Chapter Eight
Chapter Seven
JESSA
S itting at Jimmy’s cafe at our usual table the next morning filled me with a strong sense of normalcy. Penny, Tally, and I still met up often for a meal together, but since Ellie had moved to Nashville, we were usually stuck with her calling us to chat through her phone. That always gave me flashbacks to the years after high school graduation when Penny was away at college and we did the same. I much preferred this, seeing all of my friends in person, and having them sit across the table from me.
“I’m so tired.” Ellie sipped on a cup of coffee.
“That’s obvious since you went for the coffee and not pink milk.” Penny stirred cream and sugar into her own mug.
“Maybe if you hadn’t stayed until closing last night, you’d be more alive this morning,” Tally said.
“But it was so fun dancing with everyone.” Ellie smiled. “All my favorite people together, having a great time. It was the best.”
“Speak for yourself,” I grumbled and took a swig of my own glorious cup o’ joe.
“Oh, come on, you had fun with Cash, and you know it,” Penny said.
“He was okay.”
“Nice to look at, too.” She bobbed her eyebrows.
“Well, yeah, there’s that.”
“And he’s such a sweetie,” Ellie said. “So fun and upbeat and—”
“You don’t have to sell me on him. I won’t say no if he wants to hang out this weekend.”
“What about Ethan?” Tally asked.
My stomach twinged. “What about Ethan?”
Tally glanced at Ellie then Penny and back at me. “Nothing.”
“Not nothing.” I stared at her.
“I just thought you two would be hanging out since he doesn’t have a date.”
“I’m not babysitting Ethan.”
Ellie gave me side-eye.
“Besides, he and Kassie will probably be all over each other, so don’t waste a second of your worries on poor Ethan.”
“Here you go, ladies.” Vonda, our favorite waitress since we were kids, arrived at the table then and placed our breakfast plates before us, including strawberries in the shape of a heart on top of Ellie’s pancakes.
I was relieved for the distraction, so I didn’t have to talk about Ethan anymore.
“Oh, Vonda. You’re so sweet.” Ellie stood and gave her a big hug, and Vonda squeezed her tight.
“I’m so happy for you, Ellie.” She let go and looked around the table at us. “For all you girls. You’ve grown up into such beautiful women and have made wonderful lives for yourselves.”
Part of me thought she was only addressing her comments at my three married or almost married friends, but then she looked at me.
“I’m proud of all of you.”
It wasn’t often that a woman outside my circle of friends said those words to me. And I wasn’t one to get emotional. In fact, I rarely ever cried. But I got choked up by her kind words, so I hid my face by taking another swig of coffee, which was hard to swallow with the ball of emotion stuck in my throat. Sure, my dad said he was proud of me plenty of times. Mostly after a sporting event of some kind. But it felt different coming from a woman who was like a wise old aunt.
My mom left us when I was two, her mother passed away before I was born, and my dad’s mom lived in Florida most of the year, so from early childhood, I lacked a steady motherly presence in my life. Thankfully, I hadn’t been completely without female role models. My friends’ moms had all treated me like their own daughter, and Grandma June had become like a surrogate grandmother to me. But when one of them spoke to me in a gentle, motherly way, it felt foreign to me, and the ache in my heart would hit me out of the blue. There was a hole there that my mom had left, and I wasn’t sure anyone or anything could ever fill it.
Vonda left us to our breakfast, and we chitchatted about last night and the plans for the rest of the day. I pushed my food around and took a few small bites, but I didn’t have much of an appetite. I wasn’t sure what was up with my stomach lately.
“We’re bringing Rowdy along to the lake,” Tally told Ellie, regarding the new member of their family, an energetic cocker spaniel. “I was hoping George and Marjie could keep an eye on him today, but that didn’t work out. I hope that’s okay.”
“That’s fine. He’s so cute.”
“He is. And the girls love him so much already. These past couple months have been challenging, though. Since he’s a rescue dog the shelter said was previously abused, we had to retrain him with a lot of the basics. He still gets a little spooked sometimes by sudden loud noises and will run off and hide under the tables or beds, but we try to give him a safe, loving space, and hopefully, he’ll get over that eventually.”
“Poor thing,” Penny said.
“But he’s the sweetest. So cuddly with the girls. It’s adorable to see.”
“What time are you all coming?” Ellie asked.
“We’ll be there right around noon like you put on the invitation,” Tally replied.
“Us too,” Penny said.
“I have to stop by the office for a little while,” I admitted.
“What?” Ellie’s mouth fell open. “No. You can’t work today, Jessa.”
“I promise I won’t be there very long, and I’ll meet you at the lake right after.”
Ellie eyed me. “And you’re not just saying that and will end up being hours late because you got busy?”
“It’s your wedding week. I will be there for everything.”
Ellie’s shoulders relaxed. “Good. Because it’s going to be so much fun. Sunny and in the eighties today. Perfect for a day at the lake.”
After breakfast, I headed downtown to my office. Last year, I was forced to expand my small, one-woman business when I received more commissions for business branding and website designs than I could handle on my own. I never expected my little company to become so successful, but I wasn’t complaining. Being able to work for myself was the best.
I walked up the staircase to the second story of an older historic building owned by Penny’s in-laws, the Abbotts. They gave me the space for a great deal after I redesigned Abbott Farm’s website.
