Staying Together (2 page)

Flora Northrop, lying lazily on the couch in her living room on that same Saturday morning, reached for the telephone and dialed Nikki Sherman's number. She listened to the ringing of the phone, her hand absently patting the giant blond head of Daisy, Min's golden retriever.

“This is Mae!” a voice announced so loudly that Flora had to yank the phone away from her ear.

“Hi, Mae. This is Flora. Is Nikki there?” Flora crossed her fingers. If Nikki wasn't there, her sister, Mae, who was seven, was capable of talking at great length.

“Yes,” replied Mae, and Flora uncrossed her fingers gratefully. “But do you know what?” Mae continued. “The Shaws invited me over and I get to spend the whole day at their farm. I can feed their chickens —”

“Mae?” (Flora heard Nikki's voice in the background.)

“— and groom their horse. I think I'll braid his mane. And usually for lunch we have —”

“Mae? Is that for me?” asked Nikki.

“— grilled cheese.”

“Mae?”

“All
right
!” Mae exclaimed suddenly, and there was a fumbling and some rustling on the line before Nikki said, “Hello?”

“Hi, it's me,” said Flora.

“Sorry about that. Mae's really excited about going to the Shaws'.”

“If she's going to the Shaws', does that mean you're free today?” asked Flora.

“Yup. As soon as Mrs. Shaw picks her up.”

“Is your mom already at work?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Flora groaned. “Oh. I was hoping she could drive you into town. Min and Gigi asked if you and Olivia and Ruby and I would decorate the window of Needle and Thread.”

“I can come,” said Nikki. “I'll ride my bike into town. The snow's all gone. Decorating the window will be fun.”

“Excellent!” exclaimed Flora. “Come as soon as you can. The rest of us will be waiting for you.”

Flora let Daisy out in the backyard, calling “Go pee!” after her. Then she checked to make sure the water bowl was full, patted King Comma the cat, who was curled up in a black-and-white ball underneath the kitchen table, let Daisy back inside, and ran next door to Olivia's.

“Ready?” she asked when Olivia answered the door.

Olivia was already shrugging into her coat. “Ready. Bye, Mom!” she called over her shoulder. She glanced at Flora. “Where's Ruby?”

“At the store. She went in with Min this morning.”

Olivia paused slightly before saying, “Flora, are you and Ruby still —”

But Flora interrupted her. “What do you think we should choose as our theme for the window?”

“I thought Min and Gigi wanted something for spring.”

“They do. But that's all they said. We could do so many things — butterflies, flowers, baby animals.”

“Easter?” suggested Olivia.

“No, I think just generally spring. Hey, how about turning the window into a giant flower garden?”

“I like that idea. But doesn't the window also have to have something to do with sewing?”

“Oh, yeah,” said Flora. “I forgot about that.”

The girls reached the Morrises' house, the last in the row, and Flora glanced at it and recalled the first time she had ever seen the Row Houses. She had been a very little girl then, visiting Camden Falls with her parents and Ruby, who had been a baby. Flora had been fascinated, and slightly frightened, by the enormous granite structure, three stories tall. It had looked like a palace, far too big for one person, and Flora had been relieved to find that the old building in fact consisted of eight homes, and that Min occupied only one of them.

Flora had visited Camden Falls many more times before she and Ruby moved there after the accident. She was familiar with the Row Houses by then, and with Needle and Thread, one of her favorite places in the entire world. Flora loved to sew. How lucky, she thought, that she had wound up with a grandmother who loved to sew
and
who owned a sewing store. Min co-owned the store with Olivia's grandmother, but sewing was not an interest shared by scientific Olivia. Or by dramatic Ruby. Olivia would rather gather facts about unusual insects than thread a needle. And Ruby would rather sing and dance and act on a stage in front of a large auditorium full of people than look dreamily at bolts of fabric — something Flora could do happily for long periods of time.

