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As he slid out a random box from the top shelf, he pulled out a screw identical to the one April had brought in. “You’re seriously a lifesaver.”
“I don’t know about that,” he said with a smile.
April began to sift through the box and pull out the number of screws she needed, plus some extras in case there was another fan with no hardware. “At the very least, you’re a time saver. I don’t know how long it would have taken me to find these if you hadn’t helped. Not to mention the million times before that you’ve saved me from walking around the store aimlessly.”
Henry only blushed and walked back to where he was spooling packets of hinges on displays. Holding up an empty box towards her, he walked to the end of the aisle. “I’m going to get another in the back. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do, thank you!”
As soon as Henry was out of sight, April heard a familiar voice. “You know, I went by the house the other day.”
“Yeah, it was definitely different.”
Chuck and Barry stood at the front of the aisle with only paint chips in their hands. “We just saw you come in and wanted to say that you’re doing a real good job with that place. We’ve heard that it’s going to be something great.”
It took everything in her not to say, ‘I told you so.’ Still, she smirked, unable to hide her joy at their mistake in making fun of her weeks ago. “Who told you that it’s going to be great?”
“Nigel said that you’d been working hard on it. And we didn’t believe him,” Chuck said. “We had to drive by. Hope we didn’t bother you.”
Every once in a while, April and Georgia heard people coming up the driveway, but not to the house. They knew it was just the neighbors or someone who’d taken a wrong turn. People in Sandcrest couldn’t help but be nosy when it came to the undertaking of the Faith house.
“You didn’t. I’m glad you saw that we’re making progress. It’s going really well. We’re happy to let you see it when it’s all finished.”
The men nodded and sauntered away. “Thank you,” Barry called out as they left the store. “We’ll see you again, soon.”
April just continued to sift through the screws with a smile. There were a lot of people in the town who doubted her. But they would soon learn just how determined she actually was. Clearly, some of them were already noticing.
It was encouraging to hear that they were making a difference. From the inside, it sometimes looked the same day after day. The little things didn’t look like big things no matter how you did them. If they took a day to clean the dust, the next day it would only look like a dusted house, nothing more.
Sometimes April woke up hoping that more would be done than they did the night before. As if a fairy would come through the front door and fix it all up for her. Magic, she would say to the people who asked how it was finished so quickly. And she wouldn’t be lying.
But magic didn’t exist. So here she was, sifting through screws to put up lights and fans. The most menial of tasks. It was more fun to tell people she was renovating the place than to actually do the work. Still, she knew it would be worth it in the end. She would have fun in the middle parts too, she just had to push through these hard times.
As April walked to the front of the store with all her screws in a small paper bag from the aisle, Henry still wasn’t back. No one was working the front counter.
Another woman stood in front of her at the only open checkout line. Of course, no one was there to man it, so the ladies simply waited next to each other.
“Henry just went to the back,” April explained, trying to help but wondering if she was overstepping. She’d only been in town a few weeks. Everyone knew everyone else around here. And she hadn’t met this woman yet.
Her gray hair was mixed in with the darker strands that landed around her shoulders. It wasn’t straight, but it wasn’t curly. And her outfit looked like it came from a model at one of the high end stores in the big city. “Oh, sure. He’s always up to something,” she said with a smile.
April was taken aback by her voice. It was so easy, like the words were slipping from her lips. She could have listened to her read a textbook. “I don’t think I’ve met you yet.” April extended her hand.
The woman shifted around the bird feeders in her hand to shake it. “I’m Rose. I’m guessing you’re new around here? I was out for the past few weeks, so I guess I missed the welcome parade.”
“I am pretty new. I’m April Faith. I’m fixing up my family’s property out here. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I’m actually doing it.” April shrugged. She felt like she was trying too hard to impress this woman. But she wasn’t sure how to pull herself back. “What were you doing out of town?”
Rose shifted back and forth on her feet. “Well, I actually was just picking up some stuff from my ex-husband. Apparently I left some things in the storage unit we had years ago. I was worried he was going to throw it all out, so I left in a hurry.”
She wondered if she’d overstepped, but was thankful to meet a divorcee like herself. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s no problem,” Rose said, chuckling. She threw her free hand in the air as if brushing it off. “It’s been a year already. I moved out here to get a fresh start like a lot of us. I’m forty-six now, so there’s not much out in the city for me anymore. Always felt like a young gal’s place.”
“No, no! If you like the city, it can be really gorgeous. Anybody can make it work. My soon-to-be ex-husband’s dad lived in a city apartment until he was nearly ninety.”
Rose raised her brows. “Really? That’s quite impressive. It’s also nice to meet someone who came out here for the same reasons I did. Or… I guess I’m assuming.”
Realizing how nice it was to talk about it with someone else, April’s words gushed out of her. “You’d be assuming right. It’s been a… wild ride to say the least. It all just kind of happened. Like this past month. So I'm still a little bit crazy.” She chuckled at herself, but Rose only met her with a kind smile.
