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HAILEY
Later that afternoon, I stopped at Java Coffee for a pick-me-up. When I caught the owner and my friend, Brooke’s, gaze, she smiled. “Hey, Hailey. Your usual?”
I nodded. “Please.”
Brooke moved around the shop, preparing a caramel latte. “Are you working today?”
“I was at Nana’s this morning. I’m going to drop into the shop this afternoon to make sure everything’s running smoothly.”
“Is Anne helping you out?”
“It’s nice to have the help, but she’s a little flakey.” When I first started at the shop, Nana and I split the hours. Now that she retired, I’d hired Anne to give me some time off.
I thought Nana would be more involved, but she seemed to enjoy her retirement. I didn’t want her to worry, and I didn’t want her to think she left the shop in the wrong hands.
“You okay?” Brooke asked, wiping her hands on a nearby cloth.
“Eh.” Nana’s determination to go through her things had thrown me off center, and I couldn’t hide my mood from my closest friend.
“Suzie, can you handle the front for a few minutes?” Brooke said over her shoulder to the other barista.
Suzie smiled wide, her red curls bouncing as she moved to help the next customer in line. “Of course.”
Brooke led the way to the back of the store, past the shelves of books and games customers could borrow while they were drinking their coffee.
I sank into the leather couch, grateful for my friend.
Brooke sat in the chair across from me, cradling a mug in her hands. “What’s going on?”
“Besides business being slow?” She already knew about the store’s financial struggles. It was located off the tourist area of Main and Dock Street. Foot traffic was sparse, even though Nana had somehow made it work.
“There’s something else?” Her forehead wrinkled.
I sipped my latte, savoring the caramel flavor. “Nana wants to go through her things. She’s thinking of moving out. Selling the house.”
Brooke reached over to briefly touch my arm. “I’m sorry.”
I soaked in her sympathy. I kept most things from Jake, not wanting him to worry, but with Brooke, I could tell her everything I was thinking, even if it was crazy. “Am I overreacting?”
“Why don’t you tell her you want the house?”
“I will. It’s just—I don’t want to pressure her if she needs to sell it for some reason.”
“You need to talk to her,” Brooke said pointedly.
“You’re right.” I just hated talking about my weaknesses, and there was no bigger one than family and that house. The only one that ever felt like a home.
Nana had pushed me to move out when I was twenty-two, telling me I’d never find a husband if I were living at home. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I wasn’t looking for a husband. As much as I wanted a family, I was scared it would be taken from me, too. Good things didn’t last.
“She said it will force me to get closure on my past. She has Jake and me going through the boxes in the attic.”
“She might be right,” Brooke said, sympathy filling her eyes.
“What closure is there to get? My mom will show up or she won’t. I’m not going to get any answers from her. Not ones I want to hear. The reality is that something was always more important than me and Jake.”
Brooke sighed. “I don’t think that’s what she’s talking about.”
I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. “Then what was she getting at?”
