Chapter 13 #2
“What about a charm bracelet?” Ashley suggested. “Or a bangle?”
“What about a necklace with charms?” Jessica added to the list of options.
Ashley was perusing the bangle bracelet options. Very intricate symbols adorned many of them. “What if we do some stacking bracelets?” She pointed to thin cuffs. “One for each name. Or maybe one with Jessica and Todd, one with Kathleen and Henry, and then one of me and Emily.”
“That’s a nice idea,” Jessica answered, then Evie approached them.
Ashley briefly explained the circumstances and asked for suggestions.
Evie reached for a plain medium-size bangle.
“I can engrave all of your names so they are intertwined and make it look like a design.” She reached in her apron and produced a pad and pencil and handed it to Ashley.
“What’re the names?” Ashley wrote down everyone’s and handed the paper back to Evie.
“Give me a sec,” she said, and turned around.
She drew a rectangle and began to write the names in cursive, connecting them together.
She showed Jessica and Ashley the idea. “It’ll go all the way round. ”
“That’s spectacular!” Ashley cooed.
“Or I can do it on this.” She showed Ashley and Jessica a bracelet that had a connected open link. “Very symbolic. Linkin’ the families together.”
“Brilliant!” Jessica exclaimed.
“The link is actually a hinge, to make it easier to get on and off.” Evie demonstrated.
“I love it!” Ashley was bursting with enthusiasm.
“But if you wanna go with this, then I recommend block lettering on the inside.”
Ashley was trying to decide which one, then she snapped her fingers. “I’ll have one made for Emily with both our names on it. That will be my gift to her for Christmas. But I think I’d prefer an open cuff.”
“Alrighty. Just let me know if you’re sure about both of them. I can’t undo the engraving.”
Ashley turned to her mother. “What do you think?”
“I like the link bracelet for Kathleen.” She peered at the cuffs. “Maybe do the cursive on it?” She looked at Evie for a yay or nay.
“Yes. That would work.”
“We’re good then?” Jessica looked at Ashley.
“All good.”
“It’ll take me about an hour to do both. Maybe do a little shopping while you wait? Grab something to eat?”
Jessica and Ashley groaned at the same time. Jessica placed her hand on her stomach. “A full English.”
Evie grunted. “Understood. Yer welcome to sit here for a bit. Up to you.”
Jessica checked her watch. It was shortly after ten. Emily wouldn’t be arriving for another two hours, so there was plenty of time to accomplish what they set out to do. But eating was out of the question.
“Maybe we should try to walk off some of that sausage,” Jessica suggested. “Anything in particular you’d recommend for us to see?”
“I’d say take a ride on the wheel, but after your breakfast, I wouldn’t recommend it,” Evie said.
Jessica scrunched her face. “Why are there so many Ferris wheels?”
“It dates back to 1894 when they built one in Earl’s Court, called the Great Wheel. Was the largest in the world at the time.”
“And now you have the London Eye.”
“It was the biggest in the world until someone in Las Vegas built the High Roller. Then there were others, so now the London Eye is only the fourth largest.”
Ashley shook her head. “What’s with the obsession with size?”
Jessica and Evie laughed out loud. “Oh, love, haven’t you figured it out yet?” Evie asked sardonically.
“Oh, duh.” Ashley slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand.
Jessica pulled on Ashley’s arm. “Let’s allow this woman to do her fine work for us.”
“Good idea. Maybe you can share some words of wisdom as far as size.” Ashley chortled.
The market was beginning to bustle. Garland wrapped in miniature white lights quivered in the breeze, and the air was rich with the scent of spiced mulled wine and roasted chestnuts.
Giant candy canes and gingerbread men rested against the stalls, as traditional holiday music filled the winter wonderland.
“There’s so much to look at. And buy,” Jessica noted with a lilt to her voice. “I think I should get another sweater,” she said, looking in the direction of a merchant selling colorful woolen scarves.
“And I could use another hot chocolate.” Ashley rubbed her gloved hands together. “Maybe with a splash of Bailey’s.” She grinned.
An hour later they made their way back to Evie’s with armloads of shopping bags. “I suppose it’s my turn to get another rolling bag.”
“At least we’ll be able to ship most of it home.” Jessica paused. “I would imagine Emily knows how to drive.”
“I would think so, why?”
“Even though we will have already disrupted their holiday plans, I was thinking about inviting Kathleen and Emily to join us in the Cotswolds.”
“And then you and I take a train to Oxford?”
“Just my mind meandering about the rest of our trip.”
