Pane and Suffering Read Free

pink and yellow hair entered the shop. Wearing a white peasant blouse and patchwork midi skirt, she shouldered through the door balancing a huge purse, a canvas bag of tools, a briefcase overfilled with glass remnants, and a large plywood square for mounting stained glass work.
    Green-eyed man lunged to hold open the door. “Amanda, you shouldn’t try to carry everything at once.”
    Savannah’s eyebrows lifted.
    Puffing like an espresso machine, Amanda said, “It’s all right. Two trips would take too much energy. My aura has been weak since I heard the terrible news about Mr. Webb.” She made a beeline for the classroom.
    Savannah scurried over to push the classroom door out of the way. She nudged a doorstop in place to keep it open.
    Amanda grunted and plopped her bundles on the worktable in the first row. “I want to sit where I can see.” She nudged her bold orange glasses back onto her nose. “Savannah! Oh my goodness. You’re just as beautiful as John said.” She clamped Savannah in a round tight hug, stepped back, and looked into her face. “And you have his cobalt blue eyes. I’m so happy to meet you.”
    â€œThank you, Amanda. Welcome to class.”
    Savannah turned to stare pointedly at the green-eyed man.
    Again, the doorbell jangled and two slender elderly women entered, wearing matching gray ruffled blouses with gray polyester pants over gray ballet flat shoes. They carried large gray tote bags. One carried hers over the left shoulder. The other twin carried hers over the right shoulder. Even their round, black glasses were identical.
    Savannah gulped. I’ll never be able to tell these two apart.
    â€œLet’s sit in the back. I don’t like others to overlook my work,” said one twin.
    â€œSilly. Everyone walks around and looks at each other’s projects. It’s how we learn. Let’s go for the front so we can hear properly,” said the other twin.
    The first twin put her materials on the far back worktable. “It’s my turn to pick the seats. You chose for the pottery class.”
    â€œVery well. But don’t whine if you can’t hear the instructions.”
    â€œIt’s my turn.”
    Savannah turned to Green Eyes and whispered, “Have they been here before?”
    His eyes crinkled, and he leaned closer and whispered, “The Rosenberg twins, Rachel and Faith, are addicted to craft classes.”
    â€œSo, they’re good?”
    â€œLet’s just say they make everyone else feel above average. They take classes for the sheer joy of criticizing each other. And they lie. About the quality of each other’s work, about who made what mistake. They lie when there’s no need to lie. They’re the biggest liars in the district.”
    The bell announced the arrival of a deeply tanned couple. He was brown-haired with brown eyes wearing khaki cargo shorts, a closely tailored navy golf shirt, and Topsiders without socks. She was blonde with sky-blue eyes wearing a perfectly tailored khaki skirt with a teal sweater set accented by a single strand of pearls. They were perfectly on trend and looked more like they should be boarding a cruise ship rather than attending an art class. They slipped into the remaining open row of worktables.
    The early-forties trying to look late-twenties woman looked around as though welcoming them into her living room. She smiled at each person until she caught their eye, and when she had everyone’s attention, she said, “Good morning, y’all. We’re Mr. and Mrs. Young. I’m Nancy and this is my groom, Arthur. I’ve called him my groom since the day Daddy announced our engagement. I’m the Director of Programs at the Museum of Fine Arts and my groom plays third chair cello for the Florida Orchestra. We’re so happy to be here taking this wonderful class with y’all.”
    Green Eyes grinned a wide smile and turned to