are not engaged!”
“All right, already. I’m not pushing. No pushing. I’m waiting. We’re not engaged.” After a moment’s pause, he added a note of worry to his voice as he asked, “Are we still sleeping together?”
She folded her arms, rolled her eyes, and sighed with disgust. “Really now, Rafferty. What do you think? Just because I have a mental problem, it doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
“I knew that.” He swooped in and swept her up off her feet. Carrying her toward the bedroom, he said, “Let’s see about a proper welcome home, shall we? I missed you.”
“I missed you, too. I love you. I’m trying my best to beat this thing.”
He laid her on her bed, then knelt over her. “Don’t worry about it another minute. We have all the time in the world. I’m going to prove it to you. Tonight.”
TWENTY-ONE
August arrived and with it, the annual summer arts festival. Every rental in town was booked, all the campgrounds reserved. Eternity Springs bustled with the arrival of artists and tourists, and townspeople simmered with excitement over the frequent and gratifying ka-ching of cash registers. Celeste’s economic improvement plan was proving to be an extraordinary success.
It was always Sage’s favorite week of the year, and this year she looked forward to it more than ever before. Colt was due back today from a two-week consulting trip to factories on the West Coast. She’d missed him terribly.
“You need to settle down,” Sarah scolded as Sage checked the street yet again for a sign of his truck. “This is supposed to be our chance to relax.”
“She’s right,” Ali Timberlake agreed. “I’m getting tired just watching you.”
Sage, Nic, Ali, Sarah, and Celeste had met at the Mocha Moose for lunch prior to delivering the Patchwork Angels’ entry into the textile competition. Judging would take place tomorrow, with the winners announced the day after that. Sage was convinced they’d at least place in the contest. Of course, as always, she was shooting for the blue ribbon.
“You guys shouldn’t be surprised.” Nic dipped a carrot stick in ranch dressing and took a crunchy bite. “She’s this way every year before the judging.”
Celeste asked, “Which painting did you decide to enter, dear?”
Sage’s mouth twisted. Colt had urged her to hang one of her black-and-red paintings, and while she’d made progress since beginning therapy, she still had a ways to go. She wasn’t about to show the world the black-and-reds. “I settled on the one of Snowdrop.”
“I love that picture,” Nic said.
“Me too,” Sarah added. “You know, a real friend would paint Daisy and Duke for me as a pick-me-up since I’m so distraught over Lori leaving for college.”
Sarah said it as a joke, but no one laughed. With the red-letter day less than a month away, Sarah had become as big a basket case as Sage. Ali sighed and said, “Why would she paint your dogs? If Sage does a painting for you, it should be of Lori. I sent Caitlin to the photographer for a set of going-off-to-college photos.”
“I’d rather have my dogs,” Sarah said glumly. “I get along with them. They still love me.”
“Now, Sarah,” Celeste scolded.
“Don’t be stupid.” Nic polished off her turkey sandwich with finger-licking pleasure. “Lori loves you. You love Lori. What we have here is separation anxiety in full swing.”
“No.” Sarah hooked her thumb toward Sage, who had risen to check the street for Colt’s car once again. “That’s separation anxiety.”
“Stop it.” Sage gave her hair a toss. “There’s nothing wrong with missing the man I love.”
“No, there’s not,” Celeste agreed. She dabbed her mouth with her napkin, then added, “Nothing wrong with marrying the poor man, either.”
“Celeste!” Sage protested while the other women laughed.
Sarah stood and said, “This has been fun, but I need to get back to work. Let’s go deliver our baby to the contest, then Nic can get back to her babies—”
“They’re almost a year old,” Nic said. “They’re toddlers now.”
“—and I can go argue with mine,” Sarah finished. “If we wait too much longer, Colt will be back in town and Sage will be too busy making her baby to tag along with us to enter our quilt.”
“I hate you,” Sage said.
Sarah blew her a kiss as Nic lifted the quilt, folded and protected inside a pillowcase, from an empty chair. Celeste swiped the check off the table and said, “My treat.”
As they exited the Mocha Moose, Sarah and Ali discussed their pending empty nests while Nic placed a phone call to Gabe checking on the