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Thomas greeted me outside the bookstore and let me in. I thanked him, turned on the lights, flipped the sign, and started getting ready for the day. The books Trinity had ordered had come in, and so I started putting them away while she took the morning off to have her usual coffee with Peggy. I’d just gone to grab another box of books from the back when I heard the bells jingle on the door.
I stepped out front to see LuAnn Billings looking at some new releases. She often came into the store in the mornings to talk with Trinity.
“Morning.” I smiled. “Trinity isn’t in this morning.”
“Morning. Oh, I actually came in to look for a good read.”
I nodded. “Okay, well, if you need anything, just let me know.” I went to grab the box when I heard LuAnn clear her throat.
“Iris, is it?”
“Yes. LuAnn, you are friends with my sister Beth, right?”
“I am.”
“It’s nice to meet you, aside from in passing. My sister told me to say hello when I saw you next.”
“I’ve been meaning to call her. We have many things to catch up on. I guess I better add that to my list of things to do.”
“I’m always adding things to my to-do list.” I smiled as I ripped open the box and went to pull out more books, but she stopped me when she came up beside me and leaned on the counter.
“Iris, it’s not like me to pry, contrary to what people think around this town, but were you dating that young man over at the bed-and-breakfast?”
I felt my cheeks flush. “We were friends, yes,” I said, trying to keep my composure. I’d known that rumors had flown around town about us, and I was certain it was mostly because of LuAnn, regardless of what she said.
“Did you hear he moved back to the city?”
I shook my head. “No, I didn’t.” I replied.
“As you know, I live next door, and I was speaking with his mother the other day while I was doing an article for the paper on the new bed-and-breakfast, and she said he’d taken off to go back to the corporate world.”
I nodded. It now made sense why I hadn’t heard from him. “Well, I’m glad to hear it,” I said, trying not to question what it was she was telling me.
“Yep, took his little girl and moved on back home to his ex-wife.”
My eyes burned, and my throat got tight at the news. It took me a minute to accept what it was she had said. It wasn’t because I was angry. If that was what he wanted, then I was happy that he had found happiness again. Everyone deserved to be happy.
“I think it was wonderful that he took little Grace back to be with her mother for her last days. It was only right that the child got to spend them with her, even if she was a pill.”
I stopped what I was doing and looked over at LuAnn. She wasn’t even looking in my direction. Instead, she stood there holding a book in her hand, flipping through it.
“Something of a pill?” I questioned.
“Oh, yes, the last time that woman was at the house, they had a huge blowout. That poor man, every time she appeared, it was one thing or another. According to his mother, he was having a restraining order issued when he found out the news.
“What news?”
“Oh, my dear, she was terminal.”
My eyes flew up from the book cover I’d been looking at when she stopped speaking.
“Terminal?”
“Yes, she was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer and apparently needed money for treatment. His mother said he’d felt so bad that he’d denied her when he found out that he stopped the restraining order. He started paying for her treatments. When he got the news that they stopped working, he packed Gracie up and they moved home.”
I made sure she wasn’t looking my way and wiped at the tears that had fallen down my cheeks. I had no idea. I’d expected to hear something from him and had wondered why I hadn’t, but now I knew why. He’d been too busy caring for her and for Gracie.
“I think I’m going to take this one,” she said, coming over and placing the book on the counter.