“I have an idea,” said Flora as she and Olivia turned onto Main Street. “We could stick big fabric flowers to the window —”

“How?” asked Olivia.

“I don't know. We'll figure that out later. But anyway, we'll use fabric — nice calicos in pastel colors — for the flowers, and then Min and Gigi and I can make spring outfits out of the same fabrics, and we'll display them behind the flowers.”

“Oh, that's a good idea!” exclaimed Olivia. “But are you going to have time to do that and finish the quilts, too?”

Flora paused. “I guess so.”

A couple of months earlier, when Flora had learned that Camden Falls's community center was in just as much trouble as some of the businesses that were closing, she had come up with the idea of making a quilt that would be auctioned off to raise funds for the center. One Saturday, the people of Camden Falls had dropped into Needle and Thread and created quilt squares showing scenes of the town and its history. By evening, enough squares had been completed to make two quilts, and Min and Gigi and Flora had promised to sew them together and finish them in time for an auction in June. It was a huge job — but Flora loved nothing better than a big sewing project.

Flora and Olivia reached Needle and Thread and stepped inside, shivering as they left the early April chill behind. The bell over the door rang, and Min and Gigi glanced up from the counter and smiled. Flora and Olivia waved to them. Then Flora's attention was drawn to Ruby, who was draped across one of the couches at the front of the store, listening to her iPod and singing under her breath, eyes half closed. Flora nudged her sister's ankle, and Ruby snapped her gum and opened her eyes the rest of the way. “What?” she said.

“Stop singing,” Flora commanded. “People can hear you.”

Ruby shrugged. “I'm rehearsing.” Then she added, “But anyway, no one can hear me. I'm not singing loudly enough.”

“Yes, you —”

The bell jangled then, and the Fongs entered the store, pushing Grace in her stroller.

“We just wanted to say hi,” called Mrs. Fong. “We're on our way to the studio.” The Fongs, who made furniture and jewelry, owned an art gallery and studio at the end of the block.

Min and Gigi stepped out from behind the counter while Flora, Olivia, and Ruby fussed over Grace.

“How's business?” Gigi asked Mr. Fong, which, Flora thought, was pretty much how all the adults in town greeted one another these days.

Mr. Fong looked thoughtful. “We're holding our own, I guess.”

Mrs. Fong nodded. “Well … we're thinking of renting out the gallery space, though, and just keeping the studio. The gallery is expensive to maintain.”

“But
you
don't have to worry about that, do you, Grace?” Ruby cooed. “Babies don't have to worry about anything.”

Grace rewarded Ruby with a gap-toothed smile.

“All right,” said Flora briskly, clapping her hands. “Let's get down to business.” She plopped onto one of the couches.

“Down to what business?” asked Ruby.

“Decorating the window. That's why we're here.”

“Well, excuse me if I don't understand every little thing you talk about,” Ruby replied grouchily, and returned to her iPod.

“How are you going to help us if you're listening to music?” asked Flora.

Olivia stood up suddenly. “Oh, look! Nikki's here.” She sounded relieved.

The Fongs left and Nikki entered the store, removing her hat, which caused her fine hair to dance around her face.

“Static electricity,” said Nikki. “It's driving me crazy. I can't wait until the weather is warm again.”

“Technically, spring is already here,” Olivia pointed out.

“Which is why
we're
here,” said Flora. “The spring window. Now, what I thought we could do is make a garden of gigantic fabric flowers, stick them to the window —”

“How?” interrupted Ruby, who was still listening to her music.

“Why does everyone keep asking that?” said Flora.

“It's a good question,” said Nikki. “How are we going to stick something to the window? Anything we use — tape or whatever — is going to show through the glass.”

“Huh,” said Flora. “You're right. Well, we'll think of something.”

“Maybe I don't want to make a garden,” said Ruby.

Flora glared at her. “Maybe the rest of us do.”

Ruby shrugged again. “Okay. You guys go ahead.”

