“Silas did. The Calders are the gossip mill. Nothing is secret or sacred with them.”
She laughs but it’s more on the bitter side. “It’s not a secret.” A sigh escapes her. “He called to ask about work stuff. I don’t know what happened. It just hit me. I was done.” She winces. “I quit my job while I was at it.”
That part shocks me to my core. And I’d be lying if I said I don’t feel a little thrill of hope that she’ll stay here.
“There are millions of jobs,” I assure her. “You’re more than qualified.”
“How do you know?”
“Goldie told me.” Heat warms my face and I’m grateful it’s dark aside from the moon peeking behind some clouds. “She told me a lot about you.”
She bites on her bottom lip. “You have an advantage over me then. I know hardly anything about you.”
The wind blows a strand of hair across her face. My fingers itch to move it away and tuck it behind her ear, but she beats me to it.
“What do you want to know?” I ask, voice a rough whisper. “I’ll tell you.”
Nora turns to face me. Her eyebrows are scrunched together, and her nose is wrinkled up. “Do you think Grandma was crazy for waiting on my grandpa all those years?”
“Honestly?”
She nods. “I always want the truth. Not whatever you think will make me happy.”
I read between the lines that maybe Denver was that way. But that would mean she saw me as a future dating prospect. Not sure how I feel about that.
“Truth is,” I say slowly, “I think it’s romantic.” A flash of Goldie’s haggard expression assaults my mind. Some days she was so sad. “And it’s a little devastating. A tragedy. She didn’t just lose Amos, but she lost Sandy in the process.”
Nora’s eyes fill with tears. Then, to my surprise, she throws her arms around me. My body moves quickly, wrapping her in a tight hug that she so clearly needs. A choked sound escapes her as she squeezes me in her embrace. I can’t help but close my eyes and smell her shampoo as my nose drags along her hair.
“Thank you for loving her,” Nora says. “I don’t think I could ever thank you enough. And if I know my grandma, she loved you too. In case you didn’t know that.”
My chest aches at her words and my eyes prickle.
I swear, when the wind blows again, I get a whiff of that old woman’s familiar scent.
Miss you, Goldie. Miss you really flunking bad.
Chapter 19
Nora
There’s definitely a pattern.
I yawn as I read through yet another column Grandma wrote for the Budgie Bay Gazette. She signs them off all the same no matter the season or year.
The strawberries are ripe and ready for picking, Amos. Grab some chocolate on the way home.
My coffee has gone cold and I chuckle to myself. In New York, I never let coffee go cold. I guzzled it while burning my throat most days because I was always on the run. Now that I’m in Budgie Bay and officially unemployed, life has dramatically slowed down for me.
A soft knock on my bedroom door has me straightening in bed. “Come in.”
Elias peeks his head in. Clo, upon seeing him, stretches his wings in greeting. “Ready for a big day of cleaning out the cottage?”
I set the laptop down beside me in bed. A trickle of warmth makes its way through me as he swaps out my mug for a freshly filled, hot one full of coffee just the way I like it. I’m sure Denverhad my coffee order saved in his phone, but he never made it for me like this.
Why are you comparing Denver to Elias?
I shove that thought away and smile at him. “Ready. Well, after I take my time drinking this glorious cup of coffee you just brought me.”
