Emma’s Cottage: Chapter Five

She sat outside on the warm pavement and painted her little brown cat on the market cart and soaked up the early morning sun. Next to her, she had set her coffee with just a dash of cream in it, and also her paint water cup, and she had almost put her brush into her coffee mug about seven times now. She was just about finished and was very pleased with how it was turning out. From behind the duck coop, the little brown cat came scampering over to rest next to her on the hard pavement.

“Hello, sir! Did you come to see your portrait?” She asked the little cat and gave him a scratch between his ears. She had really fallen in love with the life that she created here, and was so enjoying having a little companion.

“What do you think? Can you see a likeness?”

“I sure can!” came a voice from behind her. She was not used to hearing other voices while she was at home, especially this early in the morning, so she jumped and spilled her paint water on the pavement, sending the little brown cat running back to his hiding place behind the ducks.

Emma turned around to see Rebecca walking up the path near her home.

“Sorry to startle you!” Said Rebecca with a little giggle, “ I thought you could hear me walking up. I came to drop off the books you ordered before work this morning and see if I could chat with you for a little bit.”

While she was glad to see Rebecca, she did not like when people showed up unannounced and had a hard time not feeling like it was an invasion of her privacy, even though she was on the pavement outside her home.

“Of course! I made extra this morning, it’s like I knew you were coming!” Emma said, composing herself as she stood.

Rebecca had a large tote of books that she had suggested to Emma earlier in the week. She has not thought that Rebecca would order them all at once, or give them to her all at once, but she was not upset to have quite a few additions to her home library. She needed to ask someone to help her build a bigger bookshelf because the built-ins next to her fireplace were running out of space rather quickly. Who could she ask? Maybe Addison would know? Even though she had been in the area for a few years, she still knew very few people. It seemed to be both a blessing and a curse. Her neighbors, Rebecca and Addison were the only people she spoke to somewhat regularly, and even that wasn’t much.

Rebecca flung her long silver braid over her shoulder as she walked into the house behind Emma. She was short and probably in her late fifties, but had more muscle mass than anyone Emma had ever seen. Owning the bookshop had been a lifelong dream of hers and she had opened it a decade before with her late husband. He had not been old enough to pass of old age, but Emma didn’t know how he passed and didn't ever feel like it was the right time to ask her. She always got so sad whenever she talked about him. He had her been “great forever love” as Rebecca called him, and there was no one that could ever compare. He had passed away shortly before Emma moved into town, so she never met him, but he and Rebecca had been the ones to live in her cottage before her. Now Rebecca lived in a little apartment in the back of the bookstore she owned, and that was the last place her husband lived with her. Ever so often, Rebecca would show up and ask to spend time in the cottage, and while she was very respectful about it, it felt a bit like an invasion of privacy.

“Come on in.” Emma said holding the door for her and her large bag of books.

“I’ll be honest, Emma, I included some extras in here, free of charge, just because I like you so much.” she gave her a little nudge and a wink as she plopped the bag down on the table. She pulled out the four books that she had ordered and then Emma and Persuasion by Jane Austen.

“I felt like you needed a couple extra classics in your collection and I had these in my home. You know, when you get to be my age, you start wanting to give things away to the people you love, and I just adored these books, but I know I will never read them again.” The pages were worn and dog eared and well loved. She loved the smell of new books, but there was something so special about a book that had been in someone possession for a long time and had been read over and over. “I also figured that it was about time that you read the book that you are named after.” She winked at Emma again with this statement. Emma had not been named after the Jane Austen novel, but rather named after Emily Brontë, but her mother had liked the nickname Emma so much that she chose not to give her the full nam, but just the nickname. Rebecca knew this, but loved to tease her about it, even though it didn’t strike her as terribly funny.

She padded over to the stovetop that still had her coffeepot resting on it, and poured Rebecca a mugful. “Any cream?” she asked as she walked toward the fridge.

“No, thank you, dear!” She was delightfully cheery and exuded sunshine wherever she went, but she still rubbed Emma the wrong way sometimes.

She set the coffee mug in front of her and gathered the books into her arms to take into the other room. As she set the book she was going to read next on the table next to her overstuffed armchair, Rebecca started allowing herself on a self-guided tour of the first floor.

“I cannot tell you enough how much it means to me that you allow me to come and spend time in this cottage. It brings back so many sweet memories.” her eyes glistened as she walked around and looked up at the drying flowers and herbs hanging from the ceiling.

“Of course. We should schedule a time for you to come by say, once a month?” Emma was hoping that the word schedule wouldn’t sound too terribly intentional.

“Oh goodness, that sounds lovely! How do your Mondays usually look? Could I stop by the first Monday of every month?” Emma was overjoyed that she wanted to put something on the calendar, and also that it gave Rebecca an excuse to come over and spend some time with her more often. She was really rather fond of her, and saw her as a sudo aunt, in a way, so it was a very welcome chance to be able to spend some time with her. “Is that the time?!” Rebecca exclaimed, “It took me longer to walk back here than I thought! Oh, I’m sorry to cut our visit short, dear! I need to go. I have many errands to run this morning before I open the shop.” Rebecca was very interested in punctuality, even though it was a Monday morning and no one was going to be stopping at a bookshop before work on a Monday morning, but it was something Emma admired about her, nonetheless. They gave each other a hug and a kiss on the cheek and Rebecca hurried out the door.