“Of course I do!” Goldie thought back to the days he tagged along. He was a pest!
“You guys were brutal. Remember the time you made me be all the boy parts for the backyard production ofGrease?”
“I do. You were a great Danny.”
“Ugh.”
Joe was smiling. She half thought he didn’t believe she was from here. Goldie supposed she came off as some sort of Hollywood Monster.
She was glad that Jared was making a fuss. She was happy to see him, and it was another sweet memory of her time here. She had wanted to get out so badly, get to her life, that she sometimes forgot that she started out pretty great, right here.
They chatted a bit, Jared explained the finerpoints of humane raccoon re-homing, and she made a promise that all her renovation supplies would be handled right here.
There were a few other customers in the store.
“We’ll let you get back to your work. Thank you, Jared. We all set, Joe?”
“Yes, boss.”
“Stop.”
“Yes, Goldie.”
They hauled their purchases out of Peck’s, past a few customers who were now lined up at the checkout.
One customer had a t-shirt that Goldie recognized.
It was only later that she realized why.
Chapter Fifteen
Libby
“Why do you look so, I don’t know, satisfied?”
“Well, I solved our cash flow problem.”
“What? You didn’t sell some diamond that was on the Titanic or something, did you?”
Libby, J.J., and Aunt Emma were eating lunch, as usual, at the perpetually empty but always delicious Hope’s Table. And sadly, Hope had plenty of time to pop into the conversation.
Libby tried to remember her line of questioning with Aunt Emma, but artichoke dip was melting in her mouth.
“Hope, this is divine. Wow. Okay, back to you, ya sly fox, what about selling Two Lakes?”
“Goldie’s taken it. Patrick did the paperwork. You’ll see, it’s off your books, significantly over asking price!”
“What?”
“Yeah, you’ll have to sign something or other, but it’s off your plate.Goldie’s on it!”
Libby hadn’t seen Goldie yesterday, but today they all planned to get together for dinner.
“Wow, that’s a change. I wonder what she’s thinking?”
“Irish Hills beats Beverly Hills. We knew the old town had it in her,” J.J. said.
“Yeah, but, wow.”
