“Yes, Mom. People like them. So how’s everything going at your table?”
SuAnn had quite a spread at her table with pound cakes, cupcakes and even German chocolate cake. She had been on a baking frenzy trying to get ready for the festival, and she was selling a lot from what Julie could tell from across the square.
“We can’t keep up with the pace! Darcy is sitting at the table now, and I think we’re almost out of peach pound cake. You know that’s everybody’s favorite.”
“Sounds like you better get back in the store and start baking.”
“Lord no! I was up until all kinds of ungodly hours last night baking. I’m done! If they want more, they can come to the store and buy it on Monday.”
“Mom, I want you to meet Charlotte McLemore.”
SuAnn smiled. “It’s truly an honor to meet you, Charlotte. I just love your books! The Magnolia Mystery series kept me up reading so much one night that I overslept the next morning. Good thing I own the place!” She slapped the table and laughed at her own joke.
“Well, thank you very much. It’s always so nice to meet my readers,” Charlotte said.
“And I heard my daughter here stuck her foot in her mouth before she knew who you were?” SuAnn looked at Julie and rolled her eyes.
“She just told the truth. Not everybody is going to like my books, just like I’m sure not everybody likes your baked goods.”
SuAnn stared at her. “Honey, I haven’t found anybody who hasn’t liked my cakes.”
“Down, mother.” Julie said.
“I didn’t mean to offend,” Charlotte said. She cut her eyes at Julie and smiled slyly. Julie liked Charlotte more and more the longer she knew her.
As SuAnn wandered off to probably harass somebody else, she looked over at Charlotte. “Sorry about her. We try to keep her corralled as much as possible, but she’s got a sharp tongue and no filter between her brain and mouth.”
“My mother is the same way. I love her to death, but I try not to take her out in public.”
Julie laughed. “And again, I hope you didn’t take any offense to what I said about your book. It was truly exhaustion speaking. Now that I don’t have to worry about my daughter’s wedding situation, I’m going to sit down and read that book every night until I finish it.”
Charlotte squeezed her arm. “Don’t do that. Use your life for stuff you enjoy, not for stuff you dread. Not everybody likes to read, and not everybody likes to read my books.”
“For somebody who has such a huge fan base, you sure do seem to take everything in stride.”
Charlotte shrugged her shoulders. “ You kind of have to when you’ve been through what I’ve been through.”
Julie cocked her head. “What you’ve been through?”
“You don’t know? I am a two-time cancer survivor. The last time was just a couple of years ago right before I wrote that book that you have been trying to read.”
Julie had had no idea.”Really? That’s amazing that you’re such a survivor.” She really did admire Charlotte even more now. Strong southern women were the people she most admired in the world, and she was thankful to be surrounded by them most of the time.
A reader walked up to the table and Charlotte stopped to take a picture with her and sign a book. She then turned back to Julie. “I learned during that time that I can’t let little things get to me. I just have to live my life in the best, biggest way that I know how.”
“That’s very true. After all, we only get one life!”
“Some of us don’t believe that,” Janine said, walking up to the table.
“What are you talking about, sis?”
“Well, some people believe that we reincarnate over and over and live many lives. And the things that we go through here on earth might be because of things we didn’t learn in a past life.”
Julie rolled her eyes. “Charlotte, this is my sister, Janine. She’s a little woo-woo but we love her anyway.”
Janine slapped her on the shoulder. “Nice to meet you, Charlotte. I’ve heard wonderful things about your books.”
“Thank you.”
“I just came by to let you know that William is going to be in the boat parade later.”
“Oh yeah? Like the one we did at Christmas?”
“Very similar, I think. We will all gather along the marsh and the docks, and different boats will float by and throw candy and generally have a good time while we watch them pass.”
“That sounds fun. I grew up on boats, so I’d like to be a part of that if you all walk over there,” Charlotte said with a smile.
“Of course! We’ll head over as soon as we’re finished here.”
As Janine walked off, Julie looked around the square. She saw Dixie walking hand-in-hand with Harry, looking at different tables and picking up crafts people were selling. She saw Colleen and Tucker giggling under the tree like a couple of madly in love school children. Every so often, Tucker would feed Colleen a bite of ice cream and then they would laugh all over again.
And of course, she saw Meg and Christian with Vivi over by the face painting station. Vivi was getting a butterfly painted on her cheek, although she was squirming so much that there was no telling what it was going to look like when the poor volunteer was finished doing it.
And then there was Emma who was sitting at a table, handing out flyers and other information about the lighthouse. She seemed a little down today, but she was still doing her job and would occasionally smile and wave from across the way.
Julie truly loved her community. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for the people who had supported her and made her a part of them.
