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Without any further explanation, Peggy said, “Come along, children. Miss Peggy has the best story she’s going to read to you.”
Dutifully, the children trailed after the energetic teacher.
With a puzzled shake of her head, Ellie headed for the conference room, located near Vanna’s office. She arrived to find Arnie still meeting with Vanna.
Ellie slowed her pace. “Peggy said you wanted—”
“Yes, come in, please.” Vanna waved her in the door. “I need to pick your brain a bit.”
“She already picked mine,” Arnie said, deadpan. “And discovered it was empty.”
Ellie’s lips twitched. “That’s hard to believe.”
“Not when you know I spend my days talking to a dog and a bunch of cows,” he countered.
Sheila shook her head, rattling her collar, as though she disagreed with Arnie’s statement.
Choosing a chair opposite Arnie, Ellie sat down at the long table. “What did you need?” she asked Vanna.
“I want it to be obvious to the school board members at the meeting Thursday that we have a lot of support in the community,” Vanna said. “I’m not quite sure how to do that in a subtle, but very visible, way.”
“I suggested everyone could wave little American flags,” Arnie said. “I think Nate at the grocery store probably has some.”
“I’m not keen on that idea. Not specific enough.” Vanna’s brows lowered in thought, and she rubbed her left arm.
“Maybe a campaign-style button,” Ellie said. “Something big enough to be seen at a distance, with Ability Counts printed on it.”
Vanna brightened. “Well, now …” She turned to
Arnie. “What do you think?”
“I’ve always thought Ellie was more than just a beautiful woman. She’s smart, too.” His steady gaze latched onto hers, but he didn’t smile.
For a moment, Ellie couldn’t breathe. Was that what he’d really thought of her? Could that possibly still be true? It was impossible to read his thoughts when he sent such a mixed message.
Vanna eyed Arnie with interest and smiled. “Then I’d say we have a winner. Can you find out where to get those buttons made?” she asked Ellie.
“I may have to drive to Manhattan, but a copier store should be able to do the job.”
“Perfect,” Vanna announced.
She stood to end the meeting, and Ellie followed suit, still hearing the echo of Arnie’s words in her head. Beautiful and smart.
After school, Ellie drove the ten miles to Manhattan. She made the arrangements for the buttons to be ready in time for the meeting, then decided to stop on the way home to say hello to Mindy at her shop in Potter Creek.
“How come we’re going to a knitting store?” Torie asked.
“A friend of mine works there. I want to say hello to her and have her meet you.” Ellie checked the rearview mirror and eased out of her parking spot. “Does she have any kids I can play with?”
“I’m afraid not.” Reversing direction, she drove out of the parking lot and turned west, toward the center of Potter Creek. The small town served a population of maybe five thousand people in the surrounding area. For any major shopping excursion, the locals drove to Manhattan, or all the way to Bozeman. “Maybe she’ll have some yarn crafts you’d like to make.”
“Are you going to buy some yarn to make me something?”
“I might. You could use a new sweater for fall.” Main Street looked much like it always had: grocery, hardware and drugstore on one side of the street; a diner, real estate and newspaper offices on the opposite side. At the far end of town, a brick building served as city hall and was adjacent to the popular public swimming pool. A stark contrast to downtown Spokane or even to the suburbs of that sprawling, big city with its traffic congestion and the press of a growing population.
To its advantage, however, Potter Creek was a size that a person could get her brain wrapped around, a comfortable, friendly place to live. Schoolkids rode their bikes on Main Street, and neighbors caught up with local news while lingering in front of the grocery store.
Home, Ellie thought. She’d stayed away too long.
She pulled up in front of Aunt Martha’s Knitting and Notions. The front window featured posters of class offerings and autumn specials on wool yarn. A cute knitted vest adorned a clear-plastic mannequin.
“We’re here,” Ellie announced. “Out you go.”
Dozens of memories flooded Ellie. Aunt Martha teaching her to knit, despite Ellie’s initial lack of enthusiasm. Making friends with Mindy, dragging her into attempting new things, like floating down the river on a homemade wooden raft. When the raft fell apart, they both nearly drowned. The ever-responsible Arnie had to rescue them.
A frown tugged at her forehead. The reckless driving accident with his brother behind the wheel had stolen so much from Arnie, not just the use of his legs, but his self-image, as well. Adjusting to his new circumstances had to have been difficult.
Guilt tightened a knot in her stomach. You should have stayed to help him, she thought.
Holding Torie’s hand, Ellie stepped inside the small knitting shop, setting off tiny wind chimes above the door.
“Oh, my …” she murmured. Over the years the shop had been upgraded and was chock-full of merchandise. In addition to bins of all types of yarn, one whole corner area displayed needle-craft samples and bins of thread in every color imaginable.
Mindy appeared from a back room. “Ellie? It’s you, isn’t it!” Arms open wide, she rushed forward to embrace Ellie. “Oh, my goodness. Daniel said you were back in town, but I wasn’t home when you came to the ranch and I missed seeing you at church. I’m so glad you dropped by.”
“I had to check out my old haunts, right?” One of those smiles that comes from the heart and lightens your spirits lifted Ellie’s lips. “I can’t believe the changes you’ve made to the shop. And by the way, I understand double congratulations are in order, Mrs. O’Brien, on your marriage and your pregnancy.”
A quick flush colored Mindy’s cheeks as she laughed. With her blond hair and fair complexion, blushing had once been the bane of her existence, particularly when Daniel had flirted with her.
“And this must be your daughter Daniel was telling me about,” Mindy said. “I understand she wants a horse of her own.”
“I’m afraid that’s not in our immediate future. Victoria, say hello to Mrs. O’Brien.”
“Hello.” Torie shook hands with Mindy. “Do you like horses, too?”
“I certainly do. My husband raises some of the finest quarter horses in the whole state.”
Torie put on her most serious expression. “Maybe someday my mommy could buy a horse from you.”
Ellie hooked her arm around her daughter’s shoulders and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “I’m afraid Torie’s a bit fixated on horses these days.”
“Most kids around here are.”
“I told Torie you might have some craft projects suitable for her.”
Mindy brightened. “I do. I’ll be getting more in before Christmas, but come see what I have now.” She took Torie’s hand and walked her to the back of the shop.
Ellie followed. When she was living in Spokane, working full-time as a waitress and taking as many college classes as she could manage, plus caring for Torie, it had been hard to make friends.
Coming back to Potter Creek meant she’d have more time and have the chance to renew old friendships. Perhaps that was what coming home was all about.
“Do you run the shop all by yourself?” Ellie asked.
“Mostly. Sometimes Aunt Martha fills in for an afternoon or two to give me a break, and I have Ivy from the diner stand in for me occasionally.”
Ellie frowned. “How are you going to handle things after the baby arrives?”
She smiled brightly. “Oh, I may close down for a few weeks. Then I’ll bring him or her along with me. That should work for the first year or so.”
“Watch out for those toddler years,” Ellie warned, thinking her friend might not fully realize what an energy drain a child could be. “There’s no keeping them corralled in a playpen then.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Mindy conceded.
While Ellie and Mindy caught up with their respective lives Torie searched through the assortment of craft possibilities.
“So, um, where’s Torie’s father?” Mindy asked.
“I haven’t a clue. Apparently, being a father wasn’t on his to -do list.” Jake Radigan hadn’t been a college student, but he’d hung out with some of the guys, showing off his motorcycle, revving the engine. Apparently he was a good mechanic, because he kept his friends’ junker cars running, working out of a garage behind his rental house.
His “wild side” had attracted Ellie, she supposed. His lack of roots.
That same lack of roots meant that he rode off into the sunset on his bike virtually the moment he learned Ellie was pregnant.
In retrospect, that was probably for the best.
Torie returned from her search in the back of the shop with an “Old Woman in a Shoe” craft that she could lace with red yarn and hang on her bedroom wall.
“I found some yarn that would make a pretty sweater for me,” Torie announced.
“Well, then, let’s take a look.” Ellie followed her daughter to a wall filled with bins of yarn. Mindy joined them.
Torie held up a skein of emerald-green sport-weight yarn. “The green goes with my eyes.”
“Yes, it does, sweetie,” Mindy announced.
