The door to Aisha’s workshop flew open and Katelyn bounced in, pink cheeked and rain spattered, carrying a huge plastic tote—equally rain spattered. When her kids flowed in after her, however, she looked positively blow-dried by comparison.
“You came! Hooray!” Aisha exclaimed, leaping away from the bench she was sanding and running to greet them. “I wasn’t sure you’d make it, since I left the message so last minute.”
Katelyn laughed. “It’s never too last minute for a last-minute invite—and it was extra perfect because the kids were less than thrilled by the prospect of a rainy day at home. We happy-danced around the kitchen when I told them you called.”
The kids started to race across the room.
“Halt!” Katelyn commanded cheerfully. “Coats off before you take another step—and boots too. We don’t want Auntie Aisha’s nice dry workspace flooded by the results of your puddle jumping.”
“Puddle jumping! That explains it,” Aisha said. “I thought you were drowned rats, but really you’re just Sawyer and Lacey after puddle jumping.”
Sawyer giggled and Lacey shook her head, smiling—but both kids were already looking past her as they hung their wet things by the heater and put their boots on the mat by the door.
“Yep, she’s here,” Aisha answered their unvoiced question. “Already hard at work. You guys have a ton more wood; I got a bunch of ends from the lumber yard the other day.”
“Awesome,” Sawyer breathed.
“And Mom gave me more fabric,” Lacey said with equal enthusiasm, popping the lid on the tote Katelyn had set down and retrieving a colorful bundle of assorted prints.
“Well, get to it then!”
The kids scooted across the room and through the overlap in the sheets of heavy plastic that separated Aisha’s main workspace, where she sanded and painted and made all sorts of exciting messes, from the half of the building where she stored completed projects so they wouldn’t get dusty. Mo had her own workshop on that side too, something she’d insisted she needed the past winter, and Aisha had to admit she put it to good use. She had her own workbench, real but child-sized, complete with a vice, a small hammer, nails, and various sanding tools. If she needed anything cut, Aisha did that for her—much to Mo’s annoyance, though Aisha held firm that saws were out of the question for a few years. She also had a good assortment of non-toxic paints and glue, stacks of various papers, and felt pens. Her, Sawyer and Lacey’s current obsession was doll furniture. Their stoves, made out of blocks of two-by-sixes, then painted red and given ringed elements with black marker, were impressive. Lacey had sold two of them to friends for five dollars each. “A steal!” she’d crowed, making Aisha and Katelyn laugh and wonder if she meant for herself or for her friends, but it didn’t matter which.
Katelyn filled the electric kettle at the big utility sink, plugged it in, then dropped three teabags into Aisha’s huge pottery teapot. “Getting a bonus shop day is about the only good thing about this weather.”
“Exactly!” Aisha agreed. She and Katelyn were the same in that the bulk of their creating happened over the winter months, when they spent a few hours more days than not together in the shop with the kids, working and playing and visiting. Spring, summer and early fall were filled with other chores—work around River’s Sigh for Aisha and gardening and preserving for Katelyn. They collected project items and brainstormed new ideas constantly, though.
The kettle whistled and while Katelyn filled the teapot, Aisha unhooked her and Katelyn’s favorite mugs from a row of seven hanging in a pretty line above the sink.
“While the tea steeps, let me see how that chair turned out,” Katelyn said.
“Right! I forgot you hadn’t seen the finished result.” Barely able to contain her enthusiasm—and pride—Aisha set the mugs down and zipped over to the storage side. The chair had turned out great. She couldn’t wait to show it off.
“Wow,” Katelyn said a minute later, squatting to smooth her finger along the gleaming espresso brown claw-foot of the antique chair. “I bet it’s every bit as beautiful as when it was new. I can’t believe it.” She squinted, looking close. “There’s not even a hint of those gouges showing.”
“Wood filler’s miracle stuff, all right.”
Katelyn nodded. “And that soft mauve is unbelievable. So gorgeous.”
Aisha stroked the crushed velvet seat and laughed. “It is, yes—and yes, it was your idea, so thank you.”
“I wasn’t tooting my own horn, honest. I forgot I’d suggested it.” She patted the chair again, almost like it was a small child she was fond of. “It will be so beautiful in a home library, or in a bedroom—or by a makeup table. I want it for myself!”
They both laughed because it was a common problem: wanting to keep everything one or the other of them made, sewed, or crafted.
