“So, you want to try to work things out? I get it. You two have a baby coming. You could be a family. If that’s what you want.”
“I don’t think that’s what I want. It is hard for me to believe that someone could change that much. There was a time that we were happy though, and as you said, we do have a baby coming.” Izzy sighed. “I told him that we could go out again and take things really slow. Mia is actually going to come with us next weekend, which will be a good test, to see how that goes.”
“Hmm. Well, I just want to see you happy, Izzy. And safe.” Will yawned and Izzy felt the pull to do the same. She glanced at the time and was surprised to see how late it was, almost midnight.
“I should take Penny out before we head to bed,” Mia said.
Will stood. “I’m going to call it a night. I’ll see you both in the morning. If you get up before me, coffee is in the cabinet by the stove.”
“Thanks again, Will.” Izzy watched them both leave the room and slowly got up and made her way to bed, too. They’d had such a fun night until Mia mentioning Rick had really put a damper on the mood.
While they were sitting around the kitchen table the next morning, sipping coffee and eating buttered toast, the generator clicked off as the power came back on. Will fired up his laptop, checked the outage map online and saw that most of Nantucket, including the downtown marina area where Izzy and Mia lived, was back up too.
Once they finished eating, Will drove them home. They thanked him again and planned to see him at trivia on Tuesday. It was still cold when they first walked in the condo. The temperature had fallen a few more degrees, but it didn’t take long to warm up, and as she always did whenever the power went out, Izzy really appreciated it when it came back on.
A text message came through from Rick. “Is your power back?
“Yes, just came on a little bit ago. You?”
“Same. Went to my buddy Mark’s last night.”
“We went to one of Mia’s friends that had a generator. Glad to be home.”
“Cool. Will be in touch end of the week.”
Izzy breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad he hadn’t asked which friend. Izzy didn’t want to lie, but she knew he wouldn’t have understood if she’d said Will. Before they broke up, Rick had accused her of having something going on with Will. And when she’d denied it, he’d still insisted that Will was interested. She’d told him then that he was being ridiculous, and that Will was just a good friend. Someone that had always been there for her. And when things got ugly with Rick, it was Will who got her away from him and brought her to Mia’s.
Izzy knew that Mia was hoping that something might happen between her and Will, but Izzy just couldn’t think of him that way. She wasn’t ready to date anyone, and she was confused by her feelings for Rick. Intellectually, she knew it was probably best to firmly end things. But they had so much history, and it was hard to just turn that off. She couldn’t walk away completely yet. Part of her would always wonder if maybe things could have worked out. If Rick really was able to change and be a better man. She owed it to both of them and to their baby to find out if it was possible.
Chapter 11
After the nor’easter on Friday, followed by more snow on Saturday and then again another inch on Sunday, by Monday, Kate was entirely sick of it and feeling grumpy and stir-crazy. She didn’t mind working from home, until she did. And every few weeks she was sick of her own company and needed to be around other people. That’s when she’d take her laptop and go work downtown at one of the coffee shops for a few hours. The white noise of people talking around her and coming and going gave her some much-needed energy.
So, on Monday, soon after Jack left for work, Kate decided she needed a coffee shop day. She went to the Corner Table and got herself a caramel-topped macchiato and a raspberry scone. She settled at a table in the middle of the room, plugged in her laptop to an outlet on the floor, and opened her manuscript. The coffee shop was busy and the hum of people all around her made her happy. The noise didn’t bother her at all. She was able to block it out and lose herself in her story.
She was so deep into it that she didn’t hear someone calling her name at first.
“Kate! I don’t want to disturb you, as you look like you are intent on your writing, but I just wanted to say hi.”
Kate looked up and smiled when she saw who it was—Angela, one of her favorite people. She hadn’t known her long, but they’d become close friends right away and Angela was married to another one of her favorite people, Philippe, who was the kind of famous mystery writer that Kate could only dream of being one day. The two of them were very much opposites, but it worked and Kate was happy for them both.
“Have a seat. I can take a break for a bit. I just had to get out of the house. How are you?”
Angela sat across from her and stirred a packet of sugar into her coffee.
“I’m good! I have a little time before I have to be to my next client. This week is quiet with people either cancelling or being out of town.”
“It seems like forever since I’ve seen you. How is Philippe?”
“He’s good. He’s actually been in LA for the past two weeks. He comes home tomorrow.”
“So, he totally missed all the snow. Were you nervous being there by yourself?” They lived in a huge home on the water. Beautiful, but Kate wasn’t sure she’d have wanted to be there by herself in a snowstorm.
“No, not really. The house is alarmed and has a generator. Ken was over on Friday and cooked up a storm, so I had delicious meals all weekend that I just had to heat up.” Ken was Philippe’s personal chef that catered all of their parties and dropped food off every other week.
“I love to cook, but I think I could get used to someone cooking for me too,” Kate said.
“Ken has spoiled us. Philippe isn’t a cook. I like to cook sometimes, but when he’s away, I usually end up working late and am too tired to do more than heat up a can of soup.”
“Well, when I get rich and famous, maybe I’ll borrow Ken,” Kate teased.
