“’Dear Ms. Ridley,’” she read. “Ooh, ‘Ms. Ridley.’ Why is that already so annoying?”
“Keep going, El,” he urged.
“Okay, okay. ‘Dear Ms. Ridley, I am leaving this note to inform you that your new fence, which was not approved by any of the relevant town councils, is seven and a half inches closer to the street than can be installed without a permit. This means that your fence is currently installed on public property and will need to be removed posthaste.’” Eleanor paused again with another squawk of outrage. “’Posthaste?’ Is that meant to be a joke about fences? Like fence posts?”
“I don’t think so, honey,” Garrett reassured her. “I think it’s just a fancy way of saying ‘do it right now.’”
“Maybe,” Eleanor grumbled. “Anyway, there’s more. ‘Please let me know when you have moved the fence accordingly so that I know you have completed this task satisfactorily. Sincerely, Winnie Burnett.”
She lowered her hands, fighting back the urge to rip up the note into tiny little pieces.
Ooh, that Winnie Burnett really ground her gears!
Garrett put reassuring hands on her shoulders, as if he could sense her ire. She wouldn’t be surprised if he could. The tension was practically rolling off her in waves.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said soothingly.
This was, for whatever strange reason, the thing that pushed Eleanor’s temper right over the edge.
“Can you believe this?” she demanded, shaking the letter. “Move my fence? Report to her when I’ve done it? When I’ve done itsatisfactorily? I assume that means to Winnie Burnett’s satisfaction, hm?”
Garrett rubbed his hands up and down her arms.
“Listen,” he said. “This is a pain in the behind, no doubt about it. And Winnie Burnett might be highly involved in the goings-on about town, but she isn’t the mayor, and she isn’t a lawyer. But we’re going to actually talk to a lawyer, or at least a town council member who can help advise us about whether or not this note is accurate regarding the rules.”
“That is… a very measured response,” Eleanor grumbled.
“That’s what I’m here for,” he said, wrapping her into a hug. Heat or no, it was a very reassuring kind of embrace. “For now, we’re not going to worry. And we’re not going to act rashly.”
“But we’re probably not going to paint the fence either,” she complained.
He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. It was beginning to become his signature move, and Eleanor found it even more reassuring every time he did it.
“You’re the best,” she said.
He laughed. “You don’t have to sound so disappointed about it… and, by the way, don’t forget that you said that in a minute when you see the kitchen, huh?”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Cadence sat on her front porch, long unused baby monitor sitting beside her. Izzy was old enough that she didn’t need the surveillance of a smaller child, but Cadence liked to know that she could at least hear what was going on inside the house when she ducked outside.
Or maybe she just wanted to think she’d had a good reason for keeping it, she thought wryly as she sipped her glass of white wine. She had thought for a long time that she’d need it for her next baby, but life had shown itself as having other plans.
She sighed, although it wasn’t too heavy. Sometimes thinking about her fertility struggles felt like pressing on a bruise, like she needed to prod at it to see if it still hurt. And, yes, there was still some pain there. She suspected there always would be. But it wasn’t agonizing any longer. It was more like an ache.
Things were changing, she thought, taking another sip of her wine. Moving ahead. And yes, change could be hard, but it could be good too.
Her thoughts turned more cheerful. If everything stayed the same, after all, she never would have met Eleanor, whom she now counted as one of her closest friends. There wouldn’tbe a bookstore coming to Magnolia Shore. Diana wouldn’t be expanding her horizons.
And, of course, it was every parent’s joy to watch their kid grow up… even if it was sometimes twinged with the sense that they were growing rather too quickly for comfort. Still, Cadence loved watching Isabelle get bigger, loved seeing her interest blossom and her personality develop.
So yes. Change was challenging. But it was so, so beautiful too.
She was startled out of her thoughts by her phone buzzing on the porch swing beside her. She flipped it face up and then blinked in surprise.
Why was Tyler calling her so late in the evening?
Despite her confusion, she did not hesitate before answering.
