I reach for Noah’s hand. “But our marriage is real. What could she possibly prove?”
“It might be real now, but was it in Vegas?” Ms. Angela asks under her breath.
I shrug. “It’ll be real when he turns thirty-two.”It already is.
Ms. Angela raises her eyebrows. “Well, something good came out of this,” she says, beaming, making Noah blush. “As for the problem at hand, none of us are lawyers. Could be that it would be considered fraud. It’s not like we’re going to ask a professional opinion on that.”
Noah and I nod in silence.
“I say we stick to my plan.” She sets her coffee mug on Noah’s desk. “Now, I believe I have some town hall business to tend to.”
I walk her to the door and turn the sign toOpen, then stand on the doorstep for a minute. It’s a crisp morning, the sky still blushing from the sunrise, birds chirping, golden leaves gently falling to a crimson carpet. It’s the kind of day full of gorgeous promises, and somehow I can’t bring myself to believe that Emerald Creek, the way we know it, could be living its last weeks, maybe less. I won’t let it happen.
Turning back inside, I putter around the store, straightening the jars of jam so all the labels are front-facing, and dusting the shelves of custom-made wooden utensils until Dean comes back inside.
Shortly after, Haley arrives, followed by Chloe, Kiara, and Alex carrying baby Ivy in a pouch sling.
Puzzled, I return their side hugs with a tease. “D’you guys need Old Man Cal’s Day After potion?” The herbal infusion is rumored to cure hangovers. “I heard the wedding party ended in the wee hours Sunday.” Noah and I were long gone.
“Your husband was on the phone with my husband and it didn’t look like fun,” Kiara explains. It still makes my heart feel funny in a good way that we’re both married now.
“We heard about Gail,” Haley confirms.
A warm feeling fills me. “Aww, that’s so sweet of you. We don’t know when the meeting will be yet, but… d’you want supplies for signs or something?” I’m moved that the Bitch Brigade is coming together for me this time.
The front door chimes again with the arrival of Sophie, Autumn, and Cassandra. “We’re here!” they huff, then let someone else in.
“Lane?”
“Hey, I’m a permanent resident now.” She locks the front door and turns the sign back toClosed. “We Callaway women stick together, and most of all, we show up for our town.”
A series of “whoop whoop” sounds throughout the store. Dean, who’d been in the back, appears and claps his approval while Lane shows everyone upstairs. “You settle on the floor sofas, we’ll bring coffee.” Sofas? Coffee? What’s going on?
“Ms. Angela posted a call to the Bitch Brigade on ECHoes,” Lane explains, cheeks bright with excitement.
“I’ll bring up a whole pot of coffee and mugs,” Elaine says, shooing me upstairs.
“I brought muffins!” Alex calls out.
Once we’re situated, Sophie takes over. “The point of this meeting is to show the town what the store and the Callaways mean to Emerald Creek, in anticipation of the town hall meeting.We’re going to channel Willow’s vision for the windows,” she says, making large gestures. “The back of the windows will have a whole backdrop papered with photos of the Callaway generations throughout the ages. The inside of the windows will display everything they sell that is local. Maple syrups, beeswax candles, local jewelry, art, pottery, wine and spirits, you name it.”
Chloe’s face lights up. “For the deli, we could make little chalkboard signs of the local produce and fresh meat and cheeses.”
“Yes! I’m putting you in charge of that,” Sophie says. “Who’s with me and the history part? I’ll be going through library archives, but I need you to call your grandmas and aunties and everyone you can think of, bring out those dusty photo albums and find some pictures of the Callaways. Bring them to the library and we’ll blow them up to poster size.”
“Love that,” Cassandra says. “Willow already has a lot of pictures, don’t you?”
I nod while Lane says, “We have tons at home.”
Alex rocks her baby gently. “Literally, the store will be the window on Emerald Creek and the larger area. I love it,” she says.
“People will walk by and see their own honey, or their cousins’ leather gloves, or their neighbor’s quilts, or their sisters’ wreaths,” Autumn marvels.
“Once we explain to them that a chain store won’t be doing that, they’ll have a literal vision of what could change,” Kiara puts in. “Genius.”
Tears prickle my eyes. “That’s such a great idea.”
Cassandra leans closer to me. “This is your vision, Willow. You started this. Like Sophie said earlier, we’re only channeling you.” She wraps an arm around my shoulders. “I’m so proud of you.But also, I’m not surprised. You’ve always been Emerald Creek’s little sweetheart.”
