“He must have a very important job if they’re calling him on the weekend.”
“No, he has a very important girlfriend,” Mia said, frowning at the sun-drenched rows of vines laden with grapes.
“Ah.”
Ah? That was the only comment she was going to get from the wise Muriel Sterling?
“You know we once...” Mia stopped herself. Everyone in town knew they were once an item.
“Youth can be both a blessing and a curse,” Muriel said with a smile. “Don’t you find it interesting that neither of you is married yet?”
Mia didn’t find it interesting. She found it depressing.
Muriel continued before she could frame an answer. “Sometimes, when we’re young, we don’t quite grasp the important things in life. It’s like trying to grab an apple that’s out of reach.”
“If it’s out of reach, maybe you’re not meant to have it,” Mia said. And maybe that was why things had never worked out between Colin and her. They weren’t meant to be together.
“Or maybe you need to stand on tiptoe and try again?”
“So you think Colin and I should try again?”
Muriel turned and studied her. “Do you still love him?”
Mia’s face flamed. “I don’t know.” Liar! “No one’s ever affected me the way he does. Did,” she quickly corrected herself. “But he’s with someone else now.”
“It’s not serious, though. Justine told me that was a condition of the will. Neither one of you could be in a serious relationship.”
Mia gnawed on her bottom lip. That might be what the will stipulated, but here was Colin always on the phone with this other woman. And yet when he was with her... Oh, she didn’t know what to think.
“Mia, would you take a little friendly advice?”
Right now she’d take any advice, friendly or otherwise. She nodded.
“I’ve had two husbands, both wonderful men. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that true love is rare.”
True love? Did she and Colin ever have that? If their love was so true, why didn’t they stay together? She couldn’t help remembering how quick he’d been to break up with her. And how quickly she’d moved on. Except her move hadn’t taken her where she wanted to go.
“Oh, there’s the kind of love you settle for,” Muriel continued. “But the gold standard kind of love, the soul-searing, true-love variety, that’s pretty rare. It’s also fragile. It bruises easily. The pain can be as large as the joy. And it can be snatched from you in an instant,” she added, her voice almost a whisper.
After being widowed twice, Muriel would know.
“You have to fight for it, Mia,” she said, laying a delicate hand on Mia’s arm. “It’s worth fighting for. Don’t give up, and don’t settle.”
She’d done both years ago. The only thing she’d stuck with was her job. Granted, it had its rewards—a nice, fat paycheck and a feeling of accomplishment—but when she compared her life to Grandma Justine’s and Aunt Beth’s and Muriel Sterling’s, she didn’t feel she’d accomplished very much.
She reminded herself that she still had time. But—“What’s worth fighting for?” Colin asked, coming out onto the patio, interrupting her thoughts.
“Love,” Muriel said. “I was just telling Mia what a rare commodity true love is.”
And easily traded away, Mia thought sadly.
“But enough of me philosophizing. On to your mission. Let’s send you to your next destination. I’ve got it inside.”
They followed her back into the house and she produced yet another pink envelope. “I think what you find next will prove very inspiring.”
They thanked her, then went out to the car, Colin getting behind the wheel, Mia in the passenger seat, opening the envelope.
“Okay, now what?” he asked.
“‘You’ll find more words than you can ever read here,’” Mia read. “‘You’ll also find your next clue.’” She tapped her chin. “More words. It’s got to be either the library or the bookstore, don’t you think?”
“For sure. Which one do you want to try first?”
“How about the library?”
He nodded and turned the car toward the Icicle Falls Public Library. Millie the librarian was on duty. She’d been ruling over the library shelves, silencing chatty patrons, since Mia and Colin were kids.
She smiled at the sight of them. “Mia and Colin, I haven’t seen you two in here in a long time,” she said in her muted librarian’s voice. “I’m sorry about your grandmother. She was a lovely woman. Helped out with all our Friends of the Library sales, right up until the week before she died, God rest her soul.”
Was there anything Justine Wright hadn’t been involved with in this town? Mia hoped that when she reached her golden years, she could do even half as much as Justine had.
“Thanks,” Colin said, keeping his voice library-low. “She’s actually sent us on a sort of hunt for something. Did she, by any chance, leave a clue for us?”
Millie shook her head. “I don’t think so. What kind of clue?”
Obviously, the library hadn’t been part of the treasure hunt. “It must be hiding somewhere else,” Mia said. “Thanks, anyway.”
“You’re welcome,” Mille said, looking thoroughly puzzled.
“So I guess it’s the bookstore,” Colin said, and they crossed the highway and ducked down into the main part of town where Mountain Escape Books was located.
* * *
Please, God, this has to be the last clue, Colin thought as he and Mia made their way to Mountain Escape Books. Lorelei was getting restless and trying to pin him down on a time he’d be meeting her for dinner and the promised dancing, and that was making him antsy. He wanted to be done as much as she wanted him to be. This crazy treasure hunt needed to be over, and Mia needed to be gone. Out of sight, out of mind.
