by Annie Rains
“Your grandfather isn’t here anymore. No one is,” his uncle said from behind him. “After you’re gone, Vi will be all alone up here again. She may have a property manager to help, but that woman is a stranger. She’s certainly not family, and that’s what Vi needs more than anything. She needs to have her family close by. No one should grow old alone.”
His uncle raised valid points. “She’s a nice woman.”
“Uh-huh. I think I see what’s going on. The property manager is a beautiful woman, but please don’t tell me you’re sleeping with her.”
“What? No.” Just kissing her. But Jake wasn’t going to allude to that. He was a little peeved that his uncle would even suggest it. “Trisha would never hurt Vi, Uncle Tim. I came down here to make sure my grandmother was okay, and she is.”
“Wrong. You came down here to convince her that it’s time to sell and move. She’s in her late seventies, and she’s had a stroke. If and when she has another, she needs to be with family. You’re young, Jake. Maybe you don’t understand how prudent this is. She’s your grandmother, yes, but she’s my mother. I want what’s best for her even more so than you.”
Jake stared out on the water. Then he saw Trisha descending her steps to head over and meet him for dinner. “We can talk about this later, Uncle Tim. I have plans tonight.”
Tim stood and noticed Trisha approaching as well. “Just be sure that you keep your eye on the bigger plan. ’Night, Jake.” He turned and headed down the steps, passing Trisha on the way up. He paused and had a polite exchange with her that Jake knew was insincere.
“Everything okay?” Trisha asked when she reached the deck.
Jake rubbed a hand across the back of his neck and released a heavy sigh. “Tim still thinks Vi should sell. And apparently he’s already spoken to my parents to make sure they think the same.”
Trisha’s forehead wrinkled with worry. “Well, you’re family too.”
“Not that generation,” Jake said. “Vi’s generation has always run the family’s rental properties. She’s the last of her generation. After that, my parents, aunts, and uncles will take over. My generation won’t have anything to do with these cottages if they sell.”
He reached for her. “You’re safe here, okay? I’m going to show my family what I see.”
“And what is that?” she asked.
“Promise.” He wasn’t talking about the cottages as much as he was referring to her right now. “We’ll convince them.”
“We?”
Jake narrowed his eyes. “I thought we were in this together. We’re painting the cottages and nailing boards. Kissing in between.”
She lowered her gaze shyly for a moment. “I’m not part of your family. It’s not my fight.”
“We’re both fighting for Vi’s best interest. And for what’s ours. This is yours and Petey’s home now, and I’m not going to let anything change that.”
* * *
After dinner, Jake and Trisha went for a walk along the beach. The moon was out and shining brightly on their path.
“I’ve forgotten how beautiful this place is.”
Trisha glanced over. She was barefoot, and there was something strangely attractive about the nakedness of her feet. Her toenails were painted a light pink that shimmered against her skin. “People always appreciate things more after they’ve been away awhile. It’s human nature.”
Jake chuckled. “I guess that’s true.”
Trisha stopped walking and stared down at her feet. Then she dipped to pick up a penny on tails.
“That’s bad luck, you know,” he said.
She shook her head. “How can finding money ever be unlucky?” She handed it to him. “Here. A penny for your thoughts.”
Jake held out an open palm, and she placed it at the center. “You sure you want to know what I’m thinking right now?”
She tilted her head. “Pretty sure.”
Jake’s heart swelled as he continued to look at her. “Okay. I think you’re beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” Or ever known.
Something shifted in her gaze. “Wow…That’s the best money I’ve ever spent.”
“Just telling you the truth as I see it.” And Jake planned on always telling Trisha the truth, no matter what. He stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her and dipping toward her lips for a kiss that seemed to circumvent time. Then they continued walking until they reached their cottages. They enjoyed another long, lingering kiss and said good night.
When Jake got inside, he retreated to his bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to come.
