Free August (The Year of The Change Book 2) by Kathryn Gilmore

century. She knew everything about the items in her store and chatted away, asking as many questions of Emma as she answered.
    On the way home, Emma and Cara talked about what would be needed to transform the sheers into a canopy. I didn't contribute in the discussion because I didn't know anything about sewing. Sue was a good seamstress, but never had the patience to teach me. I’d wanted to take Home Ec, but was constantly struggling to catch up on classes that I’d done poorly in.
    Sue always said, "If you can read, you can sew."
    Technically, she was correct, but I didn't know where to start and was afraid to try. The image of Sue ripping apart everything I’d done, because it wasn't good enough, stomped through my head. Now was my chance to see sewing in action. Hopefully, I would learn something and not embarrass myself.
    The Peterson women taught me how to thread a needle and make knots where they were supposed to be. They were all so patient. Once, Cara chided Destiny when my friend blurted out she thought everyone knew how to sew. In their world that was probably true. In my world I was lucky to know how to use a safety pin. The wonderful invention was my greatest tool whenever a piece of clothing needed mending. Eventually, Sue would find my temporary fix and mend it right. We whiled away the afternoon sewing the sheers together. Then we added gold sequins sparsely around the edges and a few scattered through the middle.
    That evening, after the coast was clear, we went to my house to hang my beautiful, glittery canopy.
    Sue brought in from the garage two of the old, heavy rods, which had been in the house when we moved in. She trailed behind the long precession. The rods were heavy and sturdy. I knew for a fact we needed to secure them well. I didn't want one of them to fall on my head, like what almost happened my first time in the house.
    We took everything upstairs with Richard in tow, lugging a tall ladder. When done, the most beautiful canopy draped over my headboard and foot board. My bed looked even more special. Gram would’ve liked this, so would Aunt Betty.
    I stood back with the others for a few minutes and admired how beautiful it all looked before the Petersons had to go home. Having these wonderful people as my friends made me the luckiest person in all of Alaska. Destiny still hadn't looked at me with the 'She's too crazy for me' look. Maybe she would last through most of August. I could only hope.
    On the front porch, I couldn’t stop thanking them. As they walked across our yards, I leaned against the rail. With fresh paint, our porch looked really good. They reached their front door and I waved one last time.
    Now I could go back to my room and enjoy my new canopy. Never before have I had a special room. Not even when I lived with my grandparents. That room, which I loved, had been filled with their furniture. I could see in my mind all the beautiful antiques and still remembered the stories that went with each of them. In my new room, I had the chance to slowly collect things that would have my stories to go with them. It made me feel a little grown up.
    What I learned and did today made me proud, but I didn’t have anyone to show it to. Dad wouldn’t be home for another hour and everyone I knew in Alaska had been here when they were hung. All except for the myriad of affected guys … well, you know … that ain’t happening.
    After a lot of begging I borrowed Sue’s cell phone and went to my room to take a picture and downloaded the photo to my computer. I emailed it with a description of how we did it to my buddy, Donny. It’s kind of a girly thing, but he won’t mind that I shared it with him. He’ll probably have some funny thing to say. At the least I knew he would roll his eyes. Any reaction would be better than none. It was good to have him to keep me tied to the real world.
    There was something else to tell Donny tonight. I danced around the computer chair before I plopped