by Nicole Ellis
She pasted on a fake smile. “Great! Wedding season is starting up, and we’re almost completely booked out through the rest of the summer.” She didn’t want to get into everything going on at the Lodge. “So, Tania said you might be able to give me a tour? I’d love to see the place.”
“Of course. I’d love to show you around. Let’s start with the Great Room.” Zoe followed Aidan into the large common space off the lobby, with doors leading out to the porch and magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean. He then showed her the rest of the interior, including a few guest rooms, followed by a quick tour of the grounds.
When they were standing on the porch in front of the lobby entrance, Zoe said, “Thank you so much. I really appreciate the tour and seeing everything you’ve accomplished here. Your success is well-earned.”
He beamed. “Thank you.” He nodded his chin at the door. “Maura will be here soon. I know she’d love to see you too. Did you want to join us for a cup of coffee?”
She shook her head. “I wish I could, but I need to leave for the party. I’m heading back to Willa Bay tomorrow morning, but next time I’m in Candle Beach, I’d love to hang out with you and Maura again.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He reached out to hug her. “Have fun at the party, and a safe trip home.”
“Thank you, I will.” She took one last look at the beautiful hotel, feeling slightly jealous of Aidan. “Have a nice night.”
“See you later.” He turned and walked into the lobby.
Zoe got back into her car and drove down the road to the Sorensen Farm. The party didn’t officially start for another fifteen minutes, but the parking lot was already packed. Pops had a lot of friends. She parked at the end of a row, then walked into the freshly painted white barn.
Inside, hardwood floors shone with a recent waxing. Round tables that each seated eight had been set up around the edges, with a dance floor in the middle. Luke and Charlotte stood near a podium at the back of the barn talking to a woman with red hair. Zoe made her way to them through the crowd of people standing around in groups.
Charlotte grabbed her hand. “Maggie, this is Zoe. She’s Luke’s sister, and is an event planner up in Willa Bay.”
Maggie smiled warmly at Zoe and held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Zoe. Luke talks about you often.”
“Good things, I hope?” Zoe eyed her brother.
“Of course.” He winked at Zoe. “We were just talking to Maggie about the order of things tonight. Pops is coming in about thirty minutes with one of his buddies. He thinks he’s attending a wedding as his friend’s plus-one.”
Zoe rubbed her hands together with glee. “Ooh, I like it.”
“I know!” Charlotte crowed. “I can’t wait to see his face.”
“As soon as Pops arrives, Maggie will come to the podium and announce that the party is in his honor.” Luke wrapped his arm around Charlotte, who was still grinning from ear to ear.
“Okay.” Zoe nodded. “Is there anything I need to do?”
“Not at first, but we’ll need you to give a toast.” Luke stopped and peered at her. “Is that a problem? I know how much you hated public speaking in school.”
“Nope, I’m fine.” Zoe laughed. “I got over that fear pretty quickly working in the event business.”
“Well, it seems like we’ve got a great plan for the evening,” Maggie said. “I think your grandfather is going to have the time of his life.” She nodded at someone in the far corner. “I’ve got to take care of something, but be sure to flag me down if you need me. I’ll be here all night.” She smiled at Zoe. “It was so great meeting you.”
“You too,” Zoe said. When Maggie was out of earshot, Zoe asked Luke, “Does she attend all of the events here?” As the owner, Maggie would have other responsibilities too, and Zoe imagined it would be exhausting to attend every event at the farm.
“No, she wanted to be here for this one because we’re friends of hers,” Luke said. “Plus, she lives in that farmhouse across the way, so it’s not a long commute home. She’s got an almost one-year-old baby girl and a nine-year-old boy, plus she owns a restaurant in town.”
Zoe’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious? How can one person do all that?” With the hours she herself worked, she was lucky to see her friends monthly outside of the Lodge. Having a family and a whole other business was out of the question.
Charlotte whispered, “I think she’s the Energizer Bunny in disguise.”
“No kidding,” Zoe said.
The crowd hushed and turned in the direction of the door.
