“What is that supposed to mean?” There’s fire in her eyes.
“At least I have fun. You’re a slave to your job and have been in love with a man for thirty-five years who’s none the wiser. Sounds miserable to me.”
As soon as I’ve said the words, I know they’re too much, that I’ve gone too far. I see Beth tense, anger consuming her whole.
“Youwillsee a therapist and get help. End of discussion.” She uncrosses her arms and rubs her temples as my phone vibrates again. “Who on God’s green earth is texting you so much?” she yells.
I swipe my phone from the table and glance at the homescreen full of messages from Graham.
“Graham,” I mutter.
"Look, Thea, I love you, but you are making it very hard.”
“Sorry,” I say, in a tone that’s anything but. I turn on my heels and head for my room, tears welling in my eyes. I shut the door behind me and lean against it, trying a breathing technique I saw on the internet to calm myself down. I repeat the process a few times, wondering how we ended up here.
And for the first time, I wonder if coming to Driftbay was one giant mistake.
I’m up early the next morning after tossing and turning all night, knowing I need to apologize to Aunt Beth. Unfortunately for me, she’s already gone by the time I get up.
I walk to the diner in silence, following my usual route. Driftbay is calm at this time of day, especially after the festival last night. It’s already stifling out so I throw my hair up into a ponytail as I walk.
Graham is in the kitchen when I arrive, rolling silverware for the day.
“Hey,” he says as he sees me, a smile appearing on his face.
“Hi,” I say, before ducking into the back room to ditch my keys and phone. Walking back into the kitchen, I grab my apron and tie it around my waist.
“How was the party last night?”
I groan and it makes me realize my head has been pounding since I got up.
“I don’t really want to talk about it,” I say.
“Oh.” Graham’s smile fades.
“Let’s just say that I should have helped you and your mom,” I offer.
“She enjoyed meeting you,” he says, grabbing another napkin and a bunch of utensils.
“She’s a sweet lady.” I glance around and change the subject. “Is Beth around?”
Graham jerks his head in the direction of her office. “Doing the deposit,” he says, “but be careful, she’s in a mood.”
I nod, knowing I’m the reason for her anger. I head to the pantry and pull out my ingredients and get to work making the basics — chocolate chip cookies and brownies, recipes I know like the back of my hand. My mind whirls. I definitely overdid it last night and need to apologize.
I wait until the last moment possible to take the treats up to the display case in the front of the diner. I’m hoping to catch Beth by herself as she loads in the cash register for the day.
Unfortunately, I catch sight of fiery red hair instead of smooth dark chocolate brown at the register. Penny is loading it in.
“No Beth?” I ask as I look around.
“She’s in the office,” Penny says as she shakes her head. “Something about schedule changes and then a delivery truck broke down and won’t be here today.”
I nod slowly.
This day is going to be longer than I thought.
It feels like Beth avoids me all morning, but I know she’s dealing with more than our family issues today. Our normal delivery truck has now been pushed back by two days and she’s running around checking inventory. I stay out of her way, not wanting to break her concentration as she scribbles away on her notepad.
