“Is my dad—”
“He’s in the middle of a nasty plumbing repair—his words—so he’ll stop by on his way back through town.” She nodded and Bob added, “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of his baby and fix her right up.”
“I’ll let you get started.” She walked over to the truck and grabbed her toolbox. “I’ll start walking back to town and meet Grace halfway.”
He nodded, but his attention was already focused on the pickup.
Birds swooped low in the field, keeping her company as she trudged toward town.
Grace must have left the moment their father called. Caitlin waved to get her sister’s attention. Her sister slowed down and Cait got in. “Thanks for coming to get me.”
Grace nodded and drove toward Bob’s.
“Why aren’t you going back to town?”
Grace was frowning as she pulled into the parking lot, waved to Bob, and signaled. “I am,” her sister told her. “What I’m not going to do is pull a U-turn in the middle of the road. Besides, I imagine the supplies you came back to get for Mr. Weatherbee’s barn are still in the truck.”
“It must be tough,” Caitlin grumbled.
“What?”
“Being the perfect little sister,” Cait added.
Grace’s hands tightened on the wheel, but she didn’t say anything.
Caitlin was grateful that the ride back to town was a short one. When her sister pulled up out front and parked, Grace tossed Cait the keys without a word, slamming the driver’s side door and then the front door to the shop.
Wonder how long she’ll be giving me the silent treatment this time.
***
A few hours later, she packed up her tools, highly satisfied with the way the rebuild of Mr. Weatherbee’s barn turned out. She was just finishing loading up the car when her favorite customer came walking toward her with a bit of metal and glass dangling from his hand.
“Thought you might like to hang this one with the others.”
Cait’s heart turned over when she saw the lovely wind chime he held out to her. “It’s so beautiful.” Her eyes lit up as she reached for the intricate twist of copper, silver, and green sea glass. “I love it!”
The wizened old man’s face wrinkled up as he smiled, and she gave in to the urge and wrapped her arms around his neck before pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“Well now,” he said, patting her back and clearing his throat. “I’d say Joe Mulcahy raised three wonderful young women who aren’t afraid to work with their hands—or get dirty.”
“He’d be pleased to hear it,” she said, thinking about this morning.
“Don’t you fret about that F1, Caitlin.” Her gaze shot up to his, and from the look on his face, he knew the whole sorry story. His words confirmed it. “The hardest lessons are often the only ones we take to heart.” With a nudge to her shoulders, he urged her toward her car. “I’m sure Grace has a full schedule for you. Best be getting to it.”
“Thanks, Mr. Weatherbee.”
“Drive safely, you hear?”
“Yes, sir.” Apple Grove seemed smaller by the day.
With a sigh she drove back to town. When she stopped in to pick up more supplies, she realized that Grace had added the cold shoulder to the silent treatment. Just because Grace was without a car for the day—as if her sister couldn’t walk anywhere she needed to go in town.
Little sisters could be such a pain.
Feeling a little bit better now that the F1 was in Bob’s capable hands, but not quite ready to face her father—she really hated to disappoint him—she took the long way home. When an oldie came on the radio, she sang along and felt the day’s problems start to unravel. The ship’s mast Mr. McCormack used in place of a scarecrow came into view. Approaching the McCormack farm, she slowed down. Peggy and Kate’s dad had been in the fields plowing earlier, and Cait drew in a deep breath, comforted by the scent of fresh-turned dirt.
More kids than she could remember had snuck out in the middle of the night to climb up to the crow’s nest on a dare—her older sister, Meg, included. Thinking about how much trouble Meg had gotten into that time, having been rescued by the then-deputy Mitch Wallace—his first juvenile delinquent rescue, according to Mitch—made her feel just a little bit better.
Dusk lent a certain mystical quality to the air. Driving past the newly planted fields, she could just imagine faeries flitting about, waving magic wands over the earth, pond, and trees as vines, flowers, and buds burst into bloom. Letting her imagination wander, she almost didn’t see the car parked at the side of the road until she was just about to pass it.