Wall-To-Wall Dead (39 page)

She wandered off, and I looked around, at my friends and family, at my wedding reception. Mom and Noel had joined the buffet line now, while Kate caught my eye from a table over in the corner and smiled. She was sitting with Wayne, Shannon and Josh, and Paige Thompson and Ricky Swanson, who were back in town now. Ricky had his degree—in computer technology, the same thing Josh was going for—but Paige was Shannon and Josh’s age, and had two years to go. Ricky had found a job with an IT company in Portland, and they had already put an offer on the apartment Derek and I had renovated. It had turned out very nice, actually, once we got down to business: Blond wood floors throughout the rooms made the space seem larger, along with pale shades of green on all the walls. We did put corrugated metal below the chair rail in the dining room; it made quite an impression, and looked great with the chandelier I’d made from empty canisters of spray paint. And Derek had shown me how to etch glass, so the mirror on the sliding door in the hallway had a border of Celtic knots, which suited Patrick Murphy Swanson just fine.

Some of the neighbors were here, too. Mariano and Gregg were on their way through the buffet line, dapper in suits and ties, while Bruce and Robin were sharing a table with Peter and Jill Cortino and their brood. Benjamin and little Pamela were about the same age, and were hopping on the dance floor, while Robin was holding Baby Pepper and making eyes at Bruce. Maybe she wanted another baby.

Pepper wasn’t the only infant present. Ian Burns and his Ukrainian wife, Angie, had driven down from Boothbay Harbor, and had brought their son, Liam, who’d been born at the beginning of the summer. Irina was holding him; she and Gert had flown up from Florida to be with us. She looked awfully comfortable holding little Liam, and I wondered if we might not be on the receiving end of some good news from them soon, too.

Looking around, I located Derek on the opposite side of
the room, talking to his family. Cora and Dr. Ben were there, Beatrice and Steve, and Alice and her husband, Lon, up from Boston. Even Paw-Paw Willy, Derek’s grandfather, had flown up from retirement in Florida for the occasion. Derek caught my eye, smiled, and beckoned.
C’mere.

On the way there, I happened past Melissa, who was making eyes at Philippe aka Phil. She’d done that the last time he was in town, too, a year ago, and I thought, a little uncharitably—as I had done back then—that they deserved one another.

I was going to brush past with a polite smile, since I had no real need or desire to talk to either of them. But Philippe insisted on kissing both my cheeks and telling me how lovely I looked and how small-town life obviously agreed with me—all in his fake French accent—and once he was done, Melissa asked for a moment of my time.

“I’m on my way to meet Derek…” I demurred.

Unfortunately, a glance in his direction showed me that he was still talking to his family, laughing at something someone had said. His head was thrown back, his dimples were showing, and the sight of him in a tuxedo was one I was sure I’d remember forever. He was gorgeous, and for a second I got caught up in watching him. When I turned back to Melissa, she was doing the same thing, and the expression on her face was one I’d never seen before. Soft and wistful and a little sad.

After a moment she seemed to realize what she was doing, and when she turned to me, she was smiling that bright smile with the unnatural amount of teeth. “You’re a lucky girl, Avery.”

“No argument here,” I said.

“I hope you’ll be very happy together.”

“Thank you,” I said, “I’m sure we will be.”

It was all very proper and—I realized—very fake. And because it was the happiest day of my life, and because I had Derek and she didn’t, I could afford to be magnanimous. “Is everything OK, Melissa?”

“I’m moving away,” Melissa said.

I blinked. “Where?” Surely not to New York with Phil?

“Portland,” Melissa said. And added, “Tony left me his condo there. And there’s nothing for me here anymore. With Tony gone and Ray…well, I wouldn’t want Ray back anyway. Not after what happened.”

“Of course not.” I wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to leave, that she could stay in Waterfield as long as she wanted, but I didn’t think I had the right. I also didn’t think Tony and Ray were the only reasons she was going. But I wasn’t about to call her on it. If she still had feelings for Derek, and she didn’t want to stick around now that he was married to someone else, I could hardly blame her for that. If he’d been my husband and I’d lost him, I wouldn’t want to watch him be happy with someone else, either. For as long as we were only dating and there was the chance I’d get tired of Waterfield and want to go back to New York, that was one thing. But now, when we were married and presumably settled…well, I didn’t blame her at all for wanting to make herself scarce.

So I smiled and said it sounded like a good idea for her to start over somewhere else, and she already had such a great reputation for real estate—she’d already done a few deals in Portland; after all, it’s less than an hour away—and maybe we’d see her again if she came up here to work sometime. Oh, and by the way, if she wasn’t too busy, maybe she could sell Philippe our big, white elephant on Rowanberry Island before she left?

