It All Started With a Lima Bean (6 page)

“Wow you’ve got an extremely busy week ahead of you. When will you have time to relax?” Abby’s mom sighed while asking her question.

“When I get home from work every night, just like everyone else mom, and Saturday mornings, of course.” Abby knew her mom worried about her. She threw herself whole-heartedly into everything she did and didn’t always take time for herself. Abby didn’t appreciate her mom bringing this up in front of other people though.

Grace steered the conversation into a different direction. “So Abby, what do you have planned for the rest of this gorgeous weekend?”

“I promised my best friend that we would hit the movies tonight then the farmers market and a couple of antique shops tomorrow. Which reminds me, I should head out.” She got up, picked up plates, and then headed to the kitchen.

After saying her goodbyes, Grace followed her to the front door. “I would love to go antiquing with you sometime if you are up to it.” She wasn’t exactly inviting herself, but Abby extended an invitation for the next day anyway.

“Would you like to join us tomorrow? My mom never wants to go, and I’m sure Leah would love to meet you.”

“I don’t want to intrude, but that would be lovely, Darling.” Grace turned and called Caleb over then asked with another smirk, “Would you walk Abby out to her car? It’s already getting dark, plus I’d love for you to bring those boxes in from your car.”

“Sure.” Abby finally caught on to the match making the older woman was attempting to do, but Caleb, on the other hand, was just as clueless as could be.

They walked outside, and she pointed to her car. “That’s me. You don’t have to walk me to my car. I’m quite capable of doing it on my own.”

“Are you kidding? You don’t know Grace. I’ll walk you all the way, or I’ll never hear the end of it.” She was incredibly attracted to him, but he was her student’s dad, and she most certainly was not looking for anyone anytime soon. The fact that he was only doing this to appease his mother-in-law was somewhat humiliating.

She clicked her remote to unlock the car. Opening the door, Caleb motioned for her to get in. Looking up through her lashes, she thanked him before he closed the door. Abby turned the ignition. Of course, he walked over toward the Range Rover she had been drooling over earlier. He gave her another wave as she pulled away.

“So what are we going to see?” Leah asked while slumped on Abby’s forest green velvety comfy couch.

“I don’t know. I’m actually kind of tired and would rather stay in.” She eyed her friend from the other side of the couch as she tucked her feet under her behind.

“Weren’t you the one that was complaining last night about us becoming old ladies? Wait a minute; did you stay awake all night reading again?” Leah sat up a little bit and squinted her eyes suspiciously.

Abby reluctantly nodded her head up and down while getting more comfortable in the corner of her cozy couch. She grabbed a throw from the arm so she could wrap it around herself. “Then I went to the Westbrook’s house for a barbecue today.”

“Who?” Leah scrunched her face questioning her friend.

“My mom’s friends, Grace and Robert. You know the ones that have their granddaughter, Madison in my class.”

“Oh yeah, I remember you mentioning that.” Leah sat up even further to get a closer look at her best friend. “Hey, why are you all red?”

“What do you mean?” She snapped back, knowing there was a guilty look on her face. She couldn’t get rid of it before Leah noticed.

“As soon as you said Madison’s name, you started to blush. What’s that about?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. Maybe I’m having a hot flash.”

“Abby you are twenty-five. You are
not
having a hot flash.”

“Anywaaayy...I invited Grace to go with us tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind; she’s a lot of fun.”

“I have a brilliant idea. Why don’t you have her go with you to the antique shops, and I’ll meet you at the farmers market later?” Leah asked with hope in her eyes.

“No, I want you to go with us. You always find something you like, so stop pretending that you hate going antiquing with me.” She whined and pouted.

“I don’t have to pretend. Those stores smell like mold, and I don’t care if it’s antique, vintage, or whatever. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s someone else’s old crap. I don’t get why you love it so much.”

“It’s a great way to recycle and reuse. Plus there are some fantastic finds in those stores.”

“Abby, I think you have repurposed enough of other people’s heirlooms.” She motioned around the room with her hands then specifically pointed to all of antique keys framed on the walls. “You don’t need to be the keeper of all ancient things.”

“Everything I own has a story.” She put her hands in front of her shaking them back and forth. “Okay back to tonight’s plan; I seriously just want to hang out here. I’ll cook.”

“You know I can’t resist when you say you are cooking, so it looks like an evening in for these aging women amongst the ancient crap.” She laughed when Abby threw a pillow from the couch directly at her head.

“Brat.”

“Look at this; isn’t it darling?” Grace picked up her third vase. Abby caught onto what she was doing. She’d obviously noticed this was not Leah’s favorite place to be. She was working on Leah’s love of flowers. Abby smiled to herself wondering why she’d never thought about it before. The older woman caught Abby’s eye and winked.
Brilliant Grace. Absolutely brilliant.

