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“I’ve been waiting for you,” a voice said as I blinked against the hospital lighting, slowly waking after a much-needed nap.
Outside, orange streaked the sky as the sun set. Inside, my head ached, my thoughts raced.
I yawned and tried to sit upright. “Good thing you had that large hot chocolate this morning to hold you over.”
“I told you it was going to be a long day,” Estrelle said.
I winced against the pain pulsing in my head. I’d smacked it but good when I fainted at the coffee shop this morning.
Right after the ghost had walked in and changed my life forever.
From what I’d gathered in bits and pieces since, Rose had called an ambulance and Estrelle had ridden over to the hospital with me. She’d been nearby all day, mostly in the periphery, while I’d been examined in the emergency department, while I’d given a detailed history of my health problems. She’d waited while I’d had tests done. She’d listened as I explained to Maggie and Dez what was wrong with me.
Well. I’d explained some. But not all.
I’d shared most. But not everything.
Not yet.
Some things I was still piecing together.
“You didn’t have to wait for me to wake up,” I said. “You must be exhausted. You should go home, get some rest.”
The hospital staff had wanted to keep me overnight for observation. The hospital was in Foley, well inland, and I already missed the sound of the waves.
Estrelle sat in an armchair next to my bed. Her veil was lifted up, off her face. There was a visitor sticker stuck to her caftan. “I didn’t mind waiting until you woke up. I’ve been waiting for you formonthsnow. What’s a little more time?”
I rolled slightly to face her better, making sure the IV line didn’t get caught up in the bedding. Over my shoulder, monitors kept track of my every breath. “Months?”
“Ever sinceIplaced the thimble among Maggie’s curiosities.”
My eyes widened. “You put the thimble there? But how did Maggie know to give it to me?”
She waved a dismissive hand. “Such is a trifling matter, that.The more important issue at hand iswhyI put it there. That is the question you should be asking.”
I adjusted the hospital blanket and said in a stilted tone, “Estrelle,whywould you put the thimble there?”
She smiled, a slight quirking of her lips. “Because I need to plan ahead. We all live on borrowed time, and I’ve borrowed more than my fair share. Don’t look so desolate. No one can stay forever.”
“But… I don’t want you to go.”
The thought alone filled me with deep, dark sadness. I’d come to care for her greatly in such a short time.
Something soft and glowing filled her eyes. “If you wish, I will try to delay my departure as long as possible.”
“I wish.”
Oh, how I wished.
She nodded. “Even so, I put the thimble in the Curiosity Corner because I found myself in want of a protégée. Someone who, perchance, would one day inherit my shop. It could not be just anyone. It had to be someonespecial. Unique. Different. Someone with a creative eye. A big heart. Someone who understood the delicate fabric of life and the intricate stitches that hold it together. Someone who would come to love this town, its people, as much as I do.”
I listened carefully, trying my hardest to follow along. One thing that jumped out was that for the first time in my life, being called special didn’t rankle. It made me feel… seen. Loved.
“When I saw you standing outside Magpie’s the day you arrived, I knew you were the one I’d been waiting for. Which came as quite a surprise to me, and I shall let you know now, I am not surprised easily.”
I used the same stilted tone as earlier as I asked, “Estrelle, why were you surprised?”
She chuckled. “Because, child, I didn’t know you were the match for the thimble when I sent for you. I’d known only that you’dbe happy in Driftwood.”
