Mandy

Chapter 45

It's time for us to more than just survive. We were made to thrive
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Mandy brushed out her auburn hair carefully, then quickly braided it. Her hair was very long, so unless she was going somewhere, she usually braided it or put it into a ponytail.

She was still shaken up after her encounter, and knew it wouldn't be the last. But she was a strong woman now, not a weak little girl.

   Caleb walked into the bathroom, watching her carefully. "You alright?" He asked.

   Mandy shrugged.

   Caleb sighed and pulled her into a hug. "I wish Liz was here. She was always good at this kind of thing."

"Yeah." Mandy replied, her voice muffled as her face was buried in Caleb's chest.

Caleb fingered her hair. "What she said, that isn't true, you know."

"I know. I like my hair, and that's what matters." Came her muffled reply.

"Hey Mandy?" Caleb asked.

Mandy looked at him. "Yeah?"

"It sounded like Jason knew those women." Caleb told her.

Mandy frowned. "It did...but that can't be possible. He's from Florida."

Caleb shrugged. "I don't know. But it sure sounded like he knew them pretty well.

   Mandy bit her lip, then turned around to look in the mirror. She grabbed her hair product and sprayed it onto her roots, then turned back to her brother. "Well, know them or not, I think tonight is going to be a very interesting one."

   Caleb nodded in agreement.

   It was hours later before Mandy had to worry about that though, apparently the ladies had found better things to do with their time.

   Mandy was sitting behind the front desk, adding some of the kids artwork to the old frames she had painted.

   Jason was cleaning the floor, and Caleb and the kids were upstairs doing something.

   "Do pink and red go together?" Mandy asked, holding up a red frame and a sheet of artwork, which was actually just a price of paper with pink crayon scribbles and silver glitter on it.

   Jason looked at them. "Couldn't you make a pink frame?" He asked.

   "I could, but I already painted over ten of them. I need a break." Mandy replied.

   "Well then, red works just fine. And where are you going to fit ten pictures?"

   She shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think it might be cool to put some of them up in a group on one of the walls out here."

   Jason shook his head. "You're not going to be able to frame every drawing they make."

   Mandy grinned. "I know. But I haven't found binders for a good price yet."

   "What are you going to do with binders?"

   "They each get a binder, and all their artwork goes in there." Mandy explained. "Unless they want to switch it out for one of the framed drawings. Then they can do that."

   "I see." Jason replied.

"Good evening." Sarah greeted them as she walked into the inn.

Mandy looked over at her. "How did your math test go?" She asked.

Sarah sighed as she sat down beside Mandy, setting her backpack under the desk. "I'm not sure." She replied. "I tried my hardest."

"That's what matters. I'm sure you did great." Mandy told her as she moved some of the frames over so Sarah could use the desk too.