There were too many thoughts circulating in his brain. What was he still doing here if he wasn’t convincing Vi to sell? Maybe he could appease both sides of his family by staying and helping Vi. At least for a little while. Jake never had a reason to stay for any length of time after he’d left town.
But maybe he had two good reasons now. Vi and Trisha.
Chapter Seventeen
On Thursday evening, Jake arrived home after hanging out with a couple of lawyer friends he knew in Magnolia Falls. It’d been good to see them and toss around legal talk.
The cases around here weren’t as high profile as the ones he’d taken in DC. His buddies talked about disputes over wills and estates, marital and family disputes, and even a case about a neighbor feeding the foxes in the woods, which resulted in another neighbor’s pet going to the vet for a rabies check.
It was a different world here. Slower. Easier somehow. Harder in other ways.
By the time he’d left, they’d offered Jake a position. He wasn’t looking for a job, but he also hadn’t said no. Some part of him had actually wanted to say yes because that would give him a reason to stay.
Was he looking for a reason?
Before going back to Peony Cottage, he drove over to The Village and turned onto Christmas Lane. The Village was a quaint neighborhood in Somerset Lake. The houses varied in size but not in charm.
Jake drove slowly down the all-too-familiar road that once led him to his high school sweetheart’s home.
He realized he was holding his breath as he approached the old green house where Rachel used to wait for him on the porch. She wasn’t there anymore. Only the ghost of her memory lingered against the porch railings in Jake’s imagination.
He rubbed his chest for a moment and then pulled into the driveway of the home where Rachel’s mom still lived. Jake stepped out of the truck and headed up the drive to the porch. Rachel had been gone for twelve years. If she had lived, would they still be together? Would she have become a teacher like she’d wanted to?
He rang the doorbell and waited. After a moment, the front door opened, and Mrs. Carroway stepped out. “Jake!” She opened her arms to greet him as if he were her family.
Jake gave her a tight hug, feeling his heart squeeze just as tight.
“Come in, come in,” she said as she pulled away from the embrace and turned back inside the house. “How are you? Would you like some coffee? Tea?”
“I’d love a tea,” he told her, passing framed pictures of Rachel at various ages in her life. They all stopped the spring of her eighteenth year.
“Good. I’ll have a tea as well.” Rose led him into the kitchen, and he sat down at one of the barstools at the counter. There was a certain kind of pain that came with being here. It made him want to walk right back out of the house and avoid it. There were too many memories, some bitter, some sweet.
He felt the same way about Vi’s house. About the whole town really. Or he had felt that way until recently.
“Here you go.” Rose pushed a mug across the counter toward him. “These kettles heat water in one minute. Can you believe that? They think of everything to save time, but what for?”
Jake wrapped his fingers around the mug. “It’s a fast world beyond Somerset Lake.”
Rose sat on a stool on the other side of the counter. “So I hear. Are you still in DC?”
Jake drank his t
ea. “I’m in the process of moving.”
“Here?” Rose’s eyes widened as something hopeful crossed her expression.
“I’m just in town to visit Vi,” Jake said, feeling a bit guilty. “My family is worried about her.”
“Well, I imagine so. A stroke would put a lot of people down, but your grandmother is one tough cookie.” Rose laughed. “I’ve gone to visit her several times. She ended up helping me more than I helped her though. She told me you were dating someone. A lawyer, right?”
“Yes, but we broke up,” he said.
“Oh.” Rose’s expression fell. “That’s too bad. I was hoping you’d find someone nice to heal that heart of yours.”
She was talking about the heartbreak of losing her daughter, of course. Jake hadn’t thought his heart would ever heal, but his feelings for Trisha were making him second-guess that opinion.
The steam fogged Rose’s glasses as she lifted her mug to her lips and paused. “Maybe you’ll find a nice woman here in Somerset Lake,” she said hopefully. “Someone who’ll make you consider moving home.”
