“Think you can stay awake till I get you home?” he asked.
“I’ll do my best.” She stretched her legs out in front of her and forced her eyes to stay open.
Within minutes, Tuck was pulling into her driveway. When he looked as though he was about to get out of the truck, she said, “Thanks, Tuck. I can make it from here.”
“You sure?”
Liddy paused. She’d have loved to invite Tuck in, put her arms around him and rest against his broad chest, be still, and share a moment of gratitude with him. But she simply lacked the physical strength to do more than tell him how much his thoughtfulness had warmed her heart. Whatever else she might say would have to wait for another time.
So she simply nodded and said, “See you later. And thanks again for everything. For all the work you did on the shop and the planting box and all the flowers and that wonderful sign. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all you’ve done to make this day special for me. So many people commented on how beautiful the shop was. Even the out-of-towners mentioned how all the color drew their attention to the shop. So thank you.” She put a hand over her heart and added softly, “You’re my hero, Tuck.”
“Good to know. It’s been my pleasure to help you. You’ve thanked me enough. Now go inside and go to bed.” He put the truck in gear, and she slammed the passenger door. “Good night, Liddy.”
She followed the path to her front door, wishing she’d had the presence of mind to leave the front light on. She climbed the steps, her heart full and her hand searching in her bag for the house keys. Tuck backed out of the driveway, pausing long enough for her to unlock the door and wave goodbye. Too tired to even eat, she somehow managed to strip out of her clothes and fall facedown on her bed. She was sound asleep in less than twenty minutes.
Chapter Six
Totally content to be exactly where she was at the moment, Grace sat in a rocking chair on her mother’s front porch, her feet resting on the railing and her legs crossed at the ankles while she sipped the morning’s first cup of coffee. Oh, sure, she’d rather be sitting on her own porch, but that was in the works. She mentally added build front porch to her list of things to do once she got the go-ahead on her plans for Liddy’s little house. Cottage did sound cozier, but Grace liked the original name—the little house—and thought she’d keep it. Maybe have a plaque to proclaim it—in lowercase letters—somewhere on the property, like putting a name tag on the house. She couldn’t wait for her plans to become reality. She could barely contain her excitement about her forthcoming meeting with Tuck after work. Having her own place again would be the best thing ever. Having a place of her own without memories of her failed marriage would be even better than best.
Not that living in her mother’s home was terrible. It wasn’t, not at all. She and Maggie had gotten along famously—for the most part—since they’d moved to Wyndham Beach. Grace suspected they owed their current compatibility to Maggie’s being happy in her own life as much as to Grace’s relief at having distanced herself from the life she’d left behind in Philadelphia with all its conflict. That flat-out, all-around mess was in the rearview mirror along with her law career, but she was okay with that, too. For ten years, she’d practiced at the firm founded by her father, but when it had all crashed and burned, she’d left the city with her tail between her legs, convinced she’d never practice again. Over time, might she have regained the respect she’d once enjoyed as part of the Philly legal community and the face of Flynn Law? Would she come to regret having moved on, miss the challenges, the courtroom sparring with opposing attorneys, the thrill of banking yet another big win? Maybe. But for now, she was fine with things just the way they were. Occasionally she did wonder how things were going at the firm, and how some of her old friends were doing, but did she miss her old life? She could honestly say she did not.
Grace liked Wyndham Beach, liked the life she was building for herself, and she had no desire to look beyond that. She loved the creative challenge of building imaginative websites for her business clients, and she enjoyed working with Liddy in Wyndham Beach Reads. After the pressure of making opening day a smash, things had calmed down at the shop, and both she and Liddy were settling into their roles. Grace’s income had taken a nosedive, but she didn’t need much to live on in the casual beach town, where the only occasion she’d had to wear one of her designer suits was to the funeral of a friend of her mother’s a few months ago. These days, Grace lived in shorts or jeans and T-shirts. She found it liberating to not worry about her appearance the way she’d done in her previous life.
Grace’s restlessness had only been seeping in since her mother had reunited with Brett. Not that she begrudged Maggