At Home on Ladybug Farm - Donna Ball [59]
But she looked at Bridget’s curious face, and noted the anxiety creeping into Lindsay’s eyes, and the expectation in her mother’s expression as she passed the butter to Paul, who then passed it to Lori. Lori put down her fork. She took a breath.
“Sorry,” Noah said gruffly, unzipping his jacket as he came into the kitchen. “Damn deer got lost. Had to go chasin’ him.” He took his place at the table and tucked into his breakfast.
“Noah, please don’t swear at the table,” Cici said.
And Noah, surprisingly, replied, “Yes’m.”
Lori buttered her muffin, and didn’t say anything at all.
Everyone lingered over hugs by the car when it was time for Paul and Derrick to go. Even Noah, hanging back a little from the women, came to see them off.
“It’s going to be like the day after Christmas when you leave,” Lindsay said, hugging Paul hard. “Oh, I wish you could stay!”
“I wish you could live here!” Lori exclaimed, embracing Derrick.
Derrick laughed. “Shall I tell you the truth? After only a couple of days, I almost wish I could, too.”
“We always talked about buying a B&B,” Paul reminded him.
Lori tossed a triumphant look to her mother and said, yet again, “I told you it was a good idea.”
Amidst the laughter, Paul cupped Lori’s chin with his fingers and told her, “You hang in there, precious girl. If you need any more inspirational speeches, you know my number.”
“It’s on speed dial,” Lori assured him, and returned a fierce hug.
Derrick walked over to Noah. “Young man,” he said, “we’ll talk again.”
Noah said, “You coming back?”
“I am. And when I do, I’ll expect a completed masterpiece from you. Until then . . .” He offered his hand, and this time Noah shook it.
They promised recipes and photographs and telephone calls and letters, and then the blue Prius was gliding down their drive, leaving the women nothing to do but wave until it was out of sight.
“I got stuff to do,” Noah said, and slumped off toward the studio.
Lori sighed as she turned to go inside. “Well, I guess it’s back to the real world.”
Bridget, Lindsay, and Cici stood in the drive for a moment longer, rubbing their arms to keep warm, looking wistful. “It really is like the day after Christmas,” Bridget said.
“Funny how one little change in the routine can make everything seem different,” Cici agreed.
“It’s not that I miss our old life,” Lindsay said. “It’s just kind of . . . fun to be reminded of it now and then.”
“Like drinking a half-caf vanilla mocha latte on the way to work in the morning,” Cici said, with a touch of longing.
“Or remembering how the shoe department smells at Macy’s,” Bridget said wistfully.
“Or getting a pedicure at Francine’s.”
Then Cici admitted, “There are a few things I miss, but nothing I can’t live without.”
“Me, either,” Lindsay agreed. “But I don’t think I realized how much I missed those two characters until now.”
Bridget said, “It was sweet of them to invite us to go with them on that cruise to Alaska this fall.”
Cici smothered a chuckle. “Like that’s ever going to happen.”
Bridget sighed elaborately. “I’d hate to think our cruising days are over.”
“Not over.” Cici slipped her arm through Bridget’s. “Just temporarily postponed.”
A film of anxiety clouded Lindsay’s eyes. “Do you think it’s too soon to call Carrie?”
Cici slipped her other arm through Lindsay’s. “She’ll let us know something as soon as she knows.”
Bridget said, “I guess I’d better get Lori to help me to undress the sheep. The forecast calls for fifties this afternoon.”
“And burn those coats,” Cici advised.
Lindsay smiled wryly. “Like the girl said: back to real life.”
“There are worse things,” Cici pointed out.
The other two couldn’t help agree as they turned, arm in arm, to go inside.
11
In Another Time
Marilee, 1944
“Always observe the amenities,” her Grandma Addie had told her. “No matter how low life knocks you, you can hold your head up high if you observe