Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (44 page)

“
Great.
I have all the necessary paper
wor
k right here.” She pulled a
folder from her
Gucci
bag
.

A
ll the form
s
were
completed
and signed
.
The
shop would soon be transformed according to the lessee’s vis
ion—it saddened me.
In all probability
,
the bookshop was destined to become a thing of the past.

Audra
hadn’t seen the apartment, so
I
gave her a tour. “What a
beautifully decorated home
.
I
f you’re selling any of the furniture
, give me a call
.”

“I’l
l let you know as soon as I do
.”
I
laughed an
d walked her back downstairs. Outside
the door
,
I
watched her pull
away in her sports car
.
Do we real
ly resemble each other
? I had an urge to dye my hair a raven color to match hers, just to see.

I’d barely stepped
back inside when
Goldie de
manded my attention—B
etsy
had
entered
the shop
door
. She wore the same blue floral
dress
as before
, her
soft brown
curls highlighted
wit
h the first lacing
of
silver threads
.

“
Betsy. Hi.
I’ve been so
wor
ried.”

“
H
ave time for a break
at Julia’s?”

“Definitely
.”
I called Goldie and we headed to the coffee shop.

T
he tantalizing smell of sugar and spice
greeted us before we were even inside
.
Betsy chuck
l
ed. “My favorite part of coming into town—one of Julia’s heavenly pastries.”

We slid into a back booth
.
“
I’m
so
sorry I invol
ved you, asking you to deliver the
note to Elizabeth. I guess
John
is
upset with you?”

Julia brought
two steamy
mugs to the table. “Can I interest you in sticky buns?”
We
both agreed—enthusiastically.

“He never mentioned it to me. Elizabeth
remembered
leaving the card in her pocket
.
She
didn’t te
ll him I was involved
.
Although
I’m sure he figured it ou
t
.
I
’
m the only one who spends time with
her—besides
John
, of
course
.
”

We both
took a bite of the caramel
,
nutty goodness
Julia had served
. “If I keep eating Julia’s baking
,
I’m going to blow up like one of the balloons in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.”
I slipped a tiny
bite to Goldie.

“Don’t I know it?
” She patted her slim midriff
.
Her expression turned serious.
“Elizabeth saw you from the w
indow when you visited
. S
he says s
ince
Anne
’s death
,
the injustice of her daughter
being force
d
to
give you away haunts
her
.”

“
Is
John
upset with her over the note?
”

“Since her stroke
,
he’s tender with her.
T
old me he
worries she’ll have another
.” Her fingertips
toyed with her
pearl
necklace.
“Elizabeth
blam
es herself. S
he b
elieves if
she’d stood up
to John
,
he’d have given in and let Anne keep the
baby.”

“You really think so
?”
It didn’t match the
image I held in my mind—
he
wasn’t one to be easily swayed.

She shook her head
.
“Not for a minute.
Growing up
,
I spent vacations with m
y gr
andmother, and often went with
her to visit Elizabeth
. T
he
John
I know now seems
like
a stubborn, older version of who he’s always been.”

“Do you have a
ny suggestions
how I might get through to
him?”

She thinned her
lips and shook her head. “
Not a clue.” She pulled a packet from her purse. “
Elizabeth wanted
you to have these pictures.
They’re of
Anne
. I guess I don’t need to tell you—no more notes. Elizabeth is forgetful. If you have any messages for her
,
they’ll need to be verbal. Tell me and I’ll relay it to her.”
Betsy scooted
out of the
booth.
“
I’m praying for you. God is the only one who can reach
John
.”

She went to la
y a few dollars on the table,
I waved it away. “
It’s the
least I can do.” With a hug, I
thanked her for being good to Elizabeth.
My
grandmother was blessed to have a sweet and nurturing friend like Betsy.

Julia slid into Betsy’s vacated spot.
“
John
is an ornery old soul
.” Obviously
,
she’d overheard
the conversation—I would’ve shared it with her anyway.

“Yes, he is
.
”
I glanced around the room.
“
I’m go
ing plant shopping. You need anything
?”

She wrinkled
her brow
.
“Plants are good.”

I
smile
d
. She wasn’t normally a woman of few words.
“I’ll deliver them to you in the morning. I have an appointment with Dr. Ellie this afternoon.”
My stomach
nervously
clenched
.
While the
sessions
were helping,
they
require
d
me
to probe deep
.
Similar
to searching for buried treasure—I
couldn’t be sure what might surface
.

“Wait
.” Julia hurried behind the counter. “
I bought some special treats for Goldie.
The gift shop at the
i
nn
carries them,
homemade dog goodies
.” Goldie
carefully took
one
from Julia’s hand and
swish
ed he
r tail.

“Thanks, Julia
.” With a wave
,
I wen
t around back for my SUV
.

Serenity
Blooms
was
on the opposite side of t
he street from the bookshop,
near
Shoreview Drive
.

At
the entrance
,
several galvanized buc
kets over
flowed
with fragrant tea roses, sunflowers,
Stargazer
lilies
,
and pretty daisies
, along with h
ydrangea po
m-poms in periwinkle, indigo
,
and
cotton candy
pink
.
I stepped past the colorful display through the opened doorway.
Gina
worked in
her design area
w
earing a yellow and red
smock,
focused on the
ar
r
angement she
was creating
.
“Hi, Gina.”

She g
lanced up
, and her
startled expression
quickly
changed to delight
.
“
Samantha
.
” She came to the counter where I stood. “
I did
n’t hear you come in. Ready to
decide on flowers for the big day?”

“B
ig day? I take it the
gossip brigade
is on the job.”

“Never take a day o
ff
,
do they?” She wore her platinum
hair well, but b
y no stret
ch di
d she
look
grandmotherly. T
hough I’d heard her two sons
had each given her a
grandchild.

“I need plants for the bookshop and also for Julia at the coffee shop.”

“
Coffee
Arabica
would be great for Julia. It’s a cof
fee plant with bright green leaves
ruffled on the e
dges. A few planted in oversized white coffee
mugs
would add a nice touch
.
A
nd t
here’s another coffee
plant
.
It
grows into a small tree—t
he berries start o
ut green and ripen to a dark red.
I’d need to special order those
.” She
consulted a book near the register
. “Let’s see
…
I
could have th
em
for her
next week.”

“Go ahead
and work up an order and call me when it comes in.
For the bookshop
,
I want plants to make it more inviting. Thought you might have three or four in stock.”

Gina helped me load the greenery. “I can’t wait to design your—
”
A
mischievous
grin spread acros
s her lips and morphed into a smile
.
“I’ll let you kno
w when the other order comes in.
”

“Thanks. See you later.”
Remnants of a gi
ggle were still with me as I
climbed into th
e driver
’
s seat. The day had been busy—i
f I didn’t rush, I
’d b
e late. I made a right onto Shoreview Drive
,
and
making a U-turn I
park
ed
in front of Dr. Ellie’s
cottage.

Halfway
out of the car
,
a flash of
light caught my attention. I
block
ed
the sun
with the
rose-covered
journal
I’d brought with me
. Flames were leaping,
and
black smo
ke filled
the s
ky, its angry intent f
ocused on the shops.
Was Main Street about to become a thing of the past?

Chapter
Th
irty-eight

My mother
told me that a single day had the power to
change the course of our liv
e
s
.
Had she
been referring to my adoption? How
about Anne
and t
he stories she wrote? S
he must have em
braced hope for the future—hope of someday having them
published. Why didn’t she? Did
the day she relinquished me into t
he arms of another woman change the course of her life? Is life meant to
be only unintentional
responses
to
our
circumstance
s
?
~Journal
entry