It was one of those not-quite-warm-enough-for-the-pool days in Cobblestone Circle, so Delia Lounsberry decided to accompany her mother on errands instead of staying home with her father and siblings. Whenever Father is home, he eventually has everyone working in the gardens, and pulling weeds was not something Delia was interested in doing. Nor was she very good at it. Mr. Lounsberry still enjoys teasing her when they come across chrysanthemums, telling her once again (and a little too loudly in her opinion) that they are not weeds.
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Mother hadn’t said exactly where they were going today, but Delia suspects they will have walked up and down Main Street at least a gazillion times before they head home. And it is sooooo boring. All any of the adults talk about is the new building on the beach.
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Mr. Wallace at the book store thinks it is going to be part of a new marina. Mr. Gallagher, the grocer, is "puttin’ his money" on a restaurant, but his wife at the gift shop is sure it is a new art gallery. Mrs. Thistlewhitte just clicked her tongue at such a ridiculous idea as she measured out fabric for Mother at The Needle Works, since her son Carson would surely have told her if that were the case. Mrs. Shrewsbury changed her mind three times in the few short minutes they were gabbing on the street! The toy-making Finkleworths were refreshing in their quiet statement that they really didn’t know what to expect.
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Delia had been quite patient all day, standing beside her mother, holding packages and listening to everyone. Mrs. Lounsberry thought such behavior should be rewarded and suggested one more stop on the way home ~ a stop at Hailey’s Sweet Shoppe. It did not take Delia long to decide what she wanted and she beamed as she was handed the pink cloud of cotton candy. |
Outside the shop they ran into Mr. Brewster ~ literally ran right into him and his briefcase flew open scattering papers all over the ground. One of the papers was a drawing of the new building at the beach and all Delia could spy was a capitol P in the name before he snapped it away from her. He wasn’t being rude ~ he was a good lawyer protecting his client’s privacy.
" Hmmmmmm," thought Delia. " It starts with a P.
I hope it’s the Pink Palace of Pudding, Pies and Pastries!"
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