Except she’d never really been out of his mind. Every time a woman tried to get close to him, he remembered the hurt and rejection he’d experienced when he lost her and wound up backing out of the relationship. When he was between girlfriends, he thought of her and wondered what she was doing. How she was doing. He feigned a complete lack of interest if Aunt Beth mentioned her, but grabbed any scraps of information she dropped, eager as a crow.
Now here they were together, running all over town, visiting various landmarks of their past, and like Lorelei, he kept asking, When will this be done?
He was so busy turning everything over in his mind, he didn’t hear his old pal Billy Williams calling his name until Mia nudged him. He looked up to see Bill Will galloping toward him, cowboy hat pushed back on his head and a Bavarian Brews coffee in his hand.
“Dude, I’ve been hollerating at you for half a block,” Bill Will said once he caught up to them.
“Sorry,” Colin said. “I didn’t hear you.” And they gave each other a bro hug complete with back slaps.
Bill Will turned his attention to Mia. “Hi, Mia. What are you doing in town?” Then understanding dawned. “Aw, shit, of course. Hey, I’m sorry about Grandma J. I woulda come to the funeral, but I had to work. Let me take you guys out tomorrow night for a beer. We can have a wake.”
“Thanks,” Colin said, “but I don’t know if I’ll still be here.”
“Well, damn. I’d haul you off tonight. I bet you guys have plans, though. Just like old times, huh? Are you—”
“No,” Colin and Mia both said.
“I’ve got a girlfriend,” Colin added.
Bill Will nodded, taking that in. “Is she up here? Maybe we could all go out tonight. Andy and me and his girlfriend and whoever else I can scare up are going to the Red Barn. Right now I’m working on a hot little redhead I met over at Bavarian Brews. She’s got this shit of a boyfriend who keeps ignoring her.”
<
br /> Redhead, shit of a boyfriend... “Where is she now?” Colin asked.
“Over there.” Bill Will turned and waved at the hot redhead seated in the gazebo in the little town park.
She was wearing tight jeans and a low-cut black top and holding a drink. Even from where he stood, Colin could see that her smile was meant for him and it said, Take that, you shit.
“That’s my girlfriend,” Colin said in disgust.
Bill Will’s eyes bugged. “You’re the shit?”
Yeah, when it came right down to it, that about described him.
Bill Will watched as she came over. He blew out a breath and shook his head. “Man, I didn’t know. Honest, Col.”
“No worries,” Colin assured him. “I see you met one of my buddies,” he said to Lorelei when she joined them.
“I guess this is a small town,” she said, slipping an arm through Colin’s while smiling at his friend. “Billy was telling me about what you all do for fun up here.”
Billy was frowning now. “You didn’t tell me Colin was your shitty boyfriend.”
Lorelei had the grace to blush, but she brazened it out. “You didn’t ask me. So this Red Barn sounds like fun. Is that where you’re taking me dancing?” she asked Colin.
At the moment he wasn’t sure he wanted to take her anywhere. But he’d promised. “Yeah,” he said reluctantly.
“Well, then,” she said to Bill Will. “I guess we’ll see you there. You can teach me how to two-step.”
“Colin knows how to two-step,” Bill Will said. “Mia, you going, too? Save me a dance, okay?” Then he clapped Colin on the back, tipped his hat to Mia and hurried off down the sidewalk.
“Were you flirting with him?” Colin demanded. Jeez, was there a woman anywhere on the planet who could be trusted?
“So what if I was?” she shot back. “You’ve been ignoring me ever since I got here.”
Mia stepped away, taking a sudden interest in the novelty hats displayed in the shop two doors down.
“I don’t know how many times and how many ways to say this, but Mia and I are sharing an inheritance and we’re trying to find it.”
“So go find it already,” Lorelei said, shooing him away with a flick of her hand. “Then maybe we can finally do something and I won’t die of boredom.”
“Well, I guess if you get too bored, you can always pick up another one of my friends,” he said, and turned his back on her. “Come on, Mia, let’s get over to the bookstore.”
“Yeah, you’re gonna find buried treasure in a bookstore,” Lorelei sneered.
Mia was nice enough not to comment on the latest Lorelei incident as they walked away, but he could imagine what she was thinking. It was the same thing he was thinking. What are you doing with her?
Pat York, the bookstore owner, came out from her little back office to greet them. She had a few more wrinkles these days, but other than that she looked the same as she always had, tall with that auburn hair, wearing a black skirt, turquoise blouse and a necklace made of blue-and-green stones. She had to be over sixty now, but she still looked classy.
She seemed especially delighted to see Mia, who had been a regular customer back when she lived in town. “How have you been?” she wanted to know. “Do you like it on the East Coast?”
Of course she did. Otherwise she would’ve come home.
“I do. It’s a little faster paced than here.”
“I can imagine. Beth tells me you’ve been very successful.”
Unlike him. He prayed Pat wouldn’t ask him how his life was going.
“I must say I do love the rich history the east has, but I think we have the best of all worlds right here in our little mountain town,” Pat said.
