Free The Potter's Daughter (Literary Series) by Daniel Arthur Smith Page A

‘Will
Bellen’s’ little girl, and there, I’m ‘Abby Bellen woman-of-the-world’.”
    “I thought Caroline said that you
girls had a great time growing up.”
    “We did, it was great, and I
wouldn’t trade it.   But I had to get
out of here.   I mean after,” Abby
hesitated, “after my mom died, and then after high school.   I had to get out of here.”
    “Your Mom, right, sorry.   Caroline told me about her, said she was
some kind of firecracker artist.   Caroline said she was an inspiration.”
    “Yea she was all of that all
right.”
    “That had to be rough dealing with
the cancer, being a teenager, losing your mom.   Good thing you had this whole community
to support you.”
    “To support me, to remind me
everyday, to treat me like I was broken.   That’s exactly why I had to get out of here.”
    “You still won’t catch me in the
city, but I think I get it.”
    “What do you get?”
    “I get the ‘where nobody knows your
name’ syndrome, I guess it works for everybody that moves around.   Nobody knows you so you can invent
yourself.”   Mitch turned and placed
the spoon he had been fiddling with into a mug and unplugged the electric
pitcher that had already heated the water to a boil.   “Here you felt you were ‘Will Bellen’s
daughter’,” said Mitch, “ there you invented Abby Bellen, the great curator.”
    “And you Mitch Carlson, you’re not
from here, who were you before you reinvented yourself?”
    Abby opened the Earl Grey.
    “No great mystery Abby,” said Mitch
taking a tea bag from Abby.   “I was
a coffee drinker.”
     
    * * *
* *
     
     

Chapter 15
    Will went into the house to get
more coffee.   The coffee can Will
kept by the automatic drip in the studio was empty.   He opened the yellow cupboard above the
counter and pulled down the can kept there only to find few grounds inside.   “How long since we had coffee in the
house?” he thought.   Shuffling
further behind the sugar packets and cubes, the pink and yellow sweeteners, and
the honey, produced no coffee.   Will
pulled out three boxes of tea instead.   Holding two boxes in one hand and the other at arms length he tilted his
head back to read the label.   This
did not satisfy Will so he reached into his pocket and put on his wire frame
glasses for another look.
    “Ok then,” mumbled Will, “herbal
assorted mint, raspberry… no.”   Will
set the box on the counter and inspected the next.   “Bergamot.   Ughh.”   Will set down the Earl Grey and turned
to the last box that read ‘Black Breakfast Tea’.   Will smirked and nodded his head.   He tapped the box on his palm and
scanned the kitchen.
    The kettle was on the back of the
counter.   Will grinned, set the box
of black tea down by the stove, and then filled the kettle with water from the
tap.   He put the kettle on the stove
and then sat down at the table to wait.   From the driveway came the sound of the pickup.   Abby walked into the kitchen to see her
father sitting peacefully watching the stove in anticipation.   Abby stood for a moment contemplating
whether to leave him for a while or to get the conversation over with that she
had been dreading.
      “Hey there, what are you doing?” asked
Abby.
    “ I, am having, a cup of tea,” said
Will, as if he had been planning a cup of tea all morning.
    “Mind if I join you?” asked
Abby.   She removed her coat.
    “Please do, please do,” said Will
graciously.   “I heard the old truck
pull in.   I hope it ran all right
for you.”
    Abby hung her coat on a hook next
to the door, “Yea it was fine, thanks.”
    Will brought his elbows to the
table, clasped his hands, and then began tapping the ends of his fingers
together.   “Hey, Abby, about the
Stone Bar --.”
    Abby interrupted, “That…”
    Will now regretted mentioning the
bar.   He had not even had a cup of
tea yet.
    “I’m sorry,” said Abby.
    Will did not miss this window.   “You’re sorry,” he