“Obviously,” Eleanor agreed with the same solemnity. She liked Cadence. She hoped she would get to see more of the woman now that they were both locals.
“But, let me see, what else? Okay, so donottry to get a hotel reservation during tourist season. You basically need a million-year advance noticeanda good luck charm to make it happen.You already know that Juniper has the best pastries and coffee. The grocery store is on the smaller side, but if you let Kelly know something you need in advance, she’ll order it for you. And the library does lots of events, although maybe that’s something that you only need to know if you have little kids,” she finished, giving another soft look to her daughter.
“Ah, mine is all grown up,” Eleanor explained. “He just started college. But we basically lived in the library when he was a toddler.”
“Yeah, the library is the best,” Isabelle said, nose deep in her hot cocoa.
“And it’s still good information for me,” Eleanor added with a grin. “Because I’m a semi-professional reader.”
She brushed off her shoulders likeno big deal, making Cadence laugh.
“Only semi-professional? What do you do for work?”
Ugh. Eleanor grimaced. “I was home with my son, so I haven’t had a job in years,” she admitted. “Figuring that out… is part of my next stage, I guess.”
Again, Cadence revealed herself a kindred spirit by nodding without judgment.
“What do you do for work?” Eleanor asked.
“I run a small art gallery in town,” Cadence said. “Whenever you’re looking to decorate your new place, let me know. Even if what we have in the gallery isn’t exactly your style, I know most of the local distributors and can help you find stuff. Although,” she added with a wink, “I think the gallery will have something you like. It’s a great space.”
Eleanor laughed at the woman’s playful self-promotion. “I love it. I don’t think my next step is decoratingjustyet, but I’ll keep that in mind when I get there.”
Cadence nodded. “Well, if part of your next stage is getting to know some locals, I can help you out there. Any chance you’d like to meet a couple of friends with me for dinner in two days?”
Eleanor tried to look the normal level of excited, instead of the absolute, throw-up-your-hands, do-a-dance level of excitement she actually felt.
“I’d love that,” she said.
Shortly after the women exchanged phone numbers, Cadence and Isabelle bid Eleanor farewell. Eleanor finished up her delicious snack and drink and headed to meet the realtor to get into her new house… and start her next chapter, which suddenly felt bright and shining with possibility.
CHAPTER SIX
Garrett realizedsomethingwas different before it clicked into place what he was really seeing as he drove home from work on Wednesday evening.
Some poor, luckless dope had actually bought that old pile on Piedmont Street.
The place had been for sale for about a thousand years, by Garrett’s estimation, and it had been virtually abandoned by the previous owners long before that. He would know, after all. He passed the house every day on his way to and from work for the past ten or so years, ever since his engagement had fallen apart. In that time, he had seen the overgrown lawn get its quick makeover when the “for sale” sign had taken up its spot, then had seen that sign languish until it had, once again, been swallowed up by foliage.
Now it was gone. And in its place, there was a car in the driveway and boxes on the porch.
If Garret had been a betting man, he would have put money on somebody eventually buying the house to flip it. For all that he grumbled about his neighbors getting in his business, he knew that Magnolia Shore wasn’t like other places and, accordingly, real estate options didn’t hit the market all thatoften. When people moved to town, they typically wanted to stay. For somebody with time and experience taking a run-down property and making it over, the Piedmont Street house could be a potential landmine.
The boxes on the porch, however, suggested that someone was moving in. Man, was that place even livable?
It was none of his business, though. Or rather, itwouldbe his business when whatever fellow had stumbled into that place finally came into his shop needing supplies. This was the kind of project that could give Nuts and Bolts a really good month.
He just thought that whoever the guy was, he had alotof patience.
“It’s all been pretty amazing,” Eleanor lied to her son as she sat on the floor of her new living room, surrounded by boxes.
It was, she reasoned, only a twenty percent lie. Twenty-five percent, tops, depending on how one ranked the situation with her house.
“That’s so great, Mom,” Jeremy said. As usual, there was the hustle and bustle of campus life going on behind him. “I don’t want to say I wasworriedabout you or anything, since I knew you could do it. ”
Eleanor smiled. It was a strange and wonderful novelty to have an adult child. On one hand, she remembered when he was still in diapers, when he was learning how to read, when he had that gap-toothed smile. He was still her baby, and part of him always would be. But he was also so grown up now, so competent, so mature. It was a marvel to see it.
“It has been a little bit abrupt though, hasn’t it,” she said, filling in his trailed-off sentence.
