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Zoe
Zoe’s dread grew with every step she took toward New Beginnings Church. Then, when the church came into view and she saw Rachel standing by the sign wearing a hat the size of Utah, her dread quadrupled. She had to get out of this. How was she going to get out of this? She didn’t want to go back to Missouri.
Maine was no picnic, but Missouri was worse. Trace was in Missouri. And Jason was in Maine.
She scolded herself for having the thought. Jason didn’t like her. The likes of him could never like the likes of her. But did that matter? Maybe she could just love him without anything in return.
“Well, hello there!” Rachel cried when Zoe was still very far away. She was entirely too excited about this. “I thought we’d start with the sign!” She stood with her hands on her hips, staring at the sign in front of her as if it was her greatest love.
Zoe dropped her backpack and checked her phone. It was only a few minutes past three. She had planned to go to Gramma’s first. Why was Rachel already out here working?
“I’m not sure how to go about this. If I use paint thinner, it will take all the paint of the actual sign off. And we paid a pretty penny for that paint!” She tittered.
Was she nervous? If so, what on earth for?
She glanced at Zoe. “We could rent a power washer, but I have the same fear. I don’t want to ruin the paint underneath the paint.” She seemed to be waiting for Zoe to chime in.
Zoe wasn’t used to this. An adult wanted her input? She shrugged. “We could just paint over it.”
Rachel’s eyes grew wide. “I don’t know. It looked so professional before.” She looked at the sign. “I don’t want to make things worse.”
Zoe stepped in for a closer look. “It won’t. It’s not that big. If we can’t match the paint exactly, we can just repaint the whole thing.” She looked at Rachel, who still looked hesitant. “I’m pretty artistic.” At least, she thought so. She got good grades in art, and she was really good at drawing. She’d never painted a church sign before.
“All right. Let’s go paint shopping!”
Zoe’s stomach turned. She had to go somewhere with this nut?
“Can you take a picture with your phone, and then we’ll go look at paint?
This was a bad idea, and Zoe was loath to admit a better one, but she didn’t want to chase her tail. “It would be better to go get a zillion paint swatches, and then we come back here and try to match it. We’ll need a dark foresty green; a bright yellow; and a mauve.”
“You know your colors!”
Hardly.
“All right. Let’s go for a walk.”
A walk? Wouldn’t it be easier and faster to drive? But Rachel was sprier than she looked, and Zoe had to hustle to catch up. Rachel’s long legs took long strides, and her oversized silk shawl sailed in her wake like a cape. What a spectacle. Zoe was so thrilled to be seen beside her, walking down Main Street.
“The hardware store is just up ahead.” Rachel pointed with her chin. “See it?”
Yes, she saw it. She wasn’t sure this point was worth discussing. “Yep.”
They breezed inside, and someone kindly asked them what they needed.
“We need to take some graffiti off a painted wooden sign.”
The worker flinched. “I’m not sure that’s possible.”
No, probably not, which was why Zoe had suggested painting over it. And she wasn’t sure that Rachel should give that stupid childish tag the honor of being called graffiti. It was a thin, nearly illegible scribble.
Who would do that to a new church sign? What a loser.
“Then we need some paint samples.”
“Right this way.” He led them to the swatch wall.
“It just occurred to me,” Zoe said when the employee had walked away. “Who did we hire to paint the sign? Could they tell us what colors to use?”
Rachel’s eyes widened in unbridled joy. “Yes! That’s brilliant!” She whipped a cell phone out of her oversized purse, and Zoe was impressed with the model. The phone was huge, had a fancy case, and looked brand-new. Maybe Rachel wasn’t such a cluck after all.
Rachel quickly got in touch with the painter and was promptly put on hold, leaving Zoe to stare at all of the swatches for no reason. It seemed like every shade of the rainbow. It was beautiful. She wished she had a swatch wall in her room. Well, if she had a room, she would wish for a swatch display in it. What a glorious color pallet God created. This thought made her cold all over. God? When had God come into this? Why was she thinking about God? God hadn’t done this. He hadn’t made the paint or brought her to the hardware store. She shook the argument out of her mind.
Rachel pointed toward the greens. “Blarney Stone.”
Quickly, Zoe’s eyes scanned the cards for this name. She found it and plucked it out.
“And then ...” Her pointing finger swung toward the yellows. “Unmellow yellow.”
What a terrible name.
“And finally ... Ballerina Tutu.”
Zoe looked at her. Was she serious? Apparently, yes, she was, so Zoe searched for Ballerina Tutu and then plucked it from its spot.
“Thank you so much.” She hung up. “We need a sealer too. He recommended a spray one.” She called the employee back over as if she were hailing a cab and asked him where the sealers were.
They were right behind them.
Zoe was embarrassed. She was embarrassed that she was dealing with a church sign, and she was embarrassed to be seen with this woman in public.
“Would you like any snacks?”
“Huh?” Zoe hadn’t been expecting that.
Rachel swung an arm toward a large display of old-fashioned candy. “My kids always came home from school hungry. I thought you might like a snack.”
Before she could stop it, the question flew out of her mouth: “You have kids?”
Rachel tittered. “Of course I do. What, did you think I was too ugly to procreate? Go ahead, pick a snack or two.”
Rachel’s sentence made Zoe stand up straight. Rachel was talking to her as though she were an adult. She liked it. She grabbed a bag of maple nut goodies.
“Oh, those are my favorite. Grab two bags.”
