Free Advance Notice by Cynthia Hickey

going to drive me nuts. You went shopping? Thank the good Lord!” She pulled
out one of my new dresses. “This is lovely. So glad you finally took my advice.”
      “Danny’s girlfriend works there. Strange
girl, but nice.” I tied my apron around my waist and glanced around the store
to see what crafts needed to be made. Still crowded. Moving to the order book,
I flipped to the first page. Somebody wants a leprechaun? How was I supposed to
make that? I pointed at the order. “Did you take this?”
    “Who else would take it?”
    “Any ideas?” Mom might own the store, but
most of the crafts were a result of my two hands.
    “A time-out doll that looks like a
leprechaun. Sew a green outfit, go to the party store for a hat, and glue on
some orange hair and beard. There, you have it.”
    Sure, easy for her to say. I searched our
book of patterns for a toddler boy’s short suit. St. Patrick’s day wasn’t for
almost a year. Why would these folks want one now? Sometimes, I thought Mom had
a personal agenda: to kill me. Good thing I had a couple of time-out babies in
the closet from a canceled order. All I’d have to do would be to change the
clothes.
    “Those people are having some kind of Irish
party. You know me, I don’t ask a lot of questions.” Mom looked out the
backdoor. “Who’s that woman?”
    And some people suffered from delusions. I
joined her. “That’s Darla from the newspaper.” What was she doing here? I
opened the door and stepped outside. “Darla? Is something wrong with my
column?”
    “No. I’m here to check on my son. You
slave drivers have him working all day.”
    “Danny’s your son?”
    “Didn’t I just say that?” She stomped
over to where he sat on a folding stool, nursing a glass of tea. That boy could
keep Lipton in business all by himself.
    “Don’t embarrass me, Mom.” Danny stood.
“I told you I get off at five, same as any other worker. Same as you.”
    “But you’re only twenty-four. That’s too
young for such long hours.” She patted his cheek. “You should be out having
fun. And not with that girl you’re seeing. Someone…else.”
    Interesting. Momma didn’t seem to like
Amber. Once you got past the piercings and dark clothes, she didn’t seem too
bad. Besides, if I’d learned anything from being a mother, it was that the
child would gravitate to the very thing I wanted her away from.
    “Leave it be!” Danny threw the red
plastic cup that had once held his drink. It landed at his mother’s feet,
splashing the buff-colored pumps she wore. “Don’t you tell me to do enough
things?”
    “Nothing that doesn’t need doing, Danny.”
Darla straightened her shoulders and marched away, leaving the rest of us
silent, and with our mouths hanging open.
    “Go on, boy.” Leroy wiped his hands on a
rag that looked as if it had been run over by a truck. “Your mama needs you.
This room will be here tomorrow. Now that the boards are all cut, we can set up
the walls in the morning.”
    Thank goodness. If the weather held, they
should be finished in a week. Hopefully by the next quilting
get-together. Too many more days of hammering, and I might just nail my
head to the floor.
    Danny followed his mother, and Mom and I
went inside. “Seems kind of early for her to pick him up, doesn’t it?”
Especially considering it was only a little past one.
    “He’s twenty-four, for crying out loud.
Not a child. You had a baby by his age.” Mom grabbed the broom and started
sweeping. “Women who coddle their offspring make me furious.”
    “It’s really none of our business.” I
searched the shelves for a bolt of emerald green fabric. Nada. “Do you have any
green fabric at your house? I really don’t want to go to the store.”
    “I might.” She leaned on the broom
handle, crushing the bristles. “I told Leroy that come this summer, we could
buy an RV. You sure you’re okay with that? If you’d set a wedding date, then
I’d have a better idea of when we