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Shipwreck Key is a beautiful place. It's safe. It's peaceful. It's home. Molly feels so comfortable here that it rarely occurs to her to leave the island anymore. Besides that, she's already been everywhere--at least everywhere that she might want to go. She's seen it all, from Brazil to Madagascar, from Vancouver Island to Isla Margarita. And frankly, there is no place that gives her all the things she wants--warm, funny neighbors; sunshine almost year round; gorgeous beaches; peace and quiet--quite like Shipwreck Key does.
As Molly is standing there appreciating the island she's chosen to call home, a face appears in her window, startling her. It's Ruby Hudson.
Molly unlocks the front door and lets the former First Lady into her shop. The fact that a woman who was once a resident of the White House now lives on Shipwreck Key was a novelty at first for the locals, but they've all quickly gotten used to seeing Ruby around, and to considering her a neighbor and a friend.
"Good morning," Ruby says with a smile. Her shoulder-length blonde hair is pulled back in a ponytail, and her cheeks are pink. She's wearing a short sleeved t-shirt and olive green shorts. "Too early for coffee?"
Molly looks out at the street and scans the sidewalk. "I can make you a cup. Where's Banks?" she asks, referring to Ruby's ever-present Secret Service agent. Or rather, the man whowasformerly her full-time security detail, but who now spends almost as much time in his unofficial capacity as former Second Lady Sunday Bond's boyfriend.
"He and Sunday were still sleeping," she says, putting a finger to her lips. "I thought I'd just head out on my own and walk over to the bookstore. He won't like it, but he can deal with it."
Molly is already behind the counter at this point, filling pots with water and flipping on the coffee machines to get the day started. Within seconds, the warm smells of pecans, cinnamon, and ground coffee fill the shop.
"Gotta tell you," Molly says as she works, her back to Ruby, "I never once thought I'd see the day when the FirstandSecond Ladies were living here on our tiny island. I'm used to it now--we all are--but it was a shock to the system when you two moved here."
Ruby sits at a bistro table and watches as Molly makes coffee. "I hope we haven't disrupted your lives too much," she says, putting her chin on her hand and frowning slightly. "That was never my intention--nor Sunday's--though it is an unfortunate side effect of us moving down here."
"No, no, you two aren't a disruption," Molly says, grabbing a ceramic cup for Ruby and conserving her to go cups until Ephraim arrives with her next shipment. Besides, she's hoping Ruby will stay and chat for a bit. The days can be long and filled with small-talk when you run a coffee shop, but to have a quiet moment with someone and to really converse is a novelty. "You've brought something to the island that we all sorely needed."
Ruby laughs at this, sitting back as Molly puts a steaming mug of coffee in front of her, along with a container of cream and another of sugar. "Thank you," she says, lifting the coffee mug. "And I can't imagine that you all needed much of anything here; Shipwreck Key already has it all."
"Well," Molly says, bracing herself on the table as she slides onto a chair, aware of the ache in her hips that started sometime around her sixtieth birthday. "It's a wonderful place, but having people move here who've seen a bit of the world really adds something. Don't get me wrong--I love all my neighbors--but some of us are homebodies who've never traveled. Some of our views are small, and our vision of the world is narrow. I think it helps to have people bring a bit of that big, wide world to us. Do you know what I mean?"
Ruby sips her coffee as she nods. She sets it down on the table. "I do. I think it was one of my favorite parts of being First Lady, getting to travel, see things, meet people. It enriches your life in ways that nothing else can."
"Right. So for those of us here on Shipwreck who kind of refuse to leave, you bring that to us."
Ruby contemplates this. "I'm glad you see it that way. I wasn't entirely sure my presence would be welcomed when I first moved down here, but I knew I had just as much right to find my slice of paradise as anyone else."
"Indeed you do." Molly has already had two cups of coffee even though it's just now six o'clock, so she toys with a spoon instead, turning it over in her hands and letting the overhead light catch on the smooth silver of its underside. "Finding my own place in the world was hard-won," she adds, looking up from the spoon with just her eyes to gauge Ruby's response. "I've seen it all, and I chose this spot because it was the place I felt most at home."
"Tell me about where else you've been," Ruby says conversationally. "What's the most interesting place?"
Molly blows out a long breath, elbows on table. "Interesting? God, that's hard. They've all been fascinating. Kathmandu?" Her gaze drifts over to the window and she looks out at Seadog Lane. "Possibly Vietnam. Maybe Madagascar."
Ruby blinks a few times. "You've been to all those places?"
"Sure." Molly shrugs. "I'm sixty-seven. I've been everywhere and seen everything." She gives a rough laugh. "How about you--favorite place you've ever been?"
"Equally as tough." Ruby sips her coffee and ponders the question. "I went everywhere with Jack. I've been a fan of so many people and places." She thinks for a second more. "I loved Kenya, the Seychelles, Iceland, Cape Town...but honestly, there's no place like home for me: Maine, New England in the fall, Santa Barbara, New York City. I feel like we have it all right here in America."
Molly nods in agreement. "Indeed we do." She taps the table with the palms of both hands and stands up. "I'm afraid I need to get my butt in gear here. I'll have customers soon, and I've only brewed one small pot of coffee."
"Don't let me keep you," Ruby says, draining her coffee and then standing. "I'll see you tomorrow evening for sure, right?"
Molly is already behind the front counter, prepping her next pot of coffee. She turns to look at Ruby with a frown. "Book club is tomorrow?"
"No, next week for that. Tomorrow is the big party. Dress however you want, no gifts allowed," Ruby adds as she presses her back against the front door of the coffee shop and pushes it open slightly. "See you at the dock at six." Without waiting for an answer, she lifts a hand and waves, then walks out into the bright morning sun.
A party on a boat, Molly thinks, shaking her head to herself. She's spent so much of her life on a boat that it hardly seems like a party. But she'll be there nonetheless. If a former First Lady asks you to show up to her birthday party, you go. And you don't dress however you want, and you don't turn up totally gift-less.
The tinkling bell on the front door jingles as a man and a woman enter the shop, looking like they're ready for a day on the beach.
"Good morning," Molly says, flipping the switch on her coffee pot and turning to greet her first official customers of the day. "What can I get you?"
Ruby
The yacht that's docked and ready to board is lit up like a Christmas tree. Ruby stands there for a moment, admiring the way the lights look against the backdrop of a gorgeous Florida sunset.
