest were categorized by color, and within the color by occasion—birthday, wedding, anniversary, and so on. On her desk sat craft drawers filled with embellishments—charms, ribbons, stickers, wire art. Each drawer was labeled. If anybody called Sheila to ask if she stocked a certain scrapbook, marker, paper, or embellishment, she could get her hands on it quickly. Efficiently.
    “It’s a sickness,” Vera said to Annie.
    “Oh, hi, Vera. I was just admiring it all,” Annie said.
    “She knows where everything is, that’s for sure,” Vera said. “But she was always like that, even as a child. She’d line her Barbie dolls up just so, knew where all of their clothes and accessories were. Me? I lost everything. Still do. I don’t know. It must be an extra gene that she has.”
    “I can’t keep track of my own stuff, let alone my boys’ stuff,” Annie said. “It’s overwhelming. And they are always getting into my things, so it makes it even harder.”
    “I don’t allow my children into the basement,” Sheila said as she approached them. “C’mon. Look at this.”
    The women followed her around the corner to a huge table. Paige and DeeAnn sat looking over pictures. The table behind them was piled with baked goods—muffins, bread, and cupcakes.
    The pictures were in envelopes, neatly labeled with names and dates, sometimes events: Grace’s Fifth Birthday, Daniel’s First Christmas, Bringing Joshua Home. Annie gasped when she realized what these pictures and envelope were—Maggie Rae’s things.
    “I think we should each take a child, and one of us could take Maggie Rae. The box over there seems to be her photos—wedding, graduation, postcards, letters, things like that,” Sheila said.
    “I’ll take that one,” Annie offered.
    “I’ll take Grace,” Vera said. “She’s one of my students.”
    “I’ll take Daniel,” Paige volunteered.
    Sheila took the youngest daughter, Beth, which left DeeAnn to work on Joshua’s scrapbook.
    “This will be a great thing for these children to have someday,” Sheila said, turning to the stereo. “Classical tonight, ladies?”
    “Hell no,” DeeAnn said, getting up to head for her bag and pulling out a CD. “Let’s hear some Stones.”
    “Sounds great,” Vera said, sitting down in her usual chair at the table. She opened the envelope that held the pictures of Grace dancing. She was a good little dancer, Vera mused. Grace at her first recital smiled up at her from a photo—dressed in a pink tutu and silver sequins. Her jet-black hair was pulled from her beautiful little face, with a wide grin splayed across it. Such a happy kid. A born performer.
    This would give her a chance to work some fabric into a scrapbook. She’d wanted to experiment with this for quite some time, and even already collected some cotton pieces in her scrapbook bag for just such an occasion. Pink-and-black calico. Black velvet. Pink tulle. Pink and black would be her color scheme. Perfect for a ballet scrapbook.
    Mick Jagger sang in the background. The sounds of “Brown Sugar” filled the air.
    “I’ll do a dance scrapbook for Grace,” she said almost to herself.
    “You may as well,” Sheila said. “There are plenty of books—probably more than we need. Maybe that pink one over there?”
    Vera reached for the book and dug in her scrapbook tote for her fabric. She placed the black velvet against the soft pink leather and decided to use a brad to make a bow for the cover. She wrapped the bow around her fingers and pinned it to the book. Usually, she did not think about the cover until the book was done—but the black velvet and pink leather just spoke to her. She would place Grace’s name in the center of the cover.
    “Lovely,” Sheila said approvingly.
    “You know, Daniel looks so much like her,” Paige said, holding up a picture. “It’s kind of