C.C. lifted her digital pencil from the surface of her iPad when I walked in the door. “Hey. I thought you had today off.”
Van was kicked back in his chair, typing away on his laptop with his feet up on the desk, wearing his trademark black and white checkered Vans—his namesake, he always joked. “Hey, boss lady. What are you doing here?”
“Good morning to you too,” I replied. “Last I checked, I owned this business.”
I was thankful I’d found both of them. C.C. was a gifted digital artist and graphic designer trained at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, and Van was a brilliant web developer, self-taught like me. They were both as laid back as I was, and we worked well together.
C.C. tucked a stray hair from her black bob behind her ear as she looked over the top of her dark-rimmed glasses at me. “Don’t you have something going on for the wedding?”
“I have a few emails to reply to and a phone call to make. I won’t be here long.”
She and Van both laughed.
“That’ll be the day,” Van teased.
I pushed his feet off the desk as I walked by, and he scrambled to keep from dropping his computer.
C.C. chuckled, and I grinned as I walked into my office.
At my desk, I answered emails, then opened the last message I received from a Texas woman who had hired me to design graphics and a website for her small knitting business. I’d sent her a couple ideas and rough sketches, and her follow-up email had said she had a few changes she wanted to discuss in a call rather than back and forth in emails. I wanted to handle that now before I focused all my attention on Ellie’s special day … or should I say days.
I dialed her number and waited.
“Hello?” a woman answered.
“Hi, this is Jessa Landry. I’m calling for Carolyn Gilford.”
“Hi, Jessa, this is Carolyn. How are you?”
“I’m good. How about you?”
“It’s been so scorching hot here in Texas this week, you can fry an egg on the sidewalk. How’s the weather up in Michigan?”
Oh, how I despised small talk. “It’s nice. So, you wanted to talk about your website.”
“Yes, I did. I’m so happy with what you came up with. I had no idea where to start, and I’ve had that ugly old website with mail-in orders for so long. Having a place where people can order products online or download my knitting patterns will be the perfect way to expand my little business.”
“I’m glad you liked it. But you said you wanted to talk about some changes.”
“Yes, I think I’d like the flowers behind the knitting needles in the logo to have more color. Maybe add a splash of pink and purple in there.”
“That’s an easy enough fix.”
“Wonderful.”
“Is there anything else?”
“No, I think that was all.”
“Okay. I can send over some new proofs on Monday.” I couldn’t help but be a little annoyed that I came into the office just for that. She could have easily emailed me that change request.
“That would be perfect. Thank you so much, Jessa.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you get into this business?”
“I’ve been into computers since I was young. I would play around on my dad’s computer for hours. I took all the computer classes I could in school, but they were always too easy for me, so I learned a lot on my own. I taught myself how to make simple websites, and it all sort of grew from there. Along with my love of graphic design, it was a perfect blending of my skills.”
“I read your bio on your website, and I was very impressed with all your awards and accolades. It must be so exciting to have your work featured in magazines too.”
“It’s pretty cool. Thank you.”
“I think I picked the perfect person for my website.”
“I appreciate you saying that.”
“You don’t mention what you do for fun, though.”
That seemed like an odd thing for her to say, and I wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Some of the bios I saw when searching for a designer would list a few things they liked to do in their free time.”
“Well, I don’t think that’s necessary to put on my website.”
“I was just curious. I like to get to know people,” she explained. “Especially people I’m working with. Sorry if that seemed a little forward.”
“No problem. I get it. If I’m not working, I’m usually running, playing video games, or watching movies.”
“Oh, you’re a runner? I was a runner in my younger days. Do you run for sport or just for the health of it?”
We both chuckled at her turn of phrase.
“Both,” I answered. “I’ve run some marathons and did a triathlon once. I haven’t run any races lately, though. How about you?”
“I ran track in high school. I probably could’ve got a scholarship if I hadn’t broken my ankle senior year.”
“I’m so sorry. That’s a bummer.”
“Yes, it was. I ran a little in my twenties, but it was hard to get out and do any races when my kids were young and my husband was working long hours.”
“That’s understandable.”
The end of the line was quiet for a few beats.
“Well, I won’t keep you any longer. Thanks for chatting with me. And thank you for making this beautiful website for my business.”
“You’re welcome, Ms. Gilford.”
“Call me Carolyn.”
“Thanks, Carolyn. Watch your email next week for those changes.”
“Thank you. I will. Have a good day.”
“You too.”
When we hung up, I had the strangest feeling, as if I’d made a new friend. I wasn’t one to have random conversations with people, but she was such a kind lady. If nothing else, I had probably helped to make her day by giving her a little of my time to talk.
I shut everything down then headed out.
“Better take an umbrella,” C.C. said as I headed for the door. “There’s a chance of storms later this afternoon.”
A thrill raced through me at the thought. “Bring it on!” I loved a good storm. However, I worried that it could put a hindrance on Ellie’s special weekend and ruin her happy day at the lake. Otherwise, I was happy to have a thunderstorm roll through. Ellie often talked about the beauty of God’s creation, and there was something awe-inspiring about it for sure. The power of wind and rain, the roar of thunder, and the flashes of lightning. We were powerless to stop it, and I loved every minute.
I looked up as I walked out of the building and frowned. There were puffy white clouds floating across the sky, like a scene from The Simpsons , but not a cumulonimbus in sight.