Apple's Engagement
Thursday, December 2, 2004
Thursday, first work day of the week… not the favorite, but she still got to talk with Ivy, as she was back in the office. And the ridiculous poinsettias would hopefully be settled and ready for pick-up. There always seemed to be some kerfuffle with lilies for Easter and poinsettias for Christmas. But one way or the other, they were taken care of in the end.
The afternoon before, Linnea’s cold seemed to have subsided a bit. However, after several things were taken care of – cheeseburgers for lunch, Carrie-Bri got Collette’s opinion on whether the cozy soft woolen sweater from Victoria’s Secret would look best in clover or tomato, a game of Scrabble was played, and pancakes were decided on for supper, they all gaffawed over clips from the Andy William’s show with Jerry Lewis (Justus Orange’s counterpart, as it was commonly believed) – they bundled up Linnea in a blanket and shoveled them off to Francis’ choir practice.
Carrie-Bri was decked out in South American garb with her new rainbow woolen poncho from Buckle and her square-lensed lightly-tinted sun glasses, her hair clipped up. She had the effect of being modern Peruvian. And, indeed, they did study the first lesson of Spanish while they waited, and Linnea worked on stories and crossword puzzles. Then Christmas Elvis came on, and Francis came bearing snacks, including Reeses peanut butter cups, after racing outdoors from just having held the door open for Mrs. South on her way out.
A picture and Christmas letter came from the Gentles’ family that afternoon in the mail. It had all turned out quite lovely. Collette always loved hearing about what went on in their family. With nine children in all, there was always something new and interesting going on.
Also, exciting news had come, just as she had thought of that morning. Apple Moss, Diana’s and Collette’s oldest friend, from Australia, was engaged to be married the following December. It was all very exciting, plus the entire family was coming to visit in February. The only difficult part now would be convincing Diana to come home for the weekend when they were scheduled to come through. Hopefully twisting her arm on that one would be easier than deciding upon Louisiana.
Collette decided that she would like to incorporate a bread day into her week once the holidays were half-over, and she was perhaps finished studying. Tuesdays, she thought. And maybe pumpkin bread would be a good start. However, her kitchen was not a bread-baking kitchen. It was not a kitchen to work very long in, not a conversation, Thanksgiving, homey kitchen. Little natural light made its way inside, and it was stuck in a hole, back in the side of the apartment. Perhaps if they were to purchase a house within the next five years, then she would have better prospects for bread-baking days.
Collette began to grow excited for her friend and her engagement. She was growing anxious to see the whole family in a matter of two months. It had been so long since they had seen one another. They had been tiny children then. Collette recalled the last time she remembered them being together. The family had come over for the evening (likely for supper), and once night had fallen, they bundled the little ones up tight in coats and hoods and took them out for a walk to see the stars. It was a cold night and the sky was ablaze. Then shortly later, they were gone, and not long after, a cassette tape was shipped to the States, a recording of Apple and Elazar of how they fished in the Auzzie ocean. She still remembered their voices. And now Apple was in college, a beauty queen, and hoping to own her own surf shop one day. Elazar was off to college. Collette hoped his reunion with Bing and Carrie-Bri would be memorable.