“I’m glad we had this little talk,” her mother told her. “You’re my daughter. I love you and have great expectations for you. I know you won’t disappoint me.” She smiled then, the same smile she gave to guests when they left the house, the megawatt one that made them feel like they’d been given a gift. “You can go now. I’ll see you at dinner, all right?”
Harper shivered at the memory and reached for her mug of coffee, frowning when she saw that it was empty and cold. She was bored with waiting and ready to leave. Where was Dora? she wondered irritably. She cupped her chin and let her gaze wander the café, then out the front window. She spied Dora through the window, approaching the store. She sat up, expectantly. The bell over the door chimed and Dora walked in.
Harper felt all the frustration and anger pent up in her chest release in her short laugh of delight. Dora was beaming, wearing one of the dresses that Harper had selected for her. It was a navy print with vertical lines that complemented her figure. Harper didn’t know what had brought about this change of heart in Dora, but it meant the world to her. Smiling, she shot her hand in the air and waved it in an enthusiastic arc. Dora spotted her and her eyes lit up at seeing her.
“You look gorgeous!” Harper exclaimed, standing to greet her. “I love you in that dress.”
Dora swept her in a bear hug and whispered by her ear, “And I just plain love you.”
They held tight for a moment, then a moment longer, not needing words this time to express their apologies and the enduring, unbreakable bond between them.
Dora released her and stepped back, a bit flustered. Harper could see the redness in Dora’s eyes that revealed she’d been crying.
“Want some coffee?” Harper asked.
“I’ll get it. My treat. I kept you waiting long enough.”
Harper watched Dora get in line to place the order with the barista. As she waited, a rush of ideas flooded her head, fun things they could do together—just two women, two friends, two sisters, with a free afternoon on King Street. Smiling, she hurriedly gathered the napkins filled with her angry scribbling and, crumpling them in her hands, walked across the room and tossed them into the trash.
The afternoon sun was lowering by the time the girls returned to Sea Breeze. Mamaw had been waiting by the front windows, watching for them.
“Lucille!” she called out, her heart beating a mile a minute. “They’re here!”
Lucille came rushing out from the kitchen in her stiff-legged gait, drying her hands on her starched white apron.
“At last,” she huffed. “I hope they didn’t eat nothin’. I’ve been cooking this rabbit food for an hour, trying to give it some taste.”
“I hope they’ll like what I’ve done,” Mamaw said nervously. She turned to Lucille. “Do you think they will?”
“ ’Course they’ll like it. Who wouldn’t?”
“I don’t want them to think I’m being, well . . .”
“Scheming?”
Mamaw frowned. “Such a harsh word. I like to think generous does the job.”
Lucille guffawed. “Well, look at them, laughing together. I ’spect your generosity been workin’ with those two.”
Mamaw felt her worry ease. “Yes. I swanny, they’ve been like oil and water.”
“Baking soda and vinegar, more like it. Hush now, here they come. Lord help us, looks like they done cleaned out the stores.”
The front door opened and Mamaw heard the laughter before she saw Harper and Dora saunter in, laden with brightly colored shopping bags in their arms.
“We’re back!” Dora called out gaily. “We had the best time! Harper is the sweetest girl in the whole world. Come see what we’ve bought! Or Harper bought. That woman is wild with that credit card!”
Mamaw turned her head to share a surprised glance with Lucille. This was certainly a change of heart between the girls, and Mamaw’s elation bubbled over in her greeting.
“Dora, you look stunning! Why, you’re positively transformed!” she exclaimed, walking toward her with her arms open.
Dora’s blond hair had been highlighted to punch up her color and trimmed in a sleek new style. The chic summer dress made her look as if she’d lost an additional ten pounds, and Mamaw wasn’t sure whether it was her happiness or the new makeup, but her face was positively glowing.
Dora was beaming as she stepped into Mamaw’s arms. “It’s all Harper. She did a complete makeover.”
Mamaw turned to find Harper already busily spreading out the shopping bags on the Chippendale sofa and opening boxes. It didn’t appear that Harper had bought anything for herself, which spoke volumes to Mamaw.
“You’re quite good at this,” she told Harper. “You should open a business!”
“I can’t afford it,” Harper said with a light laugh.
Dora gushed, “You think I’m bossy? I’m a piker compared to this girl. She made me get my hair done, and my makeup, and look! A mani-pedi. Lucille, what do you think of the color?” She held out her hands to reveal a bold hot-pink color. “Doesn’t it just scream summer?”
Lucille bent over her hands. “It screams somethin’, that’s for true.”
Dora giggled and hurried to the sofa to dig in one of the large bags. She fished out two small ones. “We picked out these for you together. Oh, Harper, you should give them. I’m forgetting my manners.”
Harper just laughed and waved her hand, enjoying Dora’s excitement. “Go ahead.”
Mamaw accepted the bag with surprise. “For me? Gracious, girls, I don’t deserve anything. It’s not my birthday.”
“It’s nothing, really,” Harper replied, watching. “A petit cadeau.”
Mamaw pulled a scented candle out of the bag. “Thank you, precious. It’s lovely,” she said.
Lucille had received a candle as well.
“They’re different scents,” Harper said. “Hope you like them.”
“You should,” Dora added. “They cost the world.”
Harper laughed and shook her head, embarrassed.
Lucille had pulled on her reading glasses and was studying her candle. “Says here it’s called Summer Nights. I don’t know what that means, but this smells like jasmine to me. I love me my night-blooming jasmine.” She looked up, grinning.