by Terri DuLong
I nodded. “Yes, she lives there with her brother, David, and his partner, Clive. You’ll get to meet everybody while you’re here. Come on, I’ll show you the fishpond.”
We walked back outside and through the archway, where exclamations of appreciation filled the air.
“How beautiful.”
“What a tranquil place to sit and chill out.”
“Oh, look at the butterflies,” Berkley said, pointing toward the far end of the water. “And I just love koi fish.”
We were heading back to the patio when I heard Mavis Anne holler, “Yoo hoo, Chloe?” and looked over to see her coming through the gate. “Am I interrupting?”
“Not at all,” I said, walking over to give her a hug and lead her toward the patio. “Come and meet everyone.”
I got her situated in a chair and put my hand on her shoulder. “I’d like you all to meet the illustrious Mavis Anne Overby—my friend, my benefactor, and my business partner. This is my sister, Grace, and my friends Sydney, Marin, and Berkley.”
“Welcome to Koi House,” Mavis Anne said with a huge smile on her face. “We are so delighted to have you here.”
Her use of the pronoun we wasn’t lost on me.
Greetings were exchanged. I ran into the house to get the bottle of wine and another wineglass.
“I hope you’ll all have a wonderful visit,” I heard Mavis Anne say when I walked back outside.
“Oh, I know we will,” Sydney said. “We’ve certainly missed Chloe on the island, but I can see she’s very happy here.”
Mavis Anne shot me a wink. “Yes, it took a bit of convincing, but I think Chloe feels at home here. Thanks,” she said, reaching for her wineglass. “So what do you gals have planned for the rest of the day?”
“Well, we’ll have lunch and then get the car unloaded,” I told her. “And then, we’re just going to chill out and catch up on news. Yarrow is planning to come by, isn’t she?”
Mavis Anne laughed. “Oh, yes, she’s quite eager to meet everybody. She said to tell you she’ll stop by around four after she closes the tea shop.”
“It’s so nice that she’ll be opening her new place right in the yarn shop,” Marin said.
Mavis took a sip of wine and nodded. “Yes, if not for Chloe, I’m not sure that would have ever happened. I’ve been trying to convince her for years to open her tea shop in the old schoolhouse, but it took Chloe committing to the yarn shop before my niece would agree.”
“And this is the house you grew up in?” Sydney asked.
“Yes. Chloe probably told you that my father was the doctor in town and he bought this house shortly after my parents were married. It was a wonderful place to grow up. David and I have such fond memories of our childhoods here.”
“But you’re living next door now? You must miss your own house.”
Mavis Anne looked at Berkley. “Yes, I moved in with my brother in February when I had a nasty fall that required knee surgery. It was difficult to navigate the stairs here and I have a very nice bedroom on the first floor at his house. Besides, I must admit that between David and Clive, they’ve managed to spoil me quite lavishly.” She let out a chuckle. “So no, I really don’t miss Koi House, and having Chloe here makes me miss it even less. I plan to stay put because David and Clive insist I’m no bother and they love having me there. They could be fibbing, but that’s okay.”
All of us laughed. Mavis said, “Well, I don’t want to intrude on your visit, Chloe, but I wanted to come over and say hello. If I don’t see you before you leave, all of you have a wonderful stay.”
We watched Mavis Anne walk toward the gate with the assist of her cane.
“Oh, she’s a true gem,” Sydney said. “No wonder you love her.”
“She really is,” Grace agreed. “Such a sweet woman. She reminds me a bit of Aunt Maude.”
Berkley and Marin nodded.
“Yes,” I said. “She’s a keeper.” I slapped the side of my thigh. “Okay, ladies, we’ve had our wine. Time for lunch.”
Chapter 28
Everybody raved about the shrimp salad lunch that Marta had prepared that morning. Served with rice pilaf and followed by Marta’s famous Polish paczki for dessert, the food was a hit.
“Oh, my God,” Sydney said. “The paczki are similar to a jelly donut, but yet they’re not even close.”