“No, Ruby. You
have
to help us,” said Olivia pleadingly. “Making flowers will be fun. Come on, let's go find the boxes of supplies in the storeroom.”

Ruby got to her feet.

“Min?” called Flora. “Can we have —”

But she was interrupted by the jangling of the bell and turned to see Mr. Pennington.

“Good morning, girls,” he said, removing his hat.

“Hi,” replied Flora and Nikki in unison. Nikki added, “Nothing at Sheltering Arms yet.”

“Well, I appreciate your looking — for an older dog,” Mr. Pennington reminded her. “Since I'm older.”

“I know,” said Nikki. “No problem.”

“And on the smaller side,” added Mr. Pennington.

“I promise we'll find just the right one.”

Mr. Pennington was still standing by the door when the bell jangled yet again and in walked Mrs. Grindle, who owned Stuff 'n' Nonsense across the street.

From behind her, Flora heard Ruby hiss, “Hide!” She turned to see her sister, who was struggling along an aisle of fabric with a carton labeled
DECORATIONS
, come to an abrupt halt at the sight of Mrs. Grindle. But there was nowhere to hide. Worse, Flora thought Mrs. Grindle had heard Ruby. Mrs. Grindle said nothing, though, just trained her beady eyes on Min and marched across the store.

“I have had it up to here!” she announced.

“Good morning, Gina” was Min's reply. (Flora stared hard at the floor. If she had looked at Nikki she would have started laughing.) “What's the matter?”

“Well, if it isn't one thing, it's another. People littering —
in the store
,” said Mrs. Grindle. “People talking on their cell phones all day long, people looking forever and not buying a thing. What has happened to manners?”

“Yup. People are pigs,” whispered Nikki, and Flora had to run to the storeroom so she could laugh without being heard by Mrs. Grindle.

The morning passed pleasantly. Mrs. Grindle finished complaining and left the store. Old Mary Woolsey stopped by to pick up a pile of clothing that customers had dropped off for mending and altering. Flora, Olivia, Nikki, and Ruby worked on the fabric flowers, and Flora and Ruby managed not to fight. At lunchtime, Olivia's father poked his head through the door. The Walters owned a store nearby called Sincerely Yours. Robby Edwards worked there part-time. “Hello!” called Mr. Walter, waving to Gigi, who was his mother, and tugging at Olivia's ponytail. “Stop by the store before you go home, okay?” he added, and Olivia nodded.

By late in the afternoon, the flowers were finished. Ruby had grown tired of the project and Min had given her permission to go to Hilary's apartment. Nikki hopped on her bicycle and headed for home, and Olivia left for Sincerely Yours. Flora had just sat down at the table in the back of the store and picked up several of the quilt squares when a shadow fell across her work. She turned around.

“Hey, Flora,” said Margaret Malone.

“Hi,” replied Flora.

“Boy, that's a big job.”

“I know, but it's fun.” Flora looked lovingly at her project. “Are you on your break?”

Margaret worked at Heaven, the jewelry store next door to Sincerely Yours.

“Yup. And I need stuff to make pillow shams. For my dorm room.”

Flora looked at her curiously. “You got in?”

Margaret grinned. “I got in! In exactly five months I'll be on my way to Smith College.”

“That's great!” Flora jumped up and gave Margaret a hug. “I know that's what you've been wanting, but … wow, I can't imagine going away from home. I wouldn't want to leave my friends and Min and everyone and go to a new place all by myself.”

“You'll feel different when you're my age,” Margaret told her. “Really. You'll be ready to leave. I'll miss my dad and my friends, of course. My sister … well, I guess that's a different story. Lydia and I have a lot of differences. I don't think we'll miss each other. But anyway, it's time for me to move on.”

Flora thought about Margaret's words as she stitched away at the quilt squares. She and Ruby certainly had differences. They'd been drifting apart lately. Did this happen to all sisters? Flora hoped not. And she hoped that whatever had changed between her and Ruby could change back. But before that happened, Ruby had to fix the very bad thing that she had done.