“Ned called and said they were about five minutes out,” someone shouted. “Everyone, get ready!”
They all lined up near the door, waiting for Pops to arrive. Any latecomers were led around the back of the barn to enter from the rear door so as not to spoil the surprise. Zoe, Luke, and Charlotte made their way to the front of the crowd.
When Pops walked in, the barn erupted into cheers of Surprise! Pops looked around in confusion.
Maggie tapped on the microphone to get everyone’s attention. “Our guest of honor has arrived. Luke, Zoe, do you want to show your grandfather to his table?”
“This is for me?” Pops asked Luke, who’d stealthily moved to his side. “I thought I was going to a wedding.”
Luke nodded. “Yep. It’s all for you. Happy birthday, Pops.” He clapped Pops on the back. “And look who came all the way out here to celebrate with you.” He turned Pops around until he was facing Zoe.
Pops’s eyes were bright with tears. “Zoe.” He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tighter than usual and with more strength than she’d expect for an octogenarian.
His touch made her tear up as well. “Oh, Pops. I missed you so much.” She was blubbering now, so happy to see him. She may have risked her job by coming out here for the party, but being here with her grandfather was absolutely worth it.
22
Meg
After a busy weekend at the Lodge’s restaurant, Meg was happy to sleep in on Monday morning. She took a leisurely shower, then went grocery shopping and did laundry at her parents’ house. Living alone in the studio apartment over their garage had its benefits – the rent was cheap, and having a small living space made housekeeping easy. She’d worried about living so close to her parents after being out on her own for so long, but with their opposite work schedules, she actually found herself wishing she had more time to spend with them.
Libby had invited her over for dinner and asked her to be there around five o’clock. Meg wasn’t sure what to bring, so she set aside a loaf of fresh French bread, cut up some raw vegetables, and made a smoked salmon spread. She placed a bottle of wine in her tote bag for good measure. Libby hadn’t been in the greatest mood lately, and wine might calm her down – or, at the very least, make Meg’s evening better.
Libby and her husband, Gabe, lived in an old Cape Cod-style home that they’d renovated a few years ago to increase the square footage and accommodate their growing family. It was only a few blocks from where they’d grown up, in the same type of neighborhood filled with houses from the early 1900s.
As Meg approached the cement sidewalk to their front door, the sounds of screaming children emanated from the house. She rang the doorbell and waited on the postage stamp-sized front porch. From within the house, footsteps thundered toward her. The door burst open, and a little girl flung herself into Meg’s arms, causing Meg to almost drop her tote bag.
“Hey, Kaya.” Meg hugged her niece tightly and kissed her cheek, then looked past her. Where was Libby? “Does Mommy usually let you answer the door by yourself?”
Kaya shrugged. “No, but I knew you were coming to dinner.” She tugged on Meg’s hand. “C’mon.”
“Who’s at the door? Kaya? You didn’t answer that did you?” Libby called out from the back of the house.
Kaya eyed Meg. “Oops.”
“It’s me,” Meg shouted in the direction of Libby’s voice. She and Kaya walked bac
k to the kitchen where Libby was frantically loading the dishwasher. The kitchen was filled with the aroma of roasting meat and potatoes.
Libby fixed her eyes on her youngest daughter. “You know better than to answer the door without a grownup around.”
Kaya stared at the floor. “But I knew it was Auntie Meg.”
“You’re still not allowed to answer the door unless Mommy has told you it’s okay.” Libby sighed. “Please go play with your brothers and sister now. And tell them dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes.”
Kaya looked up at her mother, relieved to be out of trouble. “Okay, Mommy.” She skipped away.
“Sorry,” Meg said. She hadn’t meant to get Kaya in trouble.
“It’s not your fault,” Libby grumbled. “She just doesn’t listen.”
Meg sat down at a barstool and watched as Libby stuck a detergent pod in the dishwasher and slammed it shut.
“Is there anything I can do?” Meg asked. She popped up from her chair. “Oh, I almost forgot. I brought some veggies and dip.” She took everything from her bag and set them on the counter.