Heading back to their tea, Katelyn got sidetracked by a vintage metal-legged foldable card table which Aisha had painted a high gloss black. Its top had been too water damaged to salvage, so she’d re-topped it using MDF and a print of an old Victorian painting of poppies to create the look of a framed “paper top” like many old card tables had. It was visually stunning and incredibly practical, even if Aisha did say so herself.
“Oh! I’m buying this—no, I am!” Katelyn insisted before Aisha could get a word out. Swivelling to take in the crowded shelves and rows of furniture, she shook her head. “When we’re here all the time, I kind of get used to it and stop seeing everything, but coming back after being away for a month or two?” She shook her head again. “You have a store here, my friend. A store. What are you waiting for?”
It was a good question—maybe even the question. Ever since Katelyn stayed at River’s Sigh, years back now, seeking emancipation from her psycho ex and trying—and failing—not to fall for Callum’s brother Brian, Aisha had talked her ear off about the business she dreamed of opening. And Katelyn, sharing Aisha’s love for environmentally friendly fashion and her passion for upcycling in every way, never tired of hearing about it and chimed in with her own ideas too—fitting and exciting because Katelyn was going to be Aisha’s first—and most awesome—supplier.
Back then, Aisha would’ve been certain her shop would be a done deal by now. She was about to say as much, and maybe ask if Katelyn had heard anything about a similar store coming to town, but Katelyn started sharing about a photography project she was working on—staging assorted creations, with the aim of opening an online shop.
“I didn’t bring my tablet because I want you to see the collection as a whole—but soon. Soon!”
Aisha shrieked with excitement, scolded Katelyn for making her wait, then asked all sorts of questions about the process.
They spent the rest of the morning happily chatting, sipping tea and working, Aisha on the piano bench she was sanding then planning to chalk paint and distress (it would make a fabulous end table), and Katelyn seam ripping and salvaging fabric and notions from good quality but unusable clothing. And as ever, when Aisha was in her shop, sanding or painting, gluing or fixing, she just felt right. Like no matter how confused or all over the place she was about some things, this she knew: restoring or reinventing things was exactly what she was supposed to be doing, was somehow her being her truest self.
The thought, coupled with Katelyn’s brave move forward with her business goals, had Katelyn’s question echoing through Aisha. What was she waiting for? Nothing she could definitively put a finger on, and maybe never would be able to—and her stalling would soon impede her ability to keep making things. She’d run out of room!
In order to do what she loved and felt compelled to do, she needed to start selling things in a much larger way than occasionally via online marketplaces whenever she thought to post the odd piece. Maybe she should stop worrying about rumors of possible competition and look for a spot to rent, with the goal of a fall opening. Actually, should wasn’t going to get her anywhere. She would do it. It was time. She was ready. A thrill moved through her body and her last bit of doubt melted away. It was a firm decision about a big change. But it was right. She knew it. Finally.
She opened her mouth, about to spill the happy news to Katelyn—then changed her mind. She’d find the location and once it was finalized, she’d invite Katelyn for coffee in town and do a big reveal. She smiled to herself, knowing how much Katelyn would love the surprise and how excited she’d be about what the future held for their designs.
The kids, who’d popped in from time to time for help or to get compliments on what they were working on, finally showed up to say they were hungry.
Aisha was surprised when she glanced at her watch to realize it was twenty to one. “No wonder you guys are starved!”
“We could eat at your place, then work out here for another couple hours,” Katelyn suggested. “I don’t need to be home until five.”
“Yay!” all three kids cheered in unison.
Aisha felt herself blush. “Definitely come for lunch, but um, Mo and I have other plans this afternoon.”
“You do? Really?”
“Okay, you don’t have to sound so shocked.” Aisha laughed. “It’s not like I never do anything.”
Katelyn’s eyebrows lifted. “Well, no . . . but it’s not like you ever usually do anything when you have the opportunity for a full shop day either.” She studied Aisha’s face. “Wait! Do these ‘plans’ of yours involve a boy?”
“No, Jase is a man,” Mo supplied helpfully.
Oh Mo! Aisha thought and busied herself turning down the heat and clicking off lights.
Katelyn smacked Aisha’s butt gently with her umbrella on their way out of the workshop. “I cannot believe you! We spent all morning gabbing and you didn’t once think an afternoon with Jase was worth mentioning?”
“He’s just catching a ride to town with us. There’s nothing to say.”
“Oh no, that’s so not a thing! You’re fessing up all the details—every single one—next time we visit.”
Aisha laughed.