“Yes, you do,” Mia agreed.
“And Colin, it’s nice to see you back in town.”
Now she was going to ask him how he was doing. Ask me in a couple of years. Maybe by then I’ll have my shit together.
“You still like living in Seattle?” Pat asked.
He hadn’t found his inheritance yet, but he had discovered one thing. He didn’t belong in Seattle. He belonged here with the people he cared about. “I think I’m ready for a change.” More than ready.
“Change is good,” Pat said. “And at your age, life is still in flux.”
Was that what you called it? Anyway, that sounded better than not knowing what the heck you were doing.
Chitchat finished, Pat got down to business. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“I think so,” Colin said. “Do you have anything for us from my grandma?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” She went behind the checkout counter, which was loaded with all manner of merchandise like pens and bookmarks, and pulled out—surprise, surprise—a long pink envelope and gave it to Colin. “You might want to open that here,” she suggested as he turned to leave.
“So our hunt is in here somewhere?” Mia asked.
Pat leaned her elbows on the checkout counter and smiled.
Colin opened the envelope and read, “‘Talk to Pat.’”
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: May 6, 2006
Well, dear, I’m settling into the new house just fine. I should have enough money left from the sale of the orchard to pay for Gerald’s care and keep this little place. Bethie would rather I moved in with her, but I want to hang on to my independence as long as possible. She already does so much for me. She doesn’t need me underfoot day and night on top of that. I’m sure I wore her and Dylan to the bone moving me out of the old place.
It was hard to lose the orchard and our old house. We made so many happy memories there. But you can take your memories with you wherever you go, and the family will make new ones here. I’m attaching some pictures of my new digs. Don’t you love how fast and easy it is to share pictures by email? I’m so glad you kept after me to do this.
I know it broke Colin’s heart to see the orchard go, but what else could I do? I’d gone through our savings. Anyway, a very nice couple has bought the place, and seeing how excited they are takes away some of the sting of losing it. We haven’t told Gerald. There’s no point, since he’s not getting any better and will probably remain where he is. If I told him, it would only upset him. If he does get well enough to come home, I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I’m glad to hear Joey’s operation was a success. The pacemaker should solve his problems.
That’s it for now. I have more boxes to unpack and I need to get over to the nursing home to see Gerald.
Love,
Justine
Chapter Fifteen
Talk to Pat. That was simple enough. “It looks like you’re our next clue,” Colin said.
“It so happens that I am. I knew your grandmother for years. She was quite the woman.”
Yeah, she was. And now she was gone. She’d never see him get married, never meet his kids, never see him...go somewhere in life. That made him feel doubly sad.
“And she thought you were quite the special young man. She bragged about you, about what a help you were to your grandfather with the orchard, how you pitched right in when the men were putting the addition on your church.”
A lot of the teen boys had helped. That was nothing special. And all this talk about his grandmother was making his chest hurt. “No offense, Mrs. York, but could you just give us our next clue?”
“No offense taken. I’m sorry, though. I can’t. Your grandmother warned me you wouldn’t have the patience to stand around and talk. However, I’m afraid that’s what you’re going to have to do.”
Colin frowned, feeling both chastised and annoyed. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Mia biting back a smile. H
e sighed. “Okay, what else are you supposed to tell us?”
“A little more about your grandmother. How much do you know of her life after your grandfather died?”
What was there to know? She hung out with the church ladies, baked apple pies and asked about his love life every time she saw him. He shrugged.
“Funny how easy it is to think of old people as not really having a life. Their job is to exist on the periphery of ours, to cheer us on and admire our exploits. But your grandmother wasn’t the kind of woman to sit on the sidelines, even after she reached an age when people might have thought that was all she was good for. Your grandmother had her share of losses, as we all do if we live long enough, but she never stopped living life to the fullest. Two shop owners here in town are still in business because she lent them money when they were struggling. And she was writing a cookbook with Beth. Did you know that?”
“No,” Mia said. “I wonder why Aunt Beth hasn’t told me.”
“Well, she’s had other things on her mind lately,” Pat said. “Anyway, they were going to self-publish it and sell it here in the store. I do hope Beth completes it.”
“I do, too,” Mia said.
So did Colin. All those delicious things Gram made—it would be great to have them in writing so they didn’t get lost. More than that, though, it would be like keeping part of her alive and with them.
“And she had a secret,” Pat continued.
“What kind of secret?” Mia asked.
“I can’t tell you yet. But I can tell you that you’ll get closer to learning it if you look in the nonfiction section,” Pat said, pointing to a far corner of the store.
“So our clue’s in one of those books?” Colin asked.
“Yes, it is,” said Pat.
“That’s a lot of books.”
“Yes, it is. Don’t make a mess while you’re looking.”
“If you want to take off, I can look and then call you when I find something,” Mia offered. “I know this is complicating things for you.”
Things being Lorelei. He wondered what she was doing now. And who she was doing it with.
Home on Apple Blossom Road (Life in Icicle Falls) Page 22
