Chapter 5
Beth stood on Maria’s veranda and rang the doorbell. The weekly potluck dinner with her friends was something Beth looked forward.
When Maria opened the door, Beth held up the dish. “I brought an apple pie in case anyone has room for dessert.”
“We always have room for dessert,” Maria said as she took the pie and ushered Beth inside.
The kitchen smelled like garlic and roasting chicken, and the windows had gone white with steam against the cold outside. Maria found a spot on the crowded counter for Beth’s dish. “Come and find a seat. Everyone’s already arguing about something, and it isn’t even seven o’clock.”
In the next room, Susan and Rachel were deep in a debate about whether the church’s heating system would last another winter. Laurel sat curled in the armchair nearest the fire, the calm center of whatever small storm the other two were stirring up.
“There she is.” Laurel abandoned her chair, crossing the room before Beth had her coat off. “Sit down and tell us everything about your first day at work. And don’t leave anything out.”
Beth laughed, surprised at how good it felt to have her friends interested in what she was doing.
She started at the beginning, telling everyone about the plans, the rooms that would hold different activities, and the dark stain spreading across the back wall where the roof had failed years ago.
“When does all the work need to be finished?” Maria asked, ladling some chicken casserole onto Beth’s plate.
“In twelve weeks,” Beth told her friends. “Natalie wants the doors open by the end of April.”
Everyone stared silently at her.
“Twelve weeks,” Laurel repeated, soft and disbelieving, “to finish an entire building?”
Beth placed some green beans on her plate. “And to win over the skeptics on the town council. Natalie thinks it’s enough time.”
“Well, then.” Maria set the serving spoon down with the finality of a woman closing an argument. “We’d better get moving.”
Beth looked up. “We?”
“Of course, we,” Maria said. “You didn’t think we’d let you do everything on your own. If you need help, we’re here for you.”
Beth opened her mouth to say something sensible about not wanting to put anyone out, but Rachel got there first.
“I know a lot of people who’d love to sign up for a class,” she said. “Once you have a list of the programs, I’ll post it on the Facebook groups I’ve joined. If Natalie said the council wants proof people will show up, I’ll get you proof.”
Beth’s eyes widened. “You’d really do that?”
Rachel grinned. “People are already excited. Mabel Terry posted something on the community Facebook page about the new arts center this afternoon. More than a hundred people left comments. They all thought it would be a great addition to the town.”
Something in Beth’s chest loosened, just slightly, the way a fist loosens once it remembers it doesn’t have to hold on.
Maria handed Laurel the garlic bread. “If you need food at the opening of the center, I can help.”
Beth smiled. “I’ll have to check with Natalie, but that sounds wonderful.”
Laurel leaned forward. “I could help you set up some spreadsheets for the course registrations. And even though Julie isn’t here, I know she’ll help with whatever needs doing.”
Beth was grateful for everyone’s support. Her friends had their own busy lives, yet they kept finding ways to be there when she needed them. It meant more to her than she knew how to say.
“What about Dave, the person in charge of the remodel?” Maria asked. “Have you met him?”
Beth ignored the sparkle in Maria’s eyes. “Dave was there when Natalie showed me around. He seems like a nice person.”
Rachel grinned. “Nice is how my grilled fish tacos taste.”
Beth reached for her glass of water, more to have something to do with her hands than because she was thirsty. Dave’s easy smile and quiet, sweet charm had made her feel oddly steady, the one part of the walkthrough that hadn’t left her doubting herself.
He hadn’t needed three contingency plans for a wall. He’d just looked at it, decided, and moved on. There was something to be said for a person like that.
“He listened when Natalie talked about the project and didn’t try to talk her out of anything,” Beth told her friends. “And he never made me feel as though I was in his way.”
Rachel smiled. “That’s a long way of saying nice.”
Beth shrugged. What she’d said was true, and there wasn’t more to it than that.
Maria grinned. “I agree with Beth. There’s something to be said for a man who’s polite and respectful. And who knows where it might lead. Look at what happened to Julie and Cole.”
Beth blushed. She was happy that Julie had met Cole, but she wasn’t looking for romance of any kind.
Rachel sighed. “I’d like to meet someone special. It would be fun to go on movie nights with someone who isn’t us, or enjoy a cup of coffee with a gorgeous man when the rest of the world is sleeping.”
Beth turned her water glass a quarter turn on the table, watching the light catch the rim.
“I had that for thirty-one years,” she said.
“Jessie and I would go for lots of long walks, talking about everything and nothing. We’d drive to shows and sing our hearts out at concerts.
We had a good marriage. A really good one. ”
Rachel squeezed her hand. “I know it was. But if you could spend the rest of your life with another man, would you?”
Beth looked around the table at each of her friends. There was a gentle understanding in their expressions, a sense of shared experiences that shaped the people they were today.
“I’m not closed off to another relationship, but I had my person. I’m not looking for another one. I like my life the way it is.”
Maria picked up her wine glass. “In that case, I’d like to propose a toast. To good friends and unconditional happiness,” she said. “And to Beth, who can count on us to help her make the arts center an incredible space.”
Beth’s throat tightened, but she managed a smile and touched her glass to each of her friends’. With the help of these amazing women, the next three months would feel less like a deadline and more like an adventure.