For so many years all she’d done was work. She’d missed this kind of stuff, and for what?
The mailman, an older, white-haired man, came in and placed a stack of envelopes on the counter. “Having a good day?”
“Yes sir, I am. I hope you are too.”
“Always a delight to see your smile.” He turned and waved his hand in the air as he departed.
He was always saying something charming. Sweet old man.She tucked the mail in the slot next to the register, then walked over to greet the next customer at the door.
“Welcome to Hardy House.” Merry Anna handed her a small white basket. “Let me know if I can help you with anything.”
She clutched the basket. “It won’t fit in here, but that beautiful barn quilt caught my eye.” She pointed to a large, colorful square board painted to look like a quilt square. Krissy had hung that one there just yesterday. “How much is it?”
“That’s a thirty-six-inch. The artist only does one-of-a-kind barn quilts. That one is two hundred dollars. She does custom work too.” One customer told Merry Anna that they’d paid more than three hundred for the one they’d ordered online, and it wasn’t even custom. These were a bargain. “It’s the same price if you order a custom one. Might as well get exactly what you want, right?”
“I’ve got to have one, but I wouldn’t know where to begin on a custom design. And this one is just like the quilt my grandmother had on the bed when I was growing up.”
“The Carpenter’s Wheel,” Merry Anna said with confidence, although until yesterday she’d never heard the term. “The colors on this one, turquoise and taupe, are so eye-catching and up to date. Let me introduce you to the artist.” Merry Anna lifted her hand to get Krissy’s attention, but she was already headed their way.
“Someone mention me?” She stuck her hand out. “Hi, I’m Krissy. So, you think you might want a barn quilt of your own? That’s so exciting!”
Merry Anna left the two of them to talk and create. It had been a four-foot yellow barn quilt that had initially caught her eye in the Hardy House display window the day she’dhappened into town. Only, truth be told, she’d thought it was a carrom board at the time. She wondered if her grandmother still had that old thing in her attic. It was quite obviously not a carrom board when she saw it up close, but she was thankful for the memory. Plus, when she’d admitted the faux pas to Krissy, they’d gotten a good laugh out of it—and her first lesson in barn-quilt history.
And from there, things just kept falling into place. Merry Anna had talked herself right out of heading to South Carolina. It wasn’t until after her divorce from Kevin and then being here in this town that she’d realized that all she ever did was focus on work. It had always been her priority. Being part of a family business, she’d been pulled in as a teenager, and it had taken over her whole life. When Kevin asked her who she was without that job, she didn’t have an answer.
It had been six months after the papers were signed when he’d called complaining about the “pittance,” as he’d referred to it, that she’d agreed to for alimony. She’d been right across the street filling up her gas tank when he called. She’d made a deal with him on the spot that for three months, she’d try to live on the exact same amount she was giving him. If she could do it, then he needed to leave her alone and never call her again. If she struggled, however, then she’d go back and adjust the amount. Fair was fair. And so she was living on what seemed like a reasonable amount of money, and if he wanted more, then he could get a real job for once.
And that’s how she’d ended up in Antler Creek that day, taken the job at Hardy House, and accidentally found a whole new rhythm to her life.
She’d been planning to use the leave of absence from the family business, the Supply Cabinet, to figure out what shereally wanted out of her life besides work. The national office-supply chain had taken over her life somewhere along the way, and she hadn’t even noticed.
Antler Creek, where she didn’t know a soul, had turned out to be the perfect place. No one knew anything about her financial status, her career, orher—and that was liberating. No one had any expectations of her for the first time in her life.
At the end of the day, Merry Anna counted out the cash drawer and balanced the sales tickets. The task would take way less time if they used a new register that automatically summed the daily sales, but the antique one was such a conversation piece. The machine drove her absolutely nuts in the beginning, but now using it was a great way to wind down the day. She especially loved it when they beat their forecasted sales, as they had today.Sometimes the old-fashioned way is good enough.
She snickered at that thought. Being COO of the Supply Cabinet chain had been something her family had groomed her for from a very young age, and she’d loved it—or at least she thought she had. Merry Anna was known for automation and streamlining processes, so keeping quiet with suggestions for the Hardy House hadn’t been easy.“Time is money,”she’d been known to say. She rolled her eyes, embarrassed at some of her behavior now that she’d been away a little while. She’d rarely listened to pushback from team members on new processes, accusing them of just not wanting to adapt to change. How many of those complaints might have been legit feedback? If she ever went back to headquarters, she would do things differently.
She put everything away and dropped the deposit in the safe. Krissy would take it to the bank at the end of the week.Time to get home to the bunkhouse. Her mom and dad would die if they saw where she was living, and Kevin would accuse her of lying about living there, because it was a far cry from the home they’d lived in together. As modest as it was, though, she found it quite charming. The little house on the hill used to be owned by the guy who lived on the horse farm next to it. It was where his guests and ranch hands would stay. He sold it to Krissy, and when she heard that Merry Anna needed a place to stay, she decided to let her rent the place rather than renovating and flipping it as she’d planned.
She stepped outside and locked the front door of Hardy House to leave, then pressed the screen door tight until it latched.
Looking back at the window displays they’d worked on today, she found delight in how crisp and lush they looked. They’d look even prettier once the sun went down and you could see the twinkle lights. That wouldn’t be for a while yet. The days were starting to noticeably last longer.
Traffic on Main Street still slowed after five, though.
She walked down the sidewalk, enjoying the softer sounds as the town quieted and families finished their days. She could picture parents preparing meals while kids did their homework and wished away those last couple of weeks before school was out for the summer.
Her cell phone jingled, something she was beginning to really enjoy. She’d left her business phone on her desk when she started her leave and picked up a new one. Only a few close friends and her parents had this number. “Hello?”
“Hi, honey. It’s Mom. I’ve got you-know-who here with me.”
Mom was clearly on speaker, a habit that drove Merry Anna nuts. “You can say his name, Mom. Hi, Kevin.”
“Hi, Merry Anna. I’m already out of money for the month. How about you?”
“It’s barely the middle of the month, and by my budget, I should still have forty-eight dollars left over at the end,” Merry Anna said.
“Don’t spend it all in one place,” Kevin said with that snarky laugh of his.
