“Ah, I made it. My career wear wasn’t cutting it for hanging out at the lake, so I made this. I have decided to live in it for the summer.”
“Darn, I was hoping you’d say Amazon. I’d have bought ten,” Hope said.
Viv watched how her old friends had fallen into an easy rhythm with one another. Tag and Joe were new to the bunch, and so was she, really. But they felt welcomed and at ease. That was Libby; she’d brought them all here, one way or another, and she’d made them feel like a unit. She was a connector of people. That was a gift Viv didn’t have.
Viv couldn’t get over the gray stubble on Keith and remembered teasing him about his inability to grow a mustache back in the day.
Viv learned that Dean, J.J.’s husband, was beginning to do renovations on the buildings across the street from Hope’s restaurant and the boutique.
“I’m not sure who I’m going to target for those spots—well, except I insist J.J. open a salon,” Libby said.
“Please, Shelly at HairDo or Dye Beauty Parlor would have a heart attack if I left or poached her clients.”
“She’s close to retirement, and we can bring her with you,” Libby said. Though she said she didn’t have a plan, she clearly did.
“You know we need a bakery. That’s what I vote for in that new space,” J.J. said, deflecting Libby from talk of opening her own salon.
“I second that, or ooh, a bookstore, which would be a good one for you, Goldie,” Hope said.
“You’re already roping me in for rehabbing the dance pavilion as a theater, so I’m out on the bookstore idea. Besides, you know I’m gone half the year. A bookstore should be open year-round, right? Especially at the holidays,” Goldie said.
Viv watched Goldie put a sandwich in her mouth. A sandwich with actual bread! Shehadchanged since she had come back to Irish Hills.
“Okay, okay, enough shop talk. I heard your Cole, and your Siena are dating. I’d like the complete scoop, please,” J.J. said.
“What? Wait, I had no idea,” Viv replied. Normally Siena told her everything. This was news to her.
“Well, I’m not sure about dating. Braylon sent Cole to your store with a truck and his ability to lift heavy things. They seem to hit it off, but dating? I have not gotten official confirmation on this intel,” Keith said.
“Ahem, I’ve served them dinner twice now. It looked like a date, quacked like a date, so it’s a date,” Hope added.
“Wow, okay, I’ve been trying to stay out of her way, letting her take the lead on the project, and instead, she’s dating,” Viv said.
“Ha, well, they’re under fifty. They can do more than one thing at a time. I’m unable to these days. I used to tease my mom for that, and now, oh my gosh, if I don’t get a ten-minute catnap in the afternoon, forget it. I’m a zombie.” J.J. said. Though it was hard to believe J.J. had anything but unlimited energy.
The conversation turned on its head to all manner of annoying things that happen in your fifties. Viv laughed as her girlfriends recounted the horrors of hot flashes, and Hope vowed never to exfoliate anything again.
“It’s a full-time job. I do not have time,” she said.
Though he wasn’t in attendance, Viv heard Hope had a love interest these days as well. While Hope claimed not to have time for exfoliation, she had time for something. She was radiant and vital.
The laughter was a balm for her soul.
But as they exchanged stories, Viv knew that none of them really knew about fatigue the way she did. Or the dark question of whether being tired meant something worse, devastatingly worse.
But, for the most part, Viv kept those thoughts at bay for the afternoon. Good food, great company, and belly laughs were a good defense against her darkness.
And she had gotten the scoop on her own daughter.
Siena was moving forward in life, and this was important. But it was also a necessity. There it was: the dark thought. Siena needed to move forward without Viv.
ChapterFifteen
Siena
Irish Hills and Siena were up early and ready. It was June 15th.
Libby had explained that hosting “events” almost every weekend was part of her grand plan. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, she’d planned special reasons to come to downtown Irish Hills. But the real beginning of summer was now. It was finally time.
