Beverly turned back to her. “You know, Dale’s a great guy. He’s really gotten into the history of Magnolia Key. He’s done a lot of research. He has a small section at Second Finds dedicated to the history of the island.”
“He does seem nice.” And handsome.Now, where had that thought come from?
“Well, I think I’m going to head in and do some reading. Or at least try to keep my eyes open long enough to read. I’m beat.” Beverly got up and headed inside.
Maxine sat outside, watching the stars begin to twinkle in the sky. It was so very peaceful sitting out here. She put her feet up on a footrest and leaned back, relaxing.
She was pleased at how quickly she’d caught on to working at Coastal Coffee. She didn’t want to let Beverly down. The extra hours she picked up were nice, too. Beverly paid a fair wage, and the tips were decent. She wanted to add to her savings and find a place of her own. So maybe, finally, she’d feel like she wasn’t depending on someone else.
She’d been more than happy to look for the bookshelf to help Beverly out. She loved going to antique shops and secondhand stores looking for furniture and other items. Not that she’d had the money to do that recently. But when she and Victor were first married and didn’t have much money, she furnished their house with old antique finds she’d discovered. Once Victor rose up the company ladder and his earnings skyrocketed, he’d demanded the old furniture go. He’d hired an interior designer to decorate the huge house he got them. In the right area of town, of course. The house wasn’t one she would have picked out. It had no life, no spark. But it sure was big, and Victor loved that.
It had a huge dining room where she threw business dinner parties. The room was filled with an expensive dining room set that cost more than all she’d earned—combined—from the jobs she’d had the last couple of years. But Victor had taken that dining room set with him for the new—bigger—house he’d purchased when he divorced her.
But she’d naively thought they were happy there raising the kids. She was always chauffeuring the kids around to their activities. Victor would show up at an occasional sports game or school event. Enough that he could look like the concerned, involved father. Though he never wanted to be bothered by details of the kids’ lives or schedules. But she’d handled all that. Made sure they were where they were supposed to be, when they were supposed to be.
But none of that mattered when Victor walked in and announced he was divorcing her. No question of marriage counseling or a trial separation. He just… moved on. Her heart clutched remembering the day he’d come home from work. She had dinner waiting in the oven for him. He never really let her know when he would be home so she’d grown used to making sure she made something she could keep warm.
But that day he came in, threw some papers on the kitchen table, and declared they were getting divorced. She’d been too shocked to cry. To even question him. He went upstairs, and she stared at the legal papers.
He came downstairs fifteen minutes later with two large suitcases. “I’ll get the rest of my things later. You should get a lawyer of your own. I want this signed and over quickly. The kids are grown, so we won’t have any custody hassles. Let’s just get this signed and move on.”
She sat there as the night darkened without even reading the papers on the table. Then she got up, dumped dinner in the trash, and headed to the sunroom, her favorite spot in the house. She curled up in her chair and fell asleep. But the next morning when she woke up, reality hit her. Victor had left. The kids were grown, moved out, and didn’t need her. She was alone. And suddenly she had no idea of who she was.
Maxine shook her head, chasing away the memories. There was no use spoiling a perfectly fine evening with thoughts of what had happened. She couldn’t change it. Victor had left. She was on her own now. She just had to make the best of it. And she would. Coming back to Magnolia Key had been the first step.
Although she still had no idea of who she was anymore…
CHAPTER5
Promptly at three the next day, Dale showed up with the bookcase in the back of his delivery van. He used a dolly to bring it in and put it in the storage room.
“I really like the lines, and I think it’s going to be the perfect size.” Beverly stood back, eyeing it.
“I do, too. I can’t wait to get started painting it.”
“The general store has some paint here on the island, but you’d have a better selection on the mainland. I’m headed over there to the big hardware store on Monday if you want to tag along and pick out what you need,” Dale offered.
Maxine looked at Beverly. “Would that be okay, or do you need me to work?”
“No, that’s fine. Besides, you’d be doing me a favor to get this all painted and finished.”
“I’m taking the ten o’clock ferry. I could pick you up, then we’d only have the one vehicle.”
“That will work.” Maxine couldn’t wait to get started on the project. She just hoped it turned out as great in reality as it did in her mind.
“I’ve got to go do some paperwork. I’ll see you back at home.” Beverly turned and headed into her office.
Dale stood there shifting from foot to foot. “So… I guess that’s all you need?”
“Yes, thank you. It was so nice of you to deliver it too.”
“I didn’t mind.” He shifted again and gave a little smile.
Silence fell between them. She searched for something to say. “So, you took over Ginger’s shop for her?” Of course he did. That was obvious.
“I did. Helped her out when I first got to town. She still insisted on coming to work each day, even after her fall. Slowly she cut back on how much she worked until…”
“I was sorry to hear of her passing. She was a great lady. Always let me browse around in her store, and she found special items she knew I’d be interested in. I still have a small wooden box I got from there. It has a carved tree on the lid. So pretty. It had a broken hinge, so she let me have it for a big discount.” She laughed. “Then she helped me fix the hinge.”