If Rose had said that last month, he’d have argued with her. Today, he just smiled because that wasn’t such an inconceivable notion. “So what can I help you with while I’m here?” he asked.
Rose gave him a sheepish look. “Well, I was hoping you would ask. I’m thinking about getting a home security system, but I don’t even know where to start. And I know you are the jack-of-all-trades. Or the Jake-of-all-trades.” She grinned. It wasn’t the first time she’d made that joke, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. “Do you have any ideas?”
“Why are you looking for a security system? Have you had problems?”
Rose sipped her tea and sighed softly. “Not exactly. But I watch a lot of shows about unsolved crimes, and I get so paranoid staying here all alone.”
“Why don’t you just stop watching the shows?” Jake suggested.
Rose laughed quietly. “That would probably help, hmm? I love the little jolt of adrenaline I get from watching them though. It’s hard to think about anything else when you’re looking at something so intense.” Something sad crossed her eyes.
Jake understood exactly what she was trying not to think of. “For home security, you probably want something basic, just to calm your fears at night.”
Rose cupped her hands around her mug as if it were winter and she was soaking in the heat. “That sounds good.”
Jake outlined a security system that he’d installed in his last home. When he’d done so, he’d read a how-to guide on home security, of course. “It’s fairly simple. You set the alarm when you’re in the house, probably just at nighttime. If someone breaks in, the cops are immediately alerted and they’ll show up at your door.”
Rose was nodding a lot but saying little.
“What do you think?” Jake finally asked, taking another sip of tea.
“I think that’s exactly what I need. Then I can continue watching my shows at night and sleep safely. Should I get a guard dog too? It does get a little lonely around here.”
Jake chewed on his thoughts for a moment. “A dog’s bark will definitely make a burglar think twice.”
Rose sipped her tea. “Maybe I’ll look into that too. I’ve always liked poodles. They make Labs mixed with poodles now. Did you know that? Designer dogs, they call them.”
Jake nodded as he listened. He loved visiting with Mrs. Carroway. She would’ve made a great mother-in-law. They finished their drinks and talked a little more. Then an hour after walking inside the house, Jake headed toward the front door. “I’ll get the supplies, and I’ll be back before I leave town to install the system for you. It’ll just take a couple hours to set up, and you’ll be good to go.”
Rose gave him another hug. “You know I don’t expect you to do that for me, but I’ll never turn down a visit from you. It’s always so good to catch up, Jake. It’s good to have you home.”
“It’s good to be home,” Jake said without thinking. He stepped out onto the porch, and his heart squeezed as he passed by the porch railing where Rachel’s memory lingered, her soft brown hair blowing in the ever-present breeze in Somerset Lake.
Rachel’s ghost was part of what had kept him away all these years, never visiting for more than a week at a time. Maybe time did heal a broken heart after all. Maybe he was finally ready to let go and move on. Maybe, just maybe, he was finally ready to come home for good.
* * *
Trisha had been at Tess’s bookstore for half an hour already, and no one had even mentioned the selection for tonight’s book club yet.
Trisha had stayed up late last night reading so she’d be prepared. Instead, the ladies, five in total, were having lemonade and chocolate fudge that reminded Trisha of Dawanda’s Fudge Shop back home in Sweetwater Springs. They were laughing and telling stories about their week and their lives.
Trisha was enjoying herself for the most part, except for the fact that she hadn’t shared anything about herself just yet. She was just listening like a fly on the wall. Listening and learning about her new friends.
Tess, the bookstore owner. A widow by age twenty-two.
Lucy, a midwife who lived in The Village. She seemed to long for a family of her own but was, in her words, so single that she only shaved her legs once a month.
Moira, a tough 911 operator. The kind of tough that happened when life had been less than kind. She seemed to have thick skin, but Trisha suspected there was a huge heart below the surface.
Then there was larger-than-life Della Rose, with twin boys who were keeping Petey happy in the kids’ corner tonight.