“I know,” I told her. “They’re unique. She made them for the knitting group last week and I thought I died and went to heaven.”
“Cripes, if I lived here and had Marta available, I would have put on twenty pounds by now,” Berkley said. “But you look like you’ve lost weight.”
I laughed and told her I was sure it was due to all the walking I’d been doing.
When we finished up our coffee, I said, “I hate to bring up the subject of work, but we really do have to get the cars unloaded.”
I heard a collective groan before Marin said, “Yup, you’re right. We have to work off those calories anyway. Let’s go.”
An hour later we had managed to get everything inside and up to my room. Since I planned to store the bins of yarn in my large walk-in closet, I told everybody just to stack them in the hallway for now. I needed to do some rearranging of the closet and my yarn stash before I got the bins put away properly.
“Now it’s time to relax and play,” I said as we trooped into the kitchen. “You guys grab your knitting projects and I’ll get the wine. We can sit on the patio. You need to catch me up on all the Cedar Key news.”
Once the wine was poured and everybody settled, I said, “Okay, so what’s happened since I left?”
Marin laughed. “You’re kidding, right? Nothing ever happens on Cedar Key.”
“Oh, but that’s not true,” Grace said. “Shelby Sullivan has a new book coming out in the fall and there’s a rumor that Polly might be closing the Curl Up And Dye.”
I let out a gasp. “No! Polly’s owned that hair salon for ages. What’s going on?”
“Well, I heard that business is way down. The bulk of her clientele have either died or they’re getting up there in age. The young kids do their hair themselves or they go to Chiefland, so she’s really slow. But Polly’s in her late sixties now and has been having some knee problems. Looks like she could end up with a knee replacement.”
“What a shame,” I said. “And Dora? How’s she doing?”
“Fit as a fiddle,” Marin said. “Nothing can keep my mother down. The yarn shop is now officially closed but she seems fine about it. Since she lost Oliver . . .”
“Oliver’s gone?” He seemed fine the last time I saw him and I’d thought he was doing well for an older dog.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you knew. Yeah, he passed away in his sleep just after you left the island. I guess my mom didn’t want to say anything on the phone. She took it pretty bad. But now with the yarn shop closed, she’s giving some serious thought to getting another dog.”
“What a shame. Oliver was a legend. Going to the school for the reading program with the kids. And spending time at the yarn shop. Everybody loved him.”
Marin nodded. “Yeah, she misses him a lot, so I’m hoping she’ll get another dog.”
I felt a wave of sadness wash over me and Sydney confirmed it when she said, “I know it’s the life cycle, but so many are now gone who were there when I first moved to Cedar Key. Both Sybile and Saren are gone, Mr. Al, Maybelle Brewster, your aunt Maude.” She let out a deep sigh.
We were silent for a few moments, lost in our own thoughts.
“How’s Monica doing?” I asked. “It’s a shame she couldn’t make it over here too.”
Sydney nodded. “I know. She really wanted to come but she and Adam have had this family vacation planned all year. Oh, she’s doing great. The triplets are getting so big and Clarissa Jo—she’s as delightful as ever. She’s thirteen, but so far she’s not exhibiting any of those nasty teenage traits.”
We all laughed and I asked Grace about Suellen. “Do you thin
k she’ll stay in Gainesville?”
“I’m not sure. I forgot to tell you on the phone, she’s met somebody. He’s a professor at the university and they’ve really hit it off, but he’s taking a new position at the University of North Carolina. However, he has asked her to join him there and I think she might do it.”
“Oh, that’s great,” I said and felt a twinge of regret on the emptiness of my own love life. “I’m really happy for her.”
“Well, I have some news,” Grace said and a smile lit up her face.
“You’re pregnant,” Berkley blurted out.
Grace laughed. “No, but it’s not for lack of trying. Lucas has decided to close the bookshop right after Christmas.”
“Oh, we thought that might be coming,” Marin said.
I nodded. “So does this mean you’re going to be relocating to France?”
