Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Her mother returned and got to work in making them pancakes. Ava’s mouth watered at the smell of the vanilla batter. Of course, her mother was also a gem in sprinkling chocolate chips into the batter, but only when it was in the pan. Once that was done, the scent in the air was amazing. She was starving. Maple syrup was warmed up on the stove, and as a little extra, her mother added in some sliced strawberries.
Within twenty minutes they were enjoying piles of delicious pancakes, and Ava had a feeling each one of them was thinking about Dad. He loved their mother’s pancakes. She made them for special occasions and whenever someone was feeling glum.
This meant their mother was not happy today. Today was a hard day for her, and she glanced over to Violet who knew it was. Ten years without Dad, and their mother still mourned. Some days were easier than others.
Ava just wanted to hug her mother, however, she also knew that was dangerous. Hazel was holding onto her control. She wasn’t crying, and the moment they hugged her, she cried.
This is why going to the shop was important to her as well. It was strange but immersing herself into the shop made her feel closer to Dad. He was the one who had believed in her. Ava remembered the fear she had at running her own business. Terrified that she wasn’t going to make it work. Of course, Dad always knew best. In that moment, she missed her dad.
After the pancakes, Hazel went to get dressed, while she and Violet did the dishes in silence.
“I guess that means we shouldn’t convince her to go on any dates,” Violet said.
At least it was silent. Violet could only stay quiet for so long. The silence got to her, made her nervous and awkward. When they were in high school, before Dad died, Violet had been so nervous about the final exams. She struggled in a silent classroom. So, for many weeks prior to the exams, he would force Violet into exam-like conditions. She wasn’t allowed to speak, no one was allowed to speak to her. The house had been silent. And it helped Violet get used to it, so she could pass her final exams, which she did.
Neither she nor Violet wanted to go to college. Ava took a few classes randomly at the local college, when she found a topic that interested her. Violet just wanted to work with their mother. And so, she stuck by Hazel.
Ava missed this, but she had done it just in case they ever needed a backup plan. Working in a fabric store was a dream come true. The one thing all the Beckett women had in common, including Violet, was their love of sewing.
Hazel loved to make everything, from furniture covers, to clothes, to quilts, and everything in between. She also knitted.
Violet was a clothes girl. She loved to make clothes.
She herself was a quilt and clothes girl. She loved to make quilts when the challenges of fitting clothes got a little too much for her, and just piecing together bits of fabric was a lot of fun. That was what she enjoyed. She still loved it.
Once the dishes were done and Hazel was finished getting dressed, she urged Bernice to do her business one final time out in the yard. She did not want Bernice dropping any kind of log in the car, as that would just stink. Then, she went in her car, while Hazel and Violet drove together in their car. Her mother and sister shared their car.
Arriving at the fabric stop, she parked, opened the back of the car, and reached in to release Bernice, who jumped out with ease. Ava had tried to pick her up multiple times, but her dog liked to be independent. She didn’t even need to have her on a leash, at least not to get to her mother’s or walk into the fabric store.
They walked in, and the scent of that store made her feel at home. Bernice got settled in the back. Violet fired up the computer, and her mother, bless her, got the kettle started, so they could all have another cup of coffee.
“We had good sales,” Violet said.
“Print them off. We might get most of them packed before the store even opens.”
The main store was clean. Ava didn’t expect anything less. Her mother and sister always cleaned the place before making their way home.
She gripped the back of her neck, giving it a stretch, as she got the stations ready complete with scissors, envelopes, boxes, the works. It didn’t take Violet long to print off the orders.
Ava took several of them, attached them to a clipboard, complete with a little basket, so she could wander the shelves and look for what she needed, ticking them off as she went.