“The boys don’t know it yet, but”—Della Rose lowered her voice, which cracked a little bit—“I’ve filed for divorce.”
The women’s chatter and laughter ceased.
“What? Why?” Tess set her glass of lemonade down beside her. “I thought you and Jerome were solid.”
Della Rose’s eyes grew shiny. “I did too. But he’s been”—she turned to make sure her boys weren’t listening—“he’s been seeing someone else.”
The women gasped. Trisha didn’t. A traitorous husband living a lie was no surprise to her. What was more surprising was how intimate this group of women were, sharing their secrets so openly. No one else knew about Della Rose’s divorce or husband’s affair yet. But Della trusted these ladies. She trusted Trisha without even knowing her yet.
How had Trisha been invited into this small group tonight? She hadn’t grown up with these women. She hadn’t shared life experiences with them.
“Do you know who the other woman is?” Lucy asked.
Della Rose looked at her. There was a definite exchange of silent information in the look.
Lucy’s mouth rounded. “Oh. I know who she is?”
“I do believe she’s one of your midwifing patients,” Della Rose said.
“She’s pregnant?” Tess asked in a loud voice.
“Shh.” Della Rose glanced back at her boys. “Jerome isn’t sure that the baby is his.”
“Just sure that it could be.” Moira shook her head, her silky black hair whisking over the surface of her shoulders. “This is why I’m happily and preferably single. I get plenty enough romance from these books we read.”
The conversation continued. Once Della Rose was exhausted from talking about her situation, it moved to Lucy.
“The brother of one of my patients asked me out this week,” Lucy said.
“Did you say yes?” Tess wanted to know.
Lucy shrugged. “I said maybe. But I’m leaning more toward no.”
“Cute?” Moira asked.
Lucy wobbled her head from side to side. “That’s subjective, but I think he’s average looking.”
“Does he have a job?” Della asked. “Because that’s important too.”
Lucy nodded. “Yes, he’s employed.”
“How does he treat his mother?” Tess asked. “Also important.”
Lucy laughed at thi
s question. “I don’t know. But he treats his sister well.”
“That’s a good sign.” Tess reached for her glass of lemonade and picked it up. Then she looked around at the group of women, her gaze holding Trisha’s for a moment, seemingly feeling Trisha out on if she wanted to say anything. When Trisha stayed quiet, Tess said, “Okay, it’s time for the book club toast.”
Everyone raised their glasses as if this was a normal thing.
Trisha was the last to pick up her glass. She leaned in to hold it up with the others.
“What are we toasting to tonight?” Moira asked.
“Della Rose was the only one of us who wasn’t single. And now she’s joined the club,” Lucy said. “We can officially name this gathering the Single Women’s Book Club.”
Everyone laughed.
“I still believe in happy ever afters,” Tess objected.
“But for some, being single is considered living happily,” Moira pointed out.
“True. How about we toast to being independent women?” Lucy suggested.
“Smart, independent women,” Della Rose added.
“Beautiful, kind, smart, independent women who don’t mess with another woman’s husband,” Moira amended.
“Amen to that!” Della Rose said.
“Anything you want to add before we tap glasses?” Tess asked Trisha.
Trisha felt put on the spot. She thought for a moment. “Strong,” she said, which elicited a couple more cheers.
“Yes, indeed.” Tess nodded approvingly. “We are strong, independent, smart, beautiful, book-loving women.”
They all tapped glasses and drank the bittersweet lemonade. Afterward, they leaned back in their respective chairs and couch.
“As you can see, this is half support group, half book club,” Tess finally explained to Trisha. “That’s one of the reasons I invited you. You seem like you could use a good support group.”
All eyes were on Trisha, the women waiting expectantly for her to spill her guts the way the others had. What if she did tell these women her story? She certainly risked their judgment or the judgment of others when one of them inevitably told someone else. She also risked the gossip and the potential bullying of Petey.