“Thanks,” Libby said. “I already had veggies though.” She put the dip on the kitchen table and moved everything else aside.
“Oh. Okay.” Meg wasn’t sure what she’d done to get on her sister’s bad side or why she’d been invited for dinner in the first place. Libby hadn’t exactly been friendly since Meg had moved back to Willa Bay.
Libby took an oval roasting pan out of the oven and lifted the lid, revealing a huge pot roast surrounded by baby carrots, potatoes, and onions in a rich broth. She added a bowl of button mushrooms into the mix, then replaced the lid and shoved the whole thing back into the oven.
“That smells wonderful,” Meg said.
“I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what you cook at the restaurant, but it suits us.” Libby wiped the counter down, although Meg couldn’t see any spills or crumbs on it.
“Pot roast is one of my favorite foods.” Meg opened the bottle of wine and poured a glass, offering it to Libby.
Libby considered it for a moment, but declined. Meg shrugged and kept the glass for herself. She watched as Libby pulled out a cutting board and bread knife, then sliced off a few pieces of the loaf Meg had brought, setting it on the kitchen table with the dip. While she worked, loud thumps from above shook the kitchen like there was a herd of elephants doing jumping jacks upstairs.
“Uh, is everything all right up there?” Meg asked.
Libby wiped the crumbs off the knife and stuck it back in its slot in the wooden block. Calmly, she walked into the hallway and shouted up the stairs, “Kids, knock it off. No more jumping off the bunk beds!”
Meg joined her in the hall. “They’re jumping off the top bunk? Isn’t that dangerous?”
Libby shrugged. “Probably. But if they get hurt, they’ll learn. I’ve told them about a million times not to do it.”
“Mommy,” Libby’s nine-year-old daughter, Beth, ran into the kitchen. “Tommy keeps stealing my pencils, and I need them to do my homework.”
Libby sighed and opened a top drawer, withdrawing a handful of pencils. “Here. And try to go somewhere he’s not around.”
“He’s always around,” Beth whined. “He thinks that because he’s in kindergarten now he can help me with my homework.” She pouted. “He’s so obnoxious.”
“Okay, okay. I get it. Please tell him Mommy said he could play with his tablet.” Libby leaned against the counter.
“Fine.” Beth stalked out of the room.
Meg raised her eyebrows. “Is she always so dramatic?”
“Yep,” Libby said. “Nine going on nineteen. I’m not looking forward to her teenage years.” She filled her cup with coffee and stuck it in the microwave. When it beeped, she brought the cup to the table and sat across from Meg.
“I feel like I missed out on a lot of their childhood while I was living in Portland.” Meg spread some of the pink salmon dip onto a slice of bread.
“You did miss out on a lot,” Libby said tightly. She sipped her coffee and rubbed at a spot on the table with her index finger.
“What do you mean by that?” Meg tried to keep her tone level.
“Nothing.” Libby stood and brought the raw vegetables over, then grabbed plates and cups to set the table.
She never stopped moving. Meg had always thought of her sister as Wonder Woman, getting twice as much done in the same amount of time as anyone else. But she hadn’t considered how the stress of having so much to do affected Libby, let alone how she did it all.
“Are you doing okay?” Meg asked her older sister.
Libby flashed her a fake smile. “Of course. Everything’s great.”
Meg cocked her head to the side. “Are you sure?”
Libby’s cell phone rang, and she answered it. After a few words back and forth with the caller, her face fell, and she hung up the phone.
“Who was that?” Meg asked.
“Gabe.” Libby opened the refrigerator and pulled out the bottle of wine she’d stuck in there after Meg opened it. She filled a glass all the way to the top and came back to the kitchen table.
“Um …” Meg stared at her. “What did he say?”
Libby gulped her wine. “He’s not coming home for dinner tonight. He has to work late – again.” The timer on the oven pinged, and Libby got up to take the pot roast out. She set it on a round trivet on the kitchen table, then went back into the hallway. “Kids!” she shouted. “Dinner!”
The herd galloped down the stairs, almost trampling their mother in the doorway.
