“Thank you. One less explanation to make. Guys, I have to admit, I’m scared to death. Curious and excited, but mostly I’m scared.”
“He’s going to love you. I know it.” Emma patted her heart.
“I’d be happy if he just liked me.” Maggie’s shoulders were hunched. “So. That’s where we are.”
“So that’s why you and Brett broke up. It all makes sense now,” Liddy said. “We could never figure out why. After you moved to Seattle to be with him, we kept waiting for the call telling us you’d set the date for your wedding. But then you called and said you were moving to Philadelphia and you’d decided marrying him wasn’t what you wanted after all. We figured maybe he’d cheated on you.” Liddy glanced across the table at Emma, who nodded.
“Brett wanted to get married right away after we graduated from college. Like, as soon as I got to Seattle. But I just couldn’t decide what to do. That first year out there, he was so busy trying to make the team. Over the summer I’d obtained my teaching credentials so I could teach, so that kept me occupied. Then when the season ended, he wanted to plan a wedding for the spring.” Maggie shook her head slowly. “But I was so broken up about that baby, and he seemed to have put it behind him, and I couldn’t understand how he could do that. The more it haunted me the less it seemed to bother him. After a while, I felt I couldn’t love him the way I had, so I started looking for places to move to. I found a job in a private school outside of Philly that seemed to suit me, so I took it. Then I had to tell Brett, and that wasn’t a fun conversation. But in the end I felt it was the right thing to do. So I went my way, and he went his.”
“I don’t know what to say, except that’s one of the saddest stories I ever heard.” Liddy put an arm around Maggie and gave her a hug, then smacked her lightly. “That’s for not letting us be there for you.”
“Give her a pop for me, too,” Emma said.
“Not necessary. I get the point, and I apologize. But now you have the whole story.” Maggie sighed. “Could we talk about something else now? There’s nothing more any of us can say on the subject.”
“Except where you all go from here.” Liddy sipped her coffee. “Especially you and Brett.”
“Don’t go there, please.” Maggie turned to Emma. “Talk about something else. Anything else.”
“Okay. Well, Liddy has news.” Emma looked pointedly across the table and said, “Liddy, tell Maggie your news.”
“What news?”
Liddy brought the coffeepot over and topped off everyone’s mugs. “So I told you about Fred Lattimore thinking about selling the bookstore.”
Maggie nodded. “Right.”
“Well, he did.” Liddy’s grin lit the room. “He sold it to me.”
“Liddy, that’s wonderful!” Maggie got up and gave her friend a hug. “Congratulations.”
Still grinning, Liddy said, “The sale won’t be final for about six weeks, but I’m taking over as of Saturday. I’m so excited I can hardly stand it. I’ve always loved that little building. Did you know the lot goes back almost to the harbor? I’m thinking I could do something out there. Not sure what. Looks like there could have been a patio. Anyway, Carl’s going to show me how to do the books—no pun—and how to take inventory and invoice vendors and all the bookkeeping stuff. Payables. Receivables. I have an accountant, but Carl said I need to understand the business before I hand everything off to someone else.” Liddy rolled her eyes. “He suggested I set up a website and start offering internet sales—about which I know nothing. Do some sort of internet promotions. Ditto, I know nothing. Carl said he tried to get his father to get online, but he wasn’t interested, and Carl didn’t have the time to do it for him. So I’m going to have to find someone who knows how to design a website.”
Grace came into the kitchen dressed in sleep shorts and an old tee. She glared at her mother before acknowledging their company. “I thought you two were never going to speak to my mom again. I thought the plan was to do away with her in a very painful way and toss her remains off the side of a boat in Buzzards Bay. Feed her to the fishes. That was the plan, wasn’t it?”
“That was last night’s plan. This morning, your mother explained everything.” Emma added a little more sugar to her coffee. “We love her, and we’ve forgiven her. I suggest you give serious thought to doing the same.”
“Maybe,” Grace grumbled. “You guys drank all the coffee.”
“Yes, and I had to make it myself because your mother was otherwise occupied. I’m pretty sure you can handle making the second round.” Liddy pointed toward the coffee maker.
“So who needs a website?” Grace began to make another pot of coffee.
“I do.” The grin returned to Liddy’s face. “You are looking at the new owner of the Wyndham Beach Bookstore.”
“Get out.” Grace turned, wide eyed. “You bought the bookstore? Seriously?”
“Actually, I’m in the process of buying it, but I’m going to be running it as of Saturday.” Liddy explained the current owner’s situation.
“That’s so exciting. The bookstore is my favorite place in Wyndham Beach. I’m sorry to hear about Mr. Lattimore, though,” Grace said. “He’s such a sweet man. But now that you mention it, he was acting a little strange the last time I was there.”
“Strange in what way?” Maggie asked.
“He kept calling me Ellen, like he thought I was Gramma. And he told me that once upon a time, he’d ‘courted’ my sister.” Grace made a face.
“My aunt Helena was my mom’s sister,” Maggie told her. “She ran off with a woman who taught poetry at