She turned a corner and there sat the most beautiful ceramic jug she’d ever seen. It was pink with green and white trim, had a bronze spout toward the bottom of the container and the word ‘lemonade’ inscribed in green. Abby fell in love immediately. She sprinted to the shelf, ran her hands down the cool container, turned it up, down, and around. Yes, she
sincerely
loved this item. “That is a beautiful lemonade jar, Abby. You have excellent taste.” Grace said from behind her.

“I love this. It’s my favorite colors and everything.” She flipped it over one last time and saw the price tag. “Wow, that’s a hefty price.” She put it down, stepped back, and looked at it again from afar, pondering. How much did she genuinely love this jar? A lot. Could she spend that much on one item? She didn’t think so. It was a ridiculous price.

“Why don’t you grab it?” Grace looked at her with curiosity.

“I think I’m going to pass.” She frowned. “I have a strict rule on sticking to a budget when I shop, and this jar costs more than I have budgeted for the entire day. It’s not a wise way to spend my money. I love it, but not enough to drop that kind of cash.” She turned to find Leah holding two more clay vases. “Are you ready to pay and leave? I’m hungry.”

“Sounds good to me. I can’t believe I’m walking out of an antique shop with four vases.” Leah scrunched up her face.

“They are pretty though. I’m glad you found something you like in here.” Abby smiled at her best friend. They paid and headed to the farmers market.

“What are you guys talking about?” Abby joined the ladies already sitting at the white plastic tables next to the food tents. It always amazed Abby that it took longer to prepare her meatless food than it did to prepare everyone else’s that contained some form of meat.

“Grace was just sharing some things about her son-in-law and granddaughter.” Leah looked at Grace as though they shared a secret. Abby wondered what that had been about but didn’t actually care because she was pleased they got along from the get go. Abby wished her mom was into this sort of stuff too, but she was too busy enjoying her husband and retired life. Abby wasn’t bitter; she just didn’t understand it. Her mom had married him right after Abby left for college, and seeing as he was only sixteen years older than she was, she couldn’t look at him as a father figure. That role strictly belonged to her real dad. Then again, he’d left the family for another woman when she was only nine years old.

“Well I for one love your granddaughter. She brightens my day every time I get to see her. You are truly a blessed woman.”

“That I am Abby. Caleb’s not so bad himself. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Um, yes.” She hesitated. “He’s very nice. I’ve actually read a couple of his books too. He’s extremely talented.” She felt her skin flush
again
, and Leah gave her a knowing look, darn it.

“My friend here is a fanatical reader. She would rather read than sit here with you and me. Believe me.” Leah pointed to her from across the table. Good, that’s why she thought Abby was blushing. She’d take that.

Once they were done eating and threw their trash away, Grace asked, “Okay girls, so what are we on the hunt for today?”

“I want to make my tomato and green bean salad, spicy cucumber slaw and chocolate-filled raspberries, but I always get avocados, broccoli, spinach, and cauliflower too.” Abby shared her list before returning the question. “How about you guys?”

“I think I’ll be coming to your house to eat. That all sounds great. I assume you fill the raspberries with chocolate and refrigerate them?” Grace kept the conversation light.

“Yes and I use Ghirardelli, the best chocolate known to man.”

“That sounds divine, Abby.”

“It is, but she doesn’t always share.” Leah bumped her on the shoulder and winked.

“I share, but when you show up two days after I make them, and expect me to have some left, that’s your loss.”

“Well, I just went to Sprouts the other day and got a lot, so I think I only need stuff for salsa. The peaches should still be fresh so I may make one with them.” Leah shared her shopping list as she picked up a piece of fruit and sniffed. “Oh man this smells good.” She handed it over to Abby who also took a whiff.

“I will also get a couple of those.” Grace grabbed the fruit and placed a handful in a bag before paying for all of their produce.

“Wait, why are you paying?” Abby questioned.

“I want to thank you for letting me tag along with you girls.” She looked down. “I love spending time with Caleb. He’s like my son, but I miss spending this kind of time with young ladies like you two. Rene and I used to come here together when she was alive.” Abby’s heart fell, and her eyes filled with tears when she looked at Leah’s somber face. Grace’s daughter had died at such an early age. Abby couldn’t even imagine the pain Grace had endured.

“You are welcome, anytime you would like to join us. You can be our shopping den mom.” The look on Grace’s face made Abby’s eyes gloss over even more. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Leah now.

“You girls are so delightful. Thank you for welcoming me.” She sniffed. “Now before I start blubbering like a baby, let’s go find some of those raspberries.”