Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (39 page)

“You’ve been there
for me since the
frenzied
night I arrived in
Serenity
Cove
. Take it easy on Maggie tonight. And,
Logan
, a shower mi
ght be good
.
” I watched as he pivoted
and went
inside.

Maggie had t
alked with Doc. Logan’s emotional lows were
not unusual
for someone recovering from these types of injuries. It
would most likely disappear as quickly as it had started.
What
if the bullet had entered his chest a smidgen higher
? I rubbed my arms to warm the c
hilling bumps. There was that too familiar
what if
game using my mind as a playground, again. I shook my head and headed to Main Street.

I
p
arked t
he SUV in front
of the bookshop
and
strolled to Rubi’s Diner
. I pulled up on a stool
,
in dire need of an
old
-
fashioned chocolate
shake.
Tiffani set the tall fro
sty glass in front of me with
the
icy
foam overflowing on the side. I dipped
the long spoon
into the creamy goodness when I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned.

“Hi
,
Samantha
. May I talk to you?
”
Lilyan
’s Aunt Claire took the seat
next to me.

“Sure, can I order you something?”

“
I’m fine.
I want to apologize
again
.
If I’d been hones
t with myself and with Lilyan
—she might
still be here.
Instead she found a way
to
…
to stop the anguish
.
”

“None of us
realized
the extent of her
illness.” I touched
her hand
. “T
he day of her services
w
as a difficult day
, especially
for
you.”

“
Logan
’s right. You are sweet and ki
nd
.” She slip
ped off the chair
and turned to leave.

“I’d love to buy y
ou a shake.
”

She sat back down
. “V
anilla
, please.”

Thelma and Julia came in and I waved them over. “Have a seat. Shakes are on me.”

“Let’s move this party to a
larger area
.”
Thelma waved us over to a booth.
“H
ow’s
Logan
?” Thelma said,
between
handing out instructions where to sit
.

“Cantankerous
.” I tossed her a grin—
I hadn’t wanted
her to think
I’d voiced a complaint. I wanted
Logan
to get well—to be t
he outgoing a
nd take-charge kind
of
man I’d me
t my first day in town.

“Means
he’s getting better.”
She reached down and ruffled the fur on Goldie’s head.

We
scooted into one of the larger
half-
circle booths. I
tried to follow the
th
ree of them
as they carried
on—o
bvious
ly,
not strangers
to the
Serenity
Cove gossip chain.

Tiffa
ni served the
shakes—a
fr
osty glass filled with vanilla to Claire, a chocolate
to Julia, and a strawberry
to Thelma.

Thelma waved toward
the door.
Rachel had come in.

“Hi
ya,
Rachel
, come
join
us.” Thelma motioned
Tiffani back over
.

“Sit here.”
I slid out of the booth and
Ra
chel
scoot
ed
to the inside
, so I could
sit
on the outside with Goldie.

Rachel and I barely
exchange
d
hellos before Thelma continued
fill
ing
in the blanks. Like working
a crossword puzzle
,
she made sure all words
,
both
across and
down
,
were completed.
“
Rachel and
Brandon
both attended school with Maggie and
Logan
,
along with my
childre
n.
”

When Thelma stopped t
o take a br
eath
,
Julia picked up the gauntlet
.
“Rachel and
Brandon
were voted prom king an
d queen their senior year. They got
married the summ
er after they’d graduated from high s
chool, a real life happy-ever-after story.
”

I rested my eyes on
Rachel
.
She
didn’t look
thrilled
with
having her life served as freely as T
iffani had
handed out
the
shake
s
. The sadness in her eyes said some secrets remained hidden, even from the watchful eyes of
Thelma
and Julia
.
I’d
already gotten the impression
, that evening at Woody’s, that
Brandon
might have a problem with alcohol.
I caught the movement of Thelma’s lips.

“Heard Audra and her husband
Steve
are revamping the old Donnelly place.” Thelma
spooned a taste of the strawberry
cream.

Julia chimed in
. “Isn’t she
the granddaughter?”

“She’s the daughter of their grandson—she’d be a great-granddaughter.” Claire
worked to pull a taste
through her
straw, but quickly resorted
to using her spoon
.

The chatter and laughter picked up speed
, and lip-reading from person to person made it difficult to keep up with the flow of conversation
. But I loved being a part of it. This impromptu girlfriend gathering wouldn’t have happened in Stone Valley.

Julia
caught my eye. “I heard Audra
wants
to lease the bookshop and turn it into a real
estate office
,
or some such nonsense
.”

“We talked. I’d p
refer to sell it as a bookshop.” While I had the group’s attention,
I leaped in
. “D
o any of you know a family by the name of Cunningham?”

Each of the four
shook their heads. “Wait.
” Thelma tapped her temple.
“
There was a Daniel Cunni
ngham in our senior
class. I don’t rem
ember much about his family.
”
She
turned her attention to the frothy concoction in her glass.

Thelma
remembered hi
s name, but so had Roger—I needed more
.
My glass
reached the half
-
full stage and the conversa
tion
hit
a lull.
“
Thank
s for a great afternoon.
”
I stood with Goldie’s leash in hand.

Thelma touched my arm. “Quilting circle meets Thursday aft
ernoon. Bring your appliqué
and
let me see how you’re doing.”

“You caught me—I haven’t starte
d one. But I’d love to attend another session.
”

“This meeting
is in honor of National Quilters Day—it’ll be fun. We
’
re having a pattern exchange and plenty of food.
And wear a fancy hat—there’ll be drawings and prizes.
”

I gave Thelma a hug
. “I’ll talk to Maggie and m
ak
e sure to be there.” I glanced at
Rachel
.
“Nice seeing
you.”

“Me, too.
” She
gave me a shy smile.

Additional words would have prompted more con
versation. I tossed a wave
to the group,
and
with an abrupt turn
,
Goldie and I made our getaway
.

I crossed the street,
my he
ad
spinning from all the talk.
I held the door for Goldie,
thankful to be home. When had I started thinking of this
as home?
When had I
become
comfortable here
?
H
ome and com
fort brought one person to mind
.
Logan
.

Chapter T
hirty-two

M
y sister
’s
singing
wafted into my room
. How
does
she do cheerful before breakfast
?
I limped into the kitchen and sat on one chair
and propped my leg
on another.
“You’re
overdoing
joy
.”

She
ignored my
bitter tone
. “
Linda agreed to take care
of the store for me today
, so brother dear, I’m all yours.”

“And
Sam
?”
I adored my sister—but
it
was easier
with
Sam
.

“
Sam
stayed
home today.” She deposited
a plate of food
in front of me
.

“
This
sausage looks anemic
. Why’s
this
omelet white?
”
I poked at the food
.
Why did Dorthea need a day off?

“You need healthy food. That’s
turkey sausage with an egg white
omelet
.” She sat
and
I
smell
ed
the cinnamon in her
steamy
oatmeal.

I pushed the plate over
and snagged her bowl
. “I prefer this
, and I’m not a
big
fan of hot cereal
.”

She got up, put the plate in the sink
, and
returned with the coffee carafe.

“S
orry
, s
is.” S
he didn’t deserve
my gruffness.
I eased up fro
m the table and picked up my cup
.

I wandered
out
to the deck
and watched
the antics of the seagulls while
finishing my coffee.

“
Alec
’s coming up the walk
.”
Maggie set another mug along with
the carafe on the outside table.
“I’ll go let
him in.”

“This day is riding an elevator with no up.”
I topped off my mug and settled onto a chair.

Alec
emerged fro
m inside the house
.
“Hey, b
oss. H
ow you feeling?” He helped himself to the coffee
.

“Splendid.”