“Yes, we made our decision while we were over there. Paris is wonderful but we think we’d like to be in the country to raise Solange. So we did research on a lot of villages in the south near Lucas’s family and found one we like a lot. We also found the perfect home, a restored farmhouse just outside town. Making our decision final is the fact that the owner of the local bookshop is selling and it would be perfect for Lucas.”
I jumped up to run and hug my sister. “Oh, Grace! I’m so happy for you. I know how much you and Lucas have wanted this.”
“That is exciting news, Grace,” Sydney said. “But we’ll miss you.”
“I know, but we’ll have lots of spare bedrooms in the house so all of you must come to visit. You can fly right into Toulouse airport and it’s only about a one-hour drive to where we’ll be living.”
“I’ll book a flight for Saxton and me next week,” Berkley said and we laughed.
Sydney let out a deep sigh. “Gosh, all of a sudden I’m starting to feel so old. So much has happened and so much has changed since I first arrived on Cedar Key to stay with Ali at the B and B. Marriages and births and deaths, people coming to the island, people leaving the island. I never could have realized when Stephen died and I made the decision to go to Cedar Key all the patterns of change that would follow.”
I heard the melancholy tone in her voice and I nodded. “Yeah, I think you said it a little while ago—it’s called the cycle of life.”
“Right,” Sydney said, holding her wineglass in the air. “And here’s to life.”
“I’ll drink to that,” I heard Yarrow say as she came walking through the gate.
“Hey,” I said. “I’m glad you could make it.” I made the introductions and told her to pull up a chair. “I’ll get another bottle and another wineglass.”
When I returned, Berkley and Yarrow were talking about the old schoolhouse.
I poured wine into a glass and said, “Berkley thinks there could be a presence in there.”
“Thanks,” Yarrow said, reaching for the glass. “And I’m not at all surprised.”
Yup, she definitely did have strands of hippie running through her.
“You’re not?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not at all. First of all, so much of the land around here was once owned by the Indians. Some of the burial places have been preserved, but one can’t know where they all are.”
“Right,” Marin said. “Same thing in Cedar Key.”
Yarrow nodded. “So who knows what energy has remained. But Berkley said it’s a lighthearted energy, so I don’t think we need to worry.”
I laughed. “Okay, I’ll trust both of you on that one. I guess time will tell.”
Chapter 29
It had been such a fun afternoon. Yarrow stayed for a couple of hours, and even though I tried to convince her to have dinner with us, she declined. I knew everybody loved meeting her and enjoyed her company.
We took a vote on whether to go out for dinner, cook, or order a pizza delivery. Pizza won.
“That was really delicious,” Berkley said. “I’m glad we chose the pizza.”
“Right, plus with a little wine in us we didn’t have to drive,” Grace said.
“A little?” I questioned.
“Oh, hey, you only get four glasses out of one bottle and there’s five of us, so going through a couple bottles sounds about right,” Berkley said and we laughed.
I got up to clear the patio table. “More wine or tea?” I asked.
I heard a chorus of tea.
Grace jumped up. “I’ll help.”
I stacked the dishwasher while she prepared the tea.
“I’m so happy for you, Chloe. I can see you just love it here and you’ve found some good friends in Mavis Anne and Yarrow.”
I nodded. “I agree and you haven’t even met Maddie yet. She said she’d try to get by tomorrow before you leave. But I’m also very happy for you and Lucas. Gosh, who would have thought when we lived in Brunswick that you’d end up moving to France.”
Grace nodded. “Yeah, Beau and all of that now seem like a lifetime ago, and in many ways I guess it was.”
Once again I marveled at how Grace had forgiven me for what I’d done to her concerning Beau Hamilton.
After we enjoyed tea and homemade cookies, courtesy of Marta, we produced our knitting projects once again. We sat outside on the patio until darkness forced us into the living room and we’d changed into our comfy nightclothes. I turned on some soft jazz on the radio and everyone settled back for more knitting and gossip.