“What’s for dinner? I’m starved,” eleven-year-old William said as he sat down at the table next to Meg. “Oh, hey, Aunt Meg.”
“Hey, William.” She grinned. She could still picture him when he was Kaya’s age, prancing around on a stick pony. The years had gone by far too quickly.
The other kids sat down and waited while Libby carved the pot roast and dished up their food.
“I hate carrots!” Kaya complained.
“I don’t really care,” Libby said. “Eat them anyway.”
“Where’s Dad?” Beth asked. “He was supposed to help me with some science homework tonight.”
“At work.” Libby slapped a potato down on her own plate with enough force to rattle the glass dish against the table.
After Libby had finished getting her kids and herself food, Meg dug in. She took a bite of roast, savoring the herbs Libby had used to complement the beef. “This is really good.”
“Thanks.” Libby stabbed at her own meat with her fork and knife.
The kids ate rapidly, devouring their meals before Meg had eaten half of hers.
“I don’t want to eat the carrots,” Kaya said stubbornly. “I won’t eat carrots. They’re orange!”
Libby pushed back her chair and leaned her head in her hands. “Fine,” she said through a curtain of hair. “Don’t eat them.”
“Really?” Kaya asked in an incredulous tone.
The other kids were staring at their mother knowing something wasn’t right.
Meg stood. “Okay, kids, looks like you’re done with dinner, so you’re all excused now. Go play or whatever you need to do before bedtime.”
Her nieces and nephews looked at their mom, who didn’t say anything.
Meg smiled at them reassuringly. “Go ahead. Your mom is just tired.” In all honesty, that was probably part of Libby’s problem, but there was definitely something else going wrong.
All four kids clattered out of the kitchen and up the stairs, leaving Meg alone with her sister, who hadn’t moved.
Meg touched her shoulder. “Lib?”
Libby looked up, tears staining her cheeks. “I can’t do this anymore.”
Meg sat down next to her. “Do what?”
“Be everything to everyone.” Libby sniffled and looked into Meg’s eyes. “When Mom got sick, I was the one who took her to her chemotherapy appointments. Everyone else had to work,
and they figured since I’m a stay-at-home mom, I have plenty of extra time.” She sighed deeply. “Not that I minded being there for Mom.”
“Is that why you’re upset with me?” Meg leaned back in her chair searching Libby’s face. “Because I wasn’t here when Mom got sick?”
Libby nodded. “You were off in another state. You didn’t have to see Mom hurting after her surgery or see how sick the drugs made her. Dad and Samantha helped as much as they could, but they both have full-time jobs.”
Meg pressed her lips together. She hadn’t known how much their mom’s illness had affected Libby. Her sister was right though – Meg hadn’t been there. She’d considered leaving her job in Portland immediately after finding out about her mom’s illness, but she’d put off moving home for almost a year, at which point Debbie was almost done with chemo.
“I’m so sorry, Libby. I didn’t know.” She looked at the table, not meeting Libby’s gaze. With it just being her, it wouldn’t have been difficult to leave her life in Portland to move back to Willa Bay. “I probably should have come home earlier, but Mom kept telling me not to.”
“I know she did,” Libby said in monotone. “And you had a great job there that you’d worked hard for. You shouldn’t have had to leave it. It’s selfish of me to even say you should have. I just wish you could have been here to help with Mom. I can’t do everything.” Her face crumbled. “Gabe is never home, and I don’t know where he is. He says he’s at work, but I brought him dinner one night, and his car wasn’t at the office.”
“Oh, Libby.” Meg hugged her close. She’d never seen Libby so undone. “I’m sure there’s a good reason for him being gone so much. He loves you.” Her brother-in-law had always seemed like a good guy who cherished his family, not someone who’d cheat. “And you are an amazing wife and mother. I seriously don’t know how you do it all.”
Libby took a shaky breath and dried her tears with a napkin she grabbed from the table, looking at Meg with gratitude. “Thank you. I’m sure the thing with Gabe is nothing. I’m just overly emotional from being alone with the kids so much and dealing with the stress of Mom’s illness.”