“I suppose,” Gabi said. “But it’s up to Moby.”
They walked up the hill and when they entered the house, Ivy was waiting for them at the door. She was already dressed and had taken out her rollers and combed her hair. “Quick, girls, I need to get to the library. The painting class begins in half an hour.”
Zoey was surprised. Although a few days ago she would have been happy to see her aunt getting involved in something out of the house, Ivy hadn’t mentioned anything specific about wanting to go to a class, and she hesitated. “I don’t know if that’s a such good idea, Aunt Ivy.”
“Why not? You’re the one who’s been pushing me to take a class. I’ll enjoy this one more than any of the classes at the senior center. And Dr. Laurent seems to think I will, too. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have recommended it.
“Okay, but—”
“But nothing. The only thing that has changed between yesterday morning and this morning is your awareness of my arrhythmia. The arrhythmia itself hasn’t changed. I’m no worse off. So I don’t want anyone treating me any differently. Now, let’s go!”
“I was just going to say I’m not sure we can get a driver to pick us up that quickly.”
“Who needs a driver?” Ivy dangled a set of keys in front of Zoey’s nose. “I have a perfectly good car in the garage. Which is where I’m headed.”
“Me, too,” Gabi said. Zoey was going to tell her if she was too sick for school she was too sick to go to the library. Then she realized Gabi was volunteering to go so Ivy wouldn’t charge down the steps without support while Zoey dashed upstairs to grab her wallet.
After getting into the boat of a car, Zoey tried multiple times to reverse into the narrow driveway, fearing she’d knock over the picket fence on the side if she was too hasty. By the fifth time she’d backed out and pulled into the garage again, Ivy said, “Move over. Let me give it a try.”
Aware that she’d dampen her aunt’s newfound sense of adventure if she objected, Zoey nervously relinquished the driver’s seat. She intended to stand outside so she could signal Ivy if she got too close to the fence, but her aunt told her to get back in the car or risk being flattened. She’d barely buckled her seatbelt before Ivy pressed on the gas pedal and expertly maneuvered the car down the brick driveway on her first try. When she stopped at the sidewalk so she could switch places with Zoey again, Gabi hooted, “Who-hoo! That wasawesome, Aunt Ivy. Will you give me driving lessons?”
“Oh, I’m afraid I couldn’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“The last time my license expired, I didn’t bother to renew it. Legally, I’m not allowed to drive except on private property.”
“You could teach me how to back down the driveway, then. That’s one of the hardest skills to master.”
“And you’re speaking from personal experience, right Gabi?” Zoey teased.
“No, I’m speaking from the experience of sitting in the back seat whileyouwere trying to drive in reverse,” she retorted drily. But when Zoey glanced in the rearview mirror, she caught her niece smiling to herself and she smiled, too, happy that things were starting to get back to normal between them.
They made it to the tiny library in the nick of time. While their aunt was in her art class, Gabi browsed the local history section and Zoey chatted with the librarian, who informed her the library would be closing permanently on July 15. That’s when she was relocating to Colorado because her husband was starting a new job. The town hadn’t found a replacement to fill her role.
“It’s a shame that this place is going to close, but there are only a handful of librarians in Hope Haven and they’re already staffing the other libraries,” she said. “Unfortunately, the salary isn’t high enough to counterbalance the cost of living here, so we haven’t attracted any qualified off-island candidates.”
When Zoey inquired about the exact figure, she understood why the pay rate was an obstacle. And yet, the thought ran through her mind that if she continued to stay with her aunt and lease out her townhome, she’d be able to afford to live on a lot less. Theoretically,shecould take the librarian position. The prospect certainly had its appeal, because even though she’d been trying to keep Ivy from feeling apprehensive about her eventual return to Providence, lately Zoey was finding thatshefelt anxious about her departure, too. Not only because it would mean saying goodbye to her aunt, but also because it would mean saying goodbye to Hope Haven. The longer Zoey stayed, the more accustomed she was becoming to island life. The more shepreferredisland life.
But what if she passed up the position in Providence to take this job and her aunt had a health-care need that forced her to move six months from now? Or, heaven forbid, if she died? Mark would take over the house and Zoey would be in almost the same position financially that she was in now. Plus, she’d have nowhere to live.Unfortunately, staying in Hope Haven permanently isn’t an option for me,she concluded. And for the rest of the hour, she researched additional employment opportunities online, just in case the one she was interviewing for the following day didn’t pan out.
On the way home, Ivy raved about the artist, Emily, who also taught elementary-school kids in the island’s school system. “She was so creative and encouraging. You’ll never guess who her husband is—he’s that pediatrician who took your splinter out, Zoey. They met when she came to the island to paint a mural for the children’s wing at the hospital,” her aunt babbled. “She was only supposed to stay for the summer but then she met the doc and they fell in love and got married. Isn’t that romantic? Her story gives me hope for you and Nick.”
“You and Nick?” Gabi taunted, “Wait till I tell Aidan he’s going to get a new mommy!”
“Don’t you dare! I mean it, Gabi.”
“Okay, okay. I won’t… if you stop so we can get an ice-cream cone.”
“It’s too early. Bleecker’s isn’t open yet,” Zoey fudged. She actually didn’t know what time the shop started serving, but she was concerned about Ivy’s diet, since Dr. Laurent had emphasized that she ought to stick to healthy foods.
“Can we stop to get more strawberries and flour instead? Aunt Ivy’s going to teach me to make a pie now that the paint’s dry on the cupboards.”
“I thought you had a stomachache,” Zoey grumbled as she pulled into the supermarket parking lot. “I’ll let you off by the door and then I’ll circle around so I don’t have to dock this ship.”
“I’m going in, too,” Ivy announced. “I can’t remember the last time I went into a grocery store.”
Zoey was impressed that she was expanding her interests and taking on new challenges and she understood that Ivy didn’t want anyone fussing over her health. However, as she watched her niece and aunt inching toward the supermarket, she couldn’t help but worry that Ivy was overexerting herself physically.
