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***
Ava stood in Rosa’s kitchen, waiting for the housewives of Oldport to arrive. She held a bag containing a couple of crochet hooks and some yarn she’d picked up earlier at the craft store.
The first woman arrived with styled blonde hair, wearing a bright floral sundress.
“Ava, this is Paisley.” Rosa hugged her friend after she set her tray of lemon bars on the huge marble island. “She lives at the end of the street in that gorgeous Italianate.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” The woman gave her a mega-watt smile that seemed to be a mask for her nervousness. “I brought lemon bars. I hope you like lemon. They’re homemade.”
“And when Paisley says homemade, they are actually homemade by her, not a chef.” Rosa seemed impressed by that, giving her friend a shoulder squeeze.
While Paisley went to set her bag down by a chair in the vaulted family room, Ava shot to Rosa’s side. “Was I supposed to bring something?” She felt awkward enough; she didn’t want to be the only one empty-handed.
“No. She loves to bake. Ramon has desserts prepared every Tuesday for our club, and my liquor cabinet is always topped off.”
Two more ladies walked in and hugged Rosa as if they hadn’t seen her in years. She pointed to Ava, explaining who she was.
Within minutes, Naomi showed her pictures of her twin four-year-olds dressed in matching outfits with their white-blonde hair in ponytails. And Nia flashed photos of her Yorkie, including selfies where she and the dog wore coordinating accessories.
Perfectly adorable children, a cute dog, a gorgeous Italianate—her insecurities rose. The last of the club members to arrive was Rosa’s habitually late shopping gal pal, Shanice.
Ava didn’t know many ostentatious ladies, besides Rosa, but when Shanice strutted in wearing a body-tight shimmery gold top, harem-style pants, and two-inch nails, she wondered whether wearing shorts and flip-flops had been the right choice. Ava should have known Rosa’sdress casualmeant dress like you were going to a fancy dinner.
The ladies didn’t seem to mind, asking her all kinds of questions and filling her in on themselves all while snacking on the offerings Rosa’s chef set out.
Nia glanced at her watch. “We should get started. We’ve been chatting nearly an hour.”
The ladies took their places, pulling out their works-in-progress. Rosa plunked her bag on the floor at her feet, yarns hanging out, as she sat next to Shanice to finish her conversation.
“How long have you been crocheting?” asked Nia, pulling out a mitten in green and white yarn.
“Um, it’s been awhile since I’ve done it. My grandmother taught me at a young age, so I don’t really remember everything. Like how to start.”
Ava would have felt like a burden had Nia not bounced with excitement and squealed, “I’ll show you. I used to teach at the rec center before I got married.”
Each of the Oldport housewives took the time to speak with Ava and included her in their conversations about their everyday lives filled with everyday problems. Totally normal. Girlfriends hanging out. Yet totally foreign to Ava.
Wandering home to Bluff House, Ava had a lightness in her step. Tuesday night crochet club wasn’t terrible.
