I wondered if Dream watched from afar.
TWENTY-THREE2023
Aimee
The morning at the store passed quickly. I’d begun adding products of local farms to my merchandise such as goat’s milk hand lotion, alpaca scarves and hats, homemade yogurt, various planters, including fresh herbs, perfect to fit into a kitchen window ledge, homemade sourdough bread, and homemade candies. My little market was filling its shelves and all the products were selling nicely. The neighboring farms were happy to have a central place in town to sell their wares, in addition to their small in-house farm stands.
I hired a part-time employee, a young Amish woman, to work a few hours a week. Rachel lived on a dairy farm on the outskirts of town and usually walked to work, although sometimes her brother, Eli, would drop her off in the horse and buggy. She was a quiet eighteen-year-old with bright eyes, and a hard worker. The dark solemn Amish uniform did little to enhance anyone’s looks, but Rachel’s beauty was evident even with the constant oppressive black and rigidly pulled back hair, covered in a black cap. I would think Amish women would have a splitting headache from having their hair so tightly pinned up all day. I certainly couldn’t stand it.
I put the last bottle of goat’s milk lotion on the shelf and arranged the sourdough loaves next to the homemade jams. Everything was ready to open tomorrow—time to close for today. I already called Poplin Chicken for takeout to pick up on the way home for dinner. I went to lock the door.
John stood outside.
I opened the door. “Oh, hey, John. I was just locking up for the day,”
“I just wanted to get some more of that strawberry jam. Grandma loves it on her toast in the morning and she ate the last of it this morning,” he replied.
“Um, okay, sure,” I said, letting him inside. I walked over to the jam. “How many would you like?”
“Give me three,” he said. “That should last a while.”
“Sure.” I took the three jars to the counter and rang them up.
“I want to ask you something,” he said, swiping his debit card for the purchase.
“Okay,” I said, hesitant.
“Is Robin angry at me?”
I slowly placed the jam jars into a paper bag, wishing I could ignore the question. Why is he asking me?
“Um… I don’t think so,” I replied, handing him the bag.
He took the bag but didn’t move. “It’s seeming like she’s avoiding me.”
I frowned. I didn’t want to have this conversation with him. What was I supposed to say? She’s not interested in you because you’re a boring guy. Bordering creepy.
“Well, it’s the beginning of the school year,” I said breezily. “Always a busy time. Archie barely has time for me.”
John leaned closer to me and smiled. “Well, I know that’s not true. Archie always has time for you.”
A perfect example. John’s words were fine. Nothing wrong with the statement, but the way he said it gave me a chill up my spine. He made my skin crawl.
“That’s the only thing I can think of,” I replied briskly. “Now, I must close up. I have a takeout order to pick up.”
John met my gaze. “I’ll be seeing you.” He walked out of the store.
I locked the door and watched him walk down the street.
I signed in with the front office, chatted a bit with the school secretary, then took my large container of chocolate chip cookies and walked down the hall to Archie’s classroom. The hallway was filled with brightly colored drawings with detailed writings of ‘What I Did This Summer’ by numerous students. I read a few, some very neat, some messy, but all had similar themes. They went to the beach, to the amusement park, the mountains, the pool. I continued to Archie’s area; his room was halfway down the hallway. I opened the door to see Archie sitting at his desk in the back of the room, eating a sandwich. Robin sat on the edge of his desk, facing him, eating from a bag of potato chips, her long, tanned legs dangling down.
“Hey, Aimee,” she greeted in a friendly tone, scooting off Archie’s desk.
“Hey,” I said, wondering why she was sitting on my husband’s desk in the first place.
“Babe, I thought you were stopping in later. Who’s at the store?” Archie asked.
“Rachel’s there,” I said, setting the container of cookies on his desk. “Here are the cookies for the bake sale.”
“Great, thanks for making those.” He smiled. “You’re my secret weapon; we’re competing against Robin’s class to see who raises the most money from the sale. The winning class gets an ice cream party.”
“Oh, fun,” I remarked, pausing to admire my handsome husband. With his dark blond hair and warm brown eyes, he was the opposite of Dream in every way. Reliable, practical, what was that old saying? Had his head on straight. Yes. You wouldn’t catch Archie clad in white, chanting in the early morning hours or losing several days to a sacred herb celebration. No, Archie had his mind on reading scores and bake sales.
Did he also have his eye on Robin?
The thought darted out of nowhere. I stood there silent as Robin babbled on about the cheesecake brownies she was making for the bake sale, her long chestnut brown hair brushing the top of her slim shoulders. She wore the deep purple sheath dress we bought earlier at the outlet mall, and it fit her well. Her flawless skin, even under the harsh fluorescent lighting of the classroom, gave off a dewy glow. She was very pretty.
I brushed the thought away. I’d obsessed over these same things in the past and the outcome was never good. Archie and Robin were friendly colleagues, that’s all, and she was my friend. I wouldn’t allow my imagination to take hold. I’d only focus on the facts as they presented themselves. Besides, Archie was devoted to me, I knew that.
Archie held up half his turkey sandwich. “Want some?”
I declined, but I snagged the bag of grapes lying on his desk. “No, but I’ll take these.”
Robin glanced at the clock. “Ten minutes until our students are back from lunch. I want to pick up some books from the library, so I better get going. See you, Aimee,” she said, sailing out of the room.
I popped a grape into my mouth and turned my attention to Archie. “You two are getting close.”
He laughed awkwardly. “Close? I don’t know about that. We work well together. She’s a good partner teacher.”
