AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That makes me feel so...” she grappled for the right words, “warm and fuzzy inside. But how do I tell them that they don’t need to give me anything?”
I chuckled, interlacing her fingers with mine and bringing it to my lips. “I don’t think you can stop it. Between Austy’s big mouth and Ana’s connections, everyone probably knows that the credits for the panel came from you. The house is going to be full of homemade pies and crafts until summer at least.”
With a little groan of defeat, she leaned into my chest, wrapping her arms around me.
The lights blinked around us against the dark sky, like little stars within our reach. I bet we used the same decorations for Solstice every year, but I never noticed how beautiful it all was—how bright the lights shone, how soothing the smell of fried dough from the stalls could be. My arms tightened around Twyla.
People walked past on the way to the gathering at the main square, waving at us along the way, but we chose to stand there, basking in the peace of it all.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” a new voice said behind us. We turned to find a young blonde girl about Twyla’s age with a long braid identical to mine. She looked vaguely familiar.
“I made this for you.”
She handed Twyla a wind chime made from pieces of recycled glass with every color known to man.
“Oh wow,” Twyla breathed, clearly enchanted with it. “That’s so beautiful. Did you make that yourself? You don’t have to give me anything, you know. Maybe you should keep it.”
“No, no, I insist. Please.” Her gaze flitted up to mine before it skittered away. “I’m Rhona, Riane’s sister. I heard what she did and I wanted to apologize. The rest of us aren’t like her, I swear.”
Oh, so that was why she looked familiar. Rhona had been a child when Riane and I first met. She now looked nothing like the chubby-cheeked little girl I remembered her being.
Twyla hesitated a moment before she took the wind chime from Rhona.
“I believe you,” she said. “It’s a lovely gift. Must’ve taken you forever to do this.”
Rhona shrugged. “I just play with glass in my spare time. I took over blacksmithing from my dad so that’s what I do...mainly.”
“Well, this looks like much more than a hobby to me,” Twyla said, letting the strands of glass tinkle against one another. “It’s perfect.”
Rhona’s cheeks flushed at the compliment, making me smile.
A buzzing sound over our heads drew our attention, and we watched as Ana landed her little bopper in one of the last few designated spaces available. Rhona excused herself quickly.
When Ana emerged from the vehicle, she had something clutched in her hands.
“Not you too, Ana. You didn’t have to get me anything!”
Ana’s brows lifted. “That’s very presumptuous of you. This could be for Austy.”
“Yeah, right.” Austy’s doubtful voice reached us as she rejoined our little group. “When was the last time you bought me a gift, huh?”
“I taught you how to fix your own solar cart,” Ana bantered. “That’s a pretty good gift if you ask me.”
Austy grumbled, reaching for the wind chime in Twyla’s hands. “Might as well put this in the cart, too.” I heard her mutter under her breath, “Can’t even get a drink around here. Going back and forth like a little runner boy...”
Shaking her head at Austy, Ana handed Twyla the box.
“It’s just something small.”
Twyla flipped the box open, smiling even before she saw what was inside. Even though she protested, I could feel her joy in receiving these little gifts.
“Oh wow,” she breathed, reaching into the box to pick up the digital picture. It was a beautiful hand-drawn portrait of the two of us with a backdrop of the farmhouse.
“This is incredible—Who did this? And how?”
“An old friend of mine from the corps. He retired around the same time as me and hand draws these digital pictures for a living now.”
“It’s very accurate,” I commented, running a hand over the intricate lines of the house.
