But she’d been feeling more and more like herself with every passing day. She’d been accepted into the agribusiness program at the University of Vermont, and she’d put down money on a condo on the top floor of a south-facing building. It had a lake-view.
Not only that, but Meagan was going to take a break from all the bunko next year to focus on being a mom to twins, and she’d offered her spot in the group to Farrah.
She’d accepted it, and the group was meeting tonight for a fun-filled dinner party with dice, and laughter, and planning for next year.
She’d seen Darren around the farm, carefully tending to the new maple trees he’d planted. Because of her slump, she didn’t know exactly when he’d planted them, but by covertly bringing up the subject with Meagan, she’d learned that he’d put in the grove of thirty trees in mid-October. Jim Bybee had helped, and she’d seen him coming round the farm from time to time.
When he came, he and Darren disappeared into the trees or they sat on the front porch and whittled. Farrah pretended not to know that Darren was only a few hundred yards from where she worked each day.
He never came into the boutique while she was there, but she knew he’d been there. There was evidence of more firewood stacked neatly in the bin whenever it started to get low. A trellis broke one afternoon, and she’d spent hours transferring strawberry plants to another rack. The following morning, the trellis had been fixed. She never mentioned anything to anyone about the needed repairs. He simply paid attention and took care of things.
He’d always been that way. Attentive. Action-oriented.
She adored that about him, and she hoped he was getting enough sleep. With how much work it took to run a farm, he probably wasn’t. And that set her to worrying, which always made her realize how ridiculous she was being.
She was worried about a man she couldn’t talk to.
The elevator doors slid open, and a door stood ajar halfway down the hall. It was definitely Meredith’s apartment, because holiday music poured into the building and the scent of sugar and almond punch wafted into the air.
Meredith came through the door and saw Farrah. A smile formed on her face. “Hey, Farrah. Haven’t seen you in a couple of months.”
Farrah managed to return the grin. “Yeah, but I guess Rae isn’t feeling well tonight?”
Meredith shrugged though a vein of worry skated through her eyes. “I guess not. She said she wants November next year. Her baby will be almost a year old by then, and she’s been baking up a storm, I guess.” She reached for Farrah and slung her arm around her shoulders. “Come on in. What month are you thinking of hosting?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Farrah said. Most women had busy times at work, or a husband with a schedule, or kids to deal with. She just had the boutique and her upcoming classes.
But that’s okay, she told herself. She wasn’t any less important because she didn’t have a busy job, a husband, or a family.
“May is fun,” Meredith said. “I did a Cinco de Mayo night a couple of years ago.”
“That does sound fun.” They moved into the apartment, where only a few of the girls waited. Farrah shrugged out of her coat and filled a plastic cup with Rae’s famous punch. She’d taken one delicious gulp when she remembered Rae wasn’t actually here.
“Hey, who made the punch?” she asked.
Meredith’s whole face lit up. “I got the recipe.”
Aria and Hazel gasped. Cheryl said, “You did not.”
“She swore her mother would never give it out.” Michelle looked into her cup like perhaps the punch was fake.
“She felt so bad about not being able to come that she told me.” Meredith grinned like she’d discovered gold. “And it’s so easy, you guys.”
“So are you going to tell us?”
“What? And have this punch at every picnic in town? No. No way.” Meredith shook her head. “First off, Rae would kill me, and second, this is a bunko night tradition. We can’t have the whole town drinking it.”
Farrah laughed with a couple of the other women. She drank her punch and put her name on the schedule to host in June next year. “Oh, I’m moving to Burlington,” she said. “Is that a problem? I can find somewhere to host here if it is.”
“Burlington?” Cheryl’s perfectly sculpted eyebrows rose. “What are you doing in Burlington?”
“I’m going back to school.” A sense of pride inflated Farrah’s chest.
“Are you selling your house here?” Meredith asked.
“In the spring,” she said.
“I want to buy it,” she said quickly, glancing at the other girls. “Me and Denny have been talking about getting something without shared walls.”