All of a sudden Berkley started laughing. “Geez, I just thought of something. We really are old fuddy-duds. We’re so low key compared to Shelby’s gathering last year with her friends.”
We joined her laughter and agreed. “Oh, I don’t think we’d have one bit of trouble pulling off a gathering like that, but I think the day we had was perfect for us.”
“Right,” Grace said. “Besides, we didn’t want to be too rowdy and have poor Chloe dealing with the Ormond Beach police on a disturbance call.”
This brought forth another round of laughter.
It was past eleven when we all trooped upstairs to bed. Grace had done up her Aerobed with the linens I gave her and was sitting cross-legged while I dangled over the edge of my bed so we could talk.
In the privacy of the bedroom, with just the two of us, she said, “Okay. So what gives with this Chadwick Price?”
I let out a deep sigh. “Well, you know how they say truth is stranger than fiction. I’m here to say, trust me, it is.”
“What do you mean?”
“Chadwick Price is the brother of Aaron Price.”
“Okay, and who is he?”
“The bastard that date-raped me back in college.”
Grace leaned forward as her hand flew to her mouth. “No! How on earth did you find this out?”
“The day we were going on that boat ride, I saw an older photo of both of them in Chadwick’s living room. I may not have ever known his name—but I never forgot his face.”
Grace jumped up to curl beside me on the bed and flung her arm over my shoulder, pulling me close. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry. Does Chadwick know?”
“No. And I don’t plan to tell him.”
“Wow,” was all she said.
“Yeah, wow is right.”
“Geez, who would ever think you’d come face to face with his photo over thirty years later.”
“Yup.”
“So where is he now? Oh, God, don’t tell me he lives in this area too?”
“No. He’s dead. Passed away from cancer of the pancreas about twenty-five years ago.” I went on to explain how Chadwick had come to see his brother wasn’t the idol he’d grown up thinking he was.
Grace nodded. “So it sounds like he learned a lot about him—and not good things—before his brother died.”
“Yeah, but when all is said and done. Aaron was his brother. Blood ties are strong.”
“Is that why you don’t want to tell him what happened?”
I blew air out my lips. “To be honest, I’m not really sure why I don�
��t want to tell him. I just know I want nothing to do with Chadwick.”
“Hmm,” was all Grace said.
I sat up to face her. “Hmm? What does that mean?”
“Well, don’t get mad at me, Chloe. But it sounds like you’re taking your anger over what happened out on Chadwick. Don’t you think it might be a little misplaced?”
“I have thought about that and you could be right. All I know is I could never forgive Aaron Price for what he did.”
“And you can’t forgive Chadwick because of association.”
“Something like that.”
“That’s a shame because he sounds like a really nice guy and you seemed to be enjoying his company.”
“He is and I was.”
“And your plan is to avoid him forever? Ormond Beach isn’t as small as Cedar Key, but that might not be possible.”
I remained silent and then she hit her palm along the side of her head. “Oh, geez. Weren’t you supposed to go to a fund-raiser at his house on the Fourth?”
“Yeah. I’m not going. I already told Yarrow.”
“So she knows what happened?”
I nodded. “I told her the whole story but she didn’t voice an opinion one way or the other. Although I got the feeling she feels pretty much like you do. I’m blaming the wrong person.”
“What does Mavis Anne have to say about it?”
“She doesn’t know. She also doesn’t know yet that I’m not going to the fund-raiser. I can only claim to be sick so many times. So I have no clue what I’m going to tell her.”
“It seems that you’re unable to separate Chadwick from Aaron.”
“I’d say that’s exactly what the problem is. And while I might realize this up here”—I pointed to my head—“there’s no way I feel it in here,” I said, pointing to my heart.
Grace nodded. “I understand. I remember once when Aunt Maude told me it’s one thing to logically know something in your head, but if you don’t feel it in your heart, you can’t go forward.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if Aunt Maude had said that to Grace when she was trying to get her to reconcile with me.