“I already cancelled our reservation in Manchester and revised the one in Birmingham,” Ashley said.
“You’re quite efficient.”
Ashley snickered. “I’m surprised I can keep my head on straight right now.”
“Sometimes distractions are helpful. You get a fresh perspective when you return to the original crisis, or situation.”
“Have you ever thought about being a counselor?” Ashley was half serious.
“That is something I do all day. I’m a counselor, negotiator, and peacekeeper. It’s mentally exhausting.” She took a deep breath of the holiday-scented air. “This has been a necessary distraction for me. And now there’s a distraction within a distraction.”
“Like one of those Russian dolls,” Ashley said thoughtfully. “You can add the circumstances surrounding Henry.”
“Right.” Jessica’s eyes widened and she grimaced. “I do hope the situation will be rectified. The poor family has been separated for ten years. And unjustly.” She cringed. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry.”
“About what?” Ashley wasn’t aware that her mother may have referenced a sore spot. After all, Ashley had been separated from her family for twenty-seven years.
“Being separated from the family,” Jessica replied.
Ashley’s brow furrowed, then it dawned on her.
“Oh, Mother, don’t be silly. You’re my family.
The Evanses will be an add-on. Don’t misunderstand me.
I’m not downgrading their importance.” It occurred to Ashley that Jessica was in an unusual situation.
She had raised her since she was a few months old.
Now Ashley will be meeting her birth mother.
“Mom, be honest. Are you anxious or worried?”
“Yes and no. What if Kathleen doesn’t want to meet me?”
“Oh, stop. How could she not want to meet the woman who raised her baby? And look at me now!” Ashley made a short curtsey. “I didn’t turn out too bad.”
Jessica gave Ashley a bear hug, with shopping bags flailing about. “No, you did not.”
They wiggled past the browsing shoppers and entered Evie’s stall. “I see you did a little damage out there, eh?” Evie grinned.
“Just a teensy-weensy bit.” Jessica chuckled.
Evie pointed to a small table. “Set those down near the chair.” She turned and walked to her crafting desk where two beautiful, shining bracelets awaited.
Ashly and Jessica expressed their appreciation with a litany of compliments. Ashley gently picked up the one with the link. Inside, everyone’s name was carefully inscribed and looked like it was part of the design. “This is gorgeous,” she murmured as she kept turning it around in her hand.
“This too is stunning.” Jessica marveled at the interlocking script with Ashley’s and Emily’s names.
They swapped bracelets so the other could get a closer look at the workmanship. Ashley’s eyes welled up. “These are beyond my expectations.” She took a few gulps of air. “Not that I didn’t think you would do a beautiful job. These are incredible.”
Evie was smiling from ear to ear. “It’s marvelous when my customers are happy.”
Jessica chimed in, “Happy and beyond.”
Evie offered to box and wrap them. “Won’t be but a jiffy. My daughter can help.”
It was getting close to noon and the crowds were growing. Ashley received a text from Emily letting her know she was a little over thirty minutes away. “Excellent timing.” She turned toward her mother. “Emily’s ETA is twelve fifteen.”
They thanked Evie profusely and added one more shopping bag to their loot. They wobbled back to the hotel and met the desk clerk.
“Done a wee bit of shopping, have ye?” he joked.
“Just a wee bit,” Jessica answered and smiled.
“Got yer bags ready to go. Shall I grab a cab?”
“That would be swell. Thanks.” Ashley pulled out a few pounds and tipped the young man. A cab pulled around in less than a minute and the clerk hoisted their bags into the trunk, while Jessica and Ashley clutched the myriad of shopping bags and piled them on their laps.
The driver was amused with their bounty. “Thanks for helping our local economy.”
“We did our utmost,” Jessica replied and chuckled.
The drive to the train station was quick and they arrived before Emily’s train. “I think we should get another rolling bag.” Jessica spotted a small luggage kiosk. “You wait here,” she instructed Ashley, “and keep an eye out for Emily. I’ll buy the tickets too.”
The kiosk carried a few duffel bags, messenger bags, and several rigid bags on wheels.
She gave it some thought, then decided to buy a large one.
She was certain there would be more shopping ahead.
She asked the proprietor to remove the tags after she paid him, and quickly rolled her way to the ticket counter.
“Three tickets to Birmingham, please.” She glanced back at where Ashley was stationed.
She looked like an elf in the middle of the brightly colored bundles.
Ashley laughed out loud when she saw the size of the latest suitcase. “Planning on a few more acquisitions?”
“I thought it would be better to consolidate rather than have to pull more luggage around.”