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Tapping my finger to my chin, I walk down the glass cases and try and decide what I’m in the mood for. “I’ll take two oatmeal raisin cookies and two vanilla on vanilla cupcakes. And then two coffees.”
“Anything else?”
“No, I’ll be back in the morning, though.” I smile. “I’m meeting with Dr. Taylor, or wait, I mean Dave, tomorrow to go over everything.” I’ve spoken to him a few times over the past two weeks, and he keeps reminding me to call him Dave, not doctor, and I’m not used to it. Back in Jersey, every doctor wanted to be called doctor – their egos demanded it.
“Alright, well here you go,” she says, handing me a paper bag and a cardboard carrier with two coffees.
“Thanks.” I smile, moving down to add a splash of cream to Ally’s coffee, but leave mine black. Years of being a nurse has had me living off of nothing but black coffee to get me through my shifts.
“No problem, Mel, see you tomorrow. I’m always ready for a girl’s night when one of you decides to upend your life and move to our little town. And it’ll be Dara’s first with us.” She turns towards her to add, “You’ll have the worst hangover of your life, but we’ll have fun.”
“You’ve got that right.” I seriously miss having our whole group together. We get crazy, but none of us can ever say we ever regret anything. Our drunk adventures are just as fun as our sober ones. “Alright, see you tomorrow,” I tell them, waving as I leave the café.
Walking back to my car, I look around me and see nothing but happiness. Couples are walking hand in hand, people come and go in and out of different shops, a child spins on the sidewalk in front of his mother. No one is texting while walking or yelling into their phones. There are even big flower pots outside of shop doors and around lamp posts. It’s a small-town Main Street straight from a movie or show.
Getting back in my car, I let out a little laugh. This is my real life now.
The rest of the drive to the cottage is only about five minutes, and the moment I turn into the driveway, I feel a sense of calm come over me, a sense of coming home.
The long driveway opens up into a clearing where a cute little blue cottage sits with overflowing flower beds and boxes filled with vibrant, colorful flowers, that I have no idea how are still thriving after Dottie’s departure.
The door swings open the second I park, and Ally comes flying out, running towards me, and practically ripping my car door off its hinges and pulling me out.
“Mely! I’m so happy you’re here!” she squeals, pulling me in for a hug. “I can’t believe you’re doing this! I know you’ll love it!”
“I know I will, too.” I laugh, hugging her back just as fiercely.
Pulling away, I lean in and grab the coffees and paper bag, and hold them up. “I brought us sustenance for our catch-up session. I want to hear all about your honeymoon, minus the sex stuff.”
“But that’s mostly what we did.”
“Ugh, gross. Fine, we’ll just gossip and eat the pastries anyway.”
“Oh, like that’ll be such a chore,” she says, rolling her eyes.
Walking inside, we head straight for the back porch, and I’m once again blown away by the view.
The backyard flows into the Atlantic Ocean with a rocky slope drop off, and then stretches out as far as I can see, dotted with boats and islands in the distance. Four Adirondack chairs sit by the edge, and they call to me, knowing I’ll be spending a lot of my time before the cold weather sets in. Probably even then still.
Taking a seat in one of the wicker chairs on the porch, I hand Ally her coffee and take out our treats.
“Cupcakes! Yes!” Ally grabs one straight away and takes a big bite, moaning instantly. “Oh my god, Courtney’s cupcakes are the best.”
“Uh, you may want to think that statement over again.”
“Shut up,” she mumbles around a full mouth.
The sun is making its slow decent towards the ocean, and I lean back in my chair, extending my legs out in front of me as I sip my coffee.
“This is my view now.”
“I miss this sometimes. I walked out here with Dottie on that first day, and I was speechless. I couldn’t believe I got so lucky in renting a place like this. And along with it came Dottie and her sneaky way of getting Jake and I together.”
“She said she’d come down and have tea with me, fill me in on all of the town’s gossip, and bring me a pie. I won’t lie, I’m really excited about that last part.”
“Please tell me when so I can be here. I’ve been jonesing for her pie.”
“Didn’t she already teach you how to make it?”
