Melissa’s Cozy Teacup

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She stopped for a moment, laying her needle down to rest her fingers and massage the back of her neck. She had been sewing like mad whenever there was enough light. She had a goal of filling her hope chest to the very top with not only things she had made, but those things with which her friends and family had blessed her. She reached out for the glass of iced tea and took a long drink. Even though it was still spring, she was beginning to feel the promise of summer’s heat. She remembered how they met. His family had moved to their tiny town from another, two states over. His father was to be the new preacher. She smiled as she remembered how shy he had been, glancing at her when he thought she wasn’t looking.

They had circled each other for two years. He pretending she didn’t exist, she, pretending she didn’t know he was pretending. In the end, it was his boldness that had won her over and she had rewarded him with her heart. One Sunday, at an after church picnic, he had filled a napkin with two pieces of bread layered with butter and fresh strawberry jam, ‘kissing’ so as not to get their toppings all over the checkered cloth, two apples and a mason jar filled with tea. He held the bundle, she held the jar of tea and they held each other’s hands as they walked down to the river bank to eat their picnic, sitting in the shade of the trees listening to the river, the bugs, each other and their hearts.

A different heat now warmed her from the inside, separate from the sun. Smiling, she opened her eyes, rested and ready to get back to work. He would be home soon and there would be a wedding, their wedding.

Movement at the end of the drive caught her eye. It was Becky Greenwood. She worked at the telegram office. Seeing Becky made her blood run cold and her sewing dropped from her numb hands. She didn’t have any brothers and her pappa had died last winter. “Momma!” Momma!”

She rose to stand beside her mother who had come running at the sound of her name being shouted with such desperation. They waited, shoulder to shoulder, for the news to come to them.