Angela smiled. “How are you feeling? You look great.”
“Thanks. Oh, I have some big news. Jack and I just found out on Friday that we’re having twins. A boy and a girl.”
“Wow, that’s awesome. How exciting!”
“Thank you. It was a bit of a shock.” Kate told her about the scare she’d had.
“So, I guess it’s a fairly common thing. I’m supposed to rest as much as possible. So, I probably won’t stay here too long. I just had to get out of the house.”
“I bet. I can understand that.”
“Enough about me. What’s new and exciting with you?”
“Not much. I’m looking forward to Philippe coming home. I don’t like it when he’s gone this long. He doesn’t have any travel planned for at least six months or so though, so that’s good. Work has been busy. I hired another girl last week.” Angela ran a cleaning business that was growing fast.
“That’s great. We really need a girls’ night. Maybe I’ll have an appetizer party soon. It’s been a while since we all got together. What do you think?”
“I’d love it. Just let me know when and what I can bring and I’ll be there.”
Kristen stopped by for breakfast Tuesday morning and Lisa introduced her to Marley, who was heading back up to her room. Lisa had called the knitting shop the day before to see if there was room in the next day’s class. There was, so Lisa and Marley were going to head into town a little before ten.
“I’m sorry I don’t have anything hot to offer you, honey.” Lisa told her about the Board of Health letter and the fine. Of all her children, Kristen was the pickiest eater and rarely ate much for breakfast, so she didn’t think she’d mind. But still, it annoyed her that she couldn’t offer hot food.
Kristen smiled. “Mom, please don’t worry about it. A piece of toast is all I usually have, so this is more than fine. I am sorry though. I know how much you like to cook for every
one.”
“Well, Rhett had some ideas that we’re going to look into. I’ll keep you posted on what we decide. How did you and Tyler survive the storm?”
“We actually had a good time. I stayed at his place and we just hunkered down and watched movies. He had his new wood stove going, and it was toasty warm. And we never lost power. I know we were lucky there.”
“I’m glad. Tyler’s good? His writing is going well?” Tyler was an alcoholic and when Kristen first started dating him, Lisa had been concerned, even though he was sober at the time. She worried about what would happen if he fell off the wagon. She knew that would be hard for both of them. And when his mother died unexpectedly, Tyler relapsed and hid it for a long time before getting help. But Lisa gave him credit. He went to a treatment center, got the help he needed, and with Kristen’s support, they were both doing well. They weren’t engaged yet, but Lisa had a feeling it was coming at some point.
“He’s doing great, and he just finished his latest project last week and sent it off to his editor, so now he’s relaxing and making notes for his next book.”
Lisa was glad to hear it. “Oh, I know what I wanted to talk to you about. We need to plan a baby shower for your sister. Any ideas on where and when?”
“Funny you should mention that. I just talked to her on my way over here, and she invited me over for one of her appetizer parties next week. It’s Thursday night. What if we turned it into a baby shower? She’d never suspect it—and it would be fun to surprise her.”
Lisa thought about that for a moment. She liked the idea. “Are you sure she won’t mind having her party crashed by her mother and her friends?”
Kristen laughed. “Hardly. She loves you guys. I think she’d love it once she got past the initial shock. If you want to invite Sue and Paige, I’ll tell everyone else. Do you have any idea what she wants?”
“She needs everything. I’ll make a list and send it to you and you can email it to everyone so we can make sure she doesn’t get too many duplicates—especially on the bigger things. Although there are two babies, so I guess duplicates are fine!”
“Perfect. This is going to be fun.” Kristen stayed for another cup of coffee and then headed home to her studio to start work on a new painting. Lisa put everything away and was ready to go when Marley knocked on the door.
They arrived at Eloise’s Knitting Shop at five of ten. Eloise greeted them and directed them into the adjoining room where the classes were held.
“Help yourself to coffee or tea in the corner and then grab a seat. We’ll get started in a few minutes.”
There was a big round table in the middle of the room with ten seats around it. Half of the table was full, so they set their purses on two seats, then went to get coffee. Lisa had just taken a sip when she saw a familiar face walk into the room and almost choked on her coffee. Especially when the woman and her friend sat next to Lisa.
“Lisa, so good to see you. It’s been a while,” the woman said a little too sweetly. Lisa was sure of it now that she was the one that had notified the Board of Health. She couldn’t imagine who else would have done it.
Lisa noticed Marley’s curious gaze and hurriedly introduced her.
“Marley, this is Violet. She owns a bed-and-breakfast in Beach Plum Cove too.” Understanding flashed across her face. Marley smiled and held out her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“This is my sister, Barbara.” Violet introduced the other woman that was with her.
“Marley is staying with us this month,” Lisa said.
“A whole month! This time of year.” Violet waited for more of an explanation, but neither Lisa nor Marley provided one. She looked like she was going to say more, but then Eloise started the class and for the next forty-five minutes, they didn’t have time to chat. Lisa and Marley needed to pay close attention, and Violet seemed even more lost than they were. Eloise was wonderful though and walked around the table, helping each person as they needed it. Before they knew it, the class was over. As they gathered up their yarn and needles, Violet turned to Lisa.
