Free Clouds by Robin Jones Gunn

was, she had to think it through carefully. Jonathan could be married, for all she knew. Although she probably would have heard if he were. That kind of news always managed to get to her mom through the congregation.
    While flying home from Denver, Shelly had a plane change and layover in San Francisco. She stopped in a bookstore inside the airport and found a book that fed her current interest. It was entitled
A Collection of England’s Best Poetry
. The piece by Michael Drayton was on the first page.
    It felt good to land at SeaTac and drive home to the little Tulip Cottage that Indian-summer evening. Shelly and Meredith had made quick work of the move in and had been glad to see how large each of the bedrooms was. They agreed that the third bedroom, located in the loft, should be Meredith’s office. Mom gave them the old patio furniture, which they painted a fresh white and set up on the front porch. Shelly had a unique dining-room table she had made herself from a stumplike slab of wood and a custom-cut circle of glass. Meredith gladly turned her old, pressed-wood table into a potting table, which they set up in the tiny mudroom off the back of the house.
    As Shelly’s Firebird rumbled down the short, gravel drive that led to their enchanted cottage, she noticed her parents’ Buick parked out front. It was almost seven on a Thursday evening. Shelly thought maybe Dad had finally come over to help them figure out the electrical wiring in the living room.The ceiling fan insisted on twirling anytime a switch was flipped on—even the garbage-disposal switch.
    Parking her car and pulling her small, black, wheeled bag from the trunk, Shelly entered the house with a cheerful smile.
    “Anybody home?” she called out.
    Both her parents and Meredith were seated at the table with a steaming bowl of pasta before them.
    “You’re home!” Meredith said. “I thought you had a flight.”
    “I did. Two of them. I’m back.”
    “I never could keep track of your schedule,” Meredith said.
    “You really should call,” Mom urged gently.
    “Have a seat,” Dad said, getting up and offering Shelly his chair.
    “That’s okay. I’ll grab a plate and set myself up over here by Mom. So, what are you guys up to?”
    “We were eager to see your new place,” Mom said. “Meredith didn’t know your schedule, so we went ahead and made plans to come on a night that was free for us. We didn’t know when you would be home.”
    “Well, here I am!” She sat down and helped herself to the pasta. Shelly had learned long ago the fine art of deflecting her mom’s gentle digs. “What do you think? Pretty cute place, isn’t it?”
    “Wonderful,” Dad said.
    “You’ve both done a fine job fixing it up,” Mom said. “Is it mostly Meredith’s furniture and things? You didn’t seem to bring very much back with you from Pasadena. Except this table.”
    “It’s a combination of both of our things,” Meredith said. She reached over and grabbed Shelly by the wrist. “You’ll never guess what! I have some fantastic news.”
    “Can’t be the job of your dreams; you already have that. Can’t be the house of my dreams because we both already havethat. What’s left?” Shelly slipped out of her dark brown flight jacket and noticed her dad’s smile. He must already know the good news.
    “I’m going to Frankfurt next month!”
    “Germany?”
    “Of course Germany. The publisher is sending me to the International Book Fair in Frankfurt to scout out new products. Isn’t that great?”
    “Terrific!” She tried to sound delighted for her sister, but it was hard. Shelly was the one who had always dreamed of exploring the ends of the earth, and yet somehow that had never happened. Either she would get time off from work and have no one to go with her, or she would have a friend going some place fun, but Shelly couldn’t arrange her work schedule so she could go along.
    “There’s more,” Meredith said.
    Shelly wasn’t sure how