Ellie thought so, too. The pale green eyes were the only trace of Torie’s father she saw in her daughter.
“All right, honey. We’ll have to pick out a pattern you like.” During the evenings, sitting with her mother, watching TV, would be a good time to knit.
After pouring over pattern books and making a selection, Ellie was paying for their purchases when Mindy said, “You’ll both have to come out to the ranch for supper one day soon.”
Credit card in hand, Ellie stiffened. “Oh, I don’t know.”
“You must. My favorite brother-in-law is the best cook in the world. He and Daniel remodeled the kitchen years ago, so it’s totally accessible for him. You should taste his chili.” She brought her fingertips to her lips and kissed them. “Absolutely delicious … if you don’t mind burning your tonsils out, as Daniel would say.”
A nervous titter escaped Ellie’s lips, but eating dinner with Arnie—at the ranch or anywhere else—wasn’t on her to -do list. Or, more importantly, on Arnie’s list, despite what he’d said about Ellie’s intelligence and looks. Those words had been for Vanna’s benefit, hadn’t they?
“It’s sweet of you to ask. But you know, I’m still settling in.” She gave Mindy another quick hug. “We’ll get together soon, I promise.” Sometime when Arnie is far, far away.
“But you and Arnie used to have a thing going. I thought you’d want to—”
“That thing was a long time ago, Mindy.” Ellie didn’t imagine for a moment that Arnie would want a repeat of their past. “Sometimes you just can’t go back.”
Waving goodbye to Mindy, Ellie ushered her daughter outside.
A few minutes later, as she pulled into the driveway of her mother’s house, she thought about how the tension between her and Arnie—the undercurrent of anger he exuded—was her fault.
In a small town such as this, she would be seeing him often. She needed to clear the air. Apologize. Whether he acknowledged or accepted her apology was up to him.
She needed to make the effort.
Chapter Five
Wiping her sweaty palm unobtrusively on her skirt, Ellie braced herself Thursday evening for whatever might happen at the school board meeting. She kept a smile on her face, desperately trying not to let her nerves show. Whatever happened tonight was important to the future of Ability Counts.
Standing at the back door of the Potter Creek Elementary School multipurpose room, she greeted parents and supporters of Ability Counts as they arrived. She gave each person one of the campaign-style buttons she’d ordered in Manhattan so they could demonstrate the community’s support to the school trustees.
They were, after all, elected officials.
“Hello, Mrs. Axelrod,” she said, handing Nancy’s mother a button. “Thank you for coming tonight.”
Mrs. Axelrod pinned the red, white and blue button on the lapel of her lightweight jacket.
Smiling, Ellie turned to greet the next parent coming in the door.
Instead of a parent, however, it was Arnie who wheeled into the multipurpose room, Sheila trotting proudly along beside him. Dressed in a long-sleeved Western-cut shirt with a turquoise bolo tie, Arnie looked every bit the contemporary Indian chief come to take charge. His white shirt set off his sun-burnished complexion, and the squint lines formed a fan at the corners of his eyes.
“Looks like you’re the flower girl passing out roses at a wedding,” he said.
Her eyes flared at his mentioning a wedding, and she struggled to dismiss the comment as meaningless. “As you know, we’re hoping for a sea of red, white and blue to influence the board members.”
“Hope it works.” He patted his chest right over his heart. “Pin away.”
She hesitated. Everyone else had pinned on their own button.
Trying for casual, she handed Arnie the box of pins, took one and bent down to pin it on his shirt. Her face close to his, she caught the hint of mint on his breath and the faint aroma of a woodsy aftershave on his smooth cheeks.
Her fingers trembled as she slid the pin through the fabric of his shirt.
“Careful. I bleed easy.”
She lifted her gaze from the pin to his eyes. Dark. Deep as a mountain pool. Captivating. They immobilized her with their intensity.
She pricked herself. “Ouch!” Stepping back, she sucked on the tip of her finger, tasting blood.
His lips curved up ever so slightly. “Maybe I ought to pin it on myself.”
“Good idea.” A tremor shook her voice, and she licked her lips. She handed him the pin, which he attached to his shirt with ease.