“I heard about what happened. It really is a silly rule that we can’t serve hot food, isn’t it?”
Lisa met her gaze. “It is. How did you hear about it?”
Violet smiled. “Well, it was in the paper, of course. All health violations are printed in the weekly paper.”
Lisa sighed. Violet was right. Great, now the whole town knew she’d been fined. “Right. I forgot about that. It’s ok. Maybe this will turn out to be a good thing.”
Violet looked confused. “How could it possibly be a good thing?”
Lisa smiled, the same overly sweet smile that Violet had first sent her way. “Well, everything happens for a reason, they say. We’ll just have to see what develops.”
Lisa and Marley swept out of the room and as soon as they were on the street, Marley burst into laughter.
“The look on her face was priceless. She is dying to know what you are up to.”
“I know. That was fun. I don’t want to say anything until it’s done and fully licensed. If she knew what I was up to, I wouldn’t put it past her to try to make things even more difficult.”
Chapter 12
Will was the first to arrive at the Rose and Crown Pub Tuesday night. He’d texted Izzy earlier to confirm the time, and they agreed on six. He was usually a few minutes early, and Izzy and her sister were almost always a few minutes late. He liked to tease them about it sometimes. He wasn’t going to tease them today though. He was still feeling a little bad about being short with Izzy when Mia brought Rick up the other night. It had just caught him totally by surprise. Izzy hadn’t mentioned Rick in ages, and he was sure that she was done with him.
Will had been biding his time, waiting for the right moment to let Izzy know how he felt about her. He hadn’t known himself until recently. He’d always thought of Izzy as a good friend, a beautiful, kind friend, but one that had a serious boyfriend, so she was off-limits for those kinds of thoughts. Until she wasn’t. But he knew from spending time with her that she wasn’t ready to date yet. He’d thought that she was just focused on the baby as that was a huge change, but he hadn’t realized that she hadn’t moved on from Rick yet and worse that she was considering giving him another chance. The thought of it made his blood boil, and he wasn’t the one with anger management issues.
He just thought that she deserved better than Rick Savage. Even if she didn’t want to date Will, she still deserved better than Rick. Will wondered if maybe Izzy’s hormones were making her a little crazy and confused. That was the only explanation that made any sense to him.
But, as he saw her walking toward him, he put the dark thoughts out of his mind and promised himself not to mention Rick or anything negative. He just wanted to have a fun night and enjoy the company of his friends, especially Izzy. She took his breath away as she caught his eye and smiled. Izzy’s smile was huge. It filled her whole face and lit up her eyes and made him feel happy. He smiled back as Izzy, Mia and Sam made their way toward him.
“Hi Will. Have you been here long?” Izzy asked.
“No. I just got here and let the hostess know we need a table. She’s getting one ready for us now.”
The hostess returned a moment later and led them to a booth in the bar area where the trivia was held. There was already a good-sized crowd gathered. Trivia nights were popular on Nantucket. It was something fun to do in the middle of the week.
Izzy sat next to him and as she took off her coat, he caught a whiff of her shampoo. Green apple. It smelled fresh and clean. She looked gorgeous, too, in a pretty, pale blue sweater. Her blonde hair was so long, longer than he’d ever seen it before. And no-one had curls like Izzy. They fell in long spirals down to the middle of her back. To him, she was the prettiest girl in the world and definitely the one he was most attracted to. He just liked being around her and every week, he looked forward to Tuesday nights.
“What’s everyone in the mood for? Any i
nterest in sharing a pizza? It’s buy-one-get-one-free tonight,” Izzy said.
“I’ll do pizza,” Will said. He didn’t care what he ate, really. If Izzy wanted pizza, that worked for him.
“I think I want a burger,” Sam said.
“I’m thinking salad, maybe,” Mia said.
They put their order in when the waitress came. Will and Sam ordered draft beers, Mia got a glass of wine and Izzy surprised him by ordering a Shirley Temple.
She laughed at the look on his face. “I know I’m too old for it, but I’ve always liked them and since I can’t have a real drink…”
He smiled. “I just had a project rescheduled, so if you like, I can work on your shop construction this weekend.”
Izzy looked pleased. “Really? That would be great. I can close the store at two if you want to come any time after that, and I’m closed on Sundays this time of year, anyway.”
“I’ll plan to come by around two then.”
The trivia host dropped off their scoring sheets and answer pads. As usual, their team name was Nantucket Threads, after Izzy’s store.
Over dinner, Sam told them about his trip to Florida. He’d gone with his parents and two young daughters to Disney World and Universal Studios.
“What did the girls like most?” Izzy asked.
Sam laughed. “That’s easy. The Harry Potter ride at Universal. I think that was my favorite too. It was quite a ride. They automatically take your picture half-way through and the expressions on our faces were priceless. My mother came with us and her eyes were shut, Becky looked terrified, Sarah was laughing, and I had a stupid grin on my face. My mother has already framed it and hung it on the wall.”
“That sounds fun. I’ve never been to Universal Studios. Maybe someday I’ll take peanut there.”
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