I think we were both equally relieved when the conversation was over and she could go back to Philippe and I could go meet Derek, who had finally extricated himself from his family and was on his way across the floor toward me, a frown on his face.

“What was that about?”

“She wished us well,” I said serenely. “It seems she’s decided to move to Portland, to Tony’s condo.”

“Oh,” Derek said, his face clearing. After thinking
about it for a moment, he added, “Well, it’ll be good for her. A bigger pond. Waterfield always was too small for her.”

“You’re not going to miss her?”

“Why would I miss her?” Derek said and put his arms around my waist. “I’ve got you.”

Awww.
I went up on my tippy toes to brush my lips over his. “I love you.”

He smiled down at me. “I love you, too, Mrs. Ellis.”

And then his lips came back and settled in, and I forgot all about Melissa and everything else in the enjoyment of being well and truly married to the man of my dreams.

Tips to Maximize Space

1. In a small space, everything counts

A lot of people live in small spaces. Some because it’s what they can afford, and some because it’s what they choose. Some people enjoy the tight quarters. You may be one of them. If you thrive in a cozy, intimate space, you’re in luck. By using soft, snuggly upholstered pieces, dark, warm tones, and dramatic lighting, your tiny corner can become a wonderful private space.

But if you feel the need to stretch out in your small space and make it seem lighter and airier, you can make some decorating changes to make the area look and feel larger without moving any walls. With color, furniture, and lighting, your space will feel less cramped.

2. Light colors make your room look bigger and brighter

Light-colored walls are more reflective of light, making a space feel open and airy, which will help maximize the
effect created by natural light. Dark colors, on the other hand, absorb light, making the room look smaller.

For optimum effect, select soft, calming tones of blues and greens, and always remember that brighter rooms look bigger and more inviting. Paint your wall trim and moldings a lighter color than your walls. When you paint your moldings light, the wall appears farther back, making your space appear bigger.

3. If you have access to natural light, make full use of it

Windows make a room seem bigger because a barrier between visitor and outside view has been removed. Instead of seeing a dimension-defining wall, visitors see an expansive view of the outdoors. Make sure window coverings are sheer, or are pulled back—or nonexistent—to bring more light in. If the view is bad, use hanging plants and potted flowers near windows.

Similarly, mirrors can make your room look larger by giving the illusion of depth. The mirrors also reflect both natural and artificial light to make a room brighter both day and night. They bounce light deep into the room, making it appear larger. Mirrors are especially effective near a window so the outdoors can be reflected.

4. Keep your room tidy and organized

Nothing makes a small space feel more cramped than having too much stuff in it. With things neatly arranged and out of sight, the space that is in view will feel orderly and open. A cluttered room equals a smaller room.

Use multifunction furniture with built-in storage: coffee table chests, sofa beds, benches with seat storage. An extendable dining table, folding tables, and nests of tables can be tucked away when you don’t need them.

Place the large pieces of furniture against the walls so the open space in the middle isn’t broken up. Consider having at least some of the furniture pieces the same color as the walls to make them recede.

Keep lines simple and scale the furniture to fit the size of the room. Don’t block walking pathways. With furniture and accessories blocking the view into a room and out to open spaces, a room will look cramped. By moving furniture out and away from walkways, you’ll open up the space and make it feel larger.

Setting your furniture at an angle works because the longest straight line in any given room is its diagonal. When you place your furniture at an angle, it leads the eye along the longer distance, rather than the shorter wall. As an added bonus, you often get some additional storage space behind the piece in the corner, too!

Choose furniture that has open arms and exposed legs. This allows light to filter under and through the furniture, making the room appear airier. Even better, choose a glass-topped table! Anything seen through glass appears farther away, and you’ll allow light through the table, as well.

If you can see the floor, the room will look larger, so keep the floor as clear as possible. Carrying floor covering (and wall color) through two connecting rooms is a good way to help dissolve the lines between the two rooms and open them up to each other. This technique is only effective, however, when used for adjoining rooms that fall in the same line of sight.

Space-Saver Wine Rack

Make your own wine rack from mailing tubes. The process is ridiculously easy, and the results surprisingly cute, so you can have a bevy of bottle storage in no time.

How to Make Paper at Home

Here’s how to make Avery’s wedding invitations:

To make a sheet of paper, you must first get a suspension of cellulose fibers in water. Getting these fibers from a tree trunk is possible, but the process would take a lot of time and effort. A much simpler alternative is to reuse newspapers,
from which fibers are easier to extract. As a bonus, you’ll be helping the environment by recycling.

As Avery says, making your own paper is a lot of work, but for a special occasion, or a special gift or project, it can be worth it. The addition of flowers, leaves, and grass—like Avery’s forget-me-nots—make a for a unique and beautiful finished product. Homemade paper can also be used as mats for pictures, as pages in scrapbooks, and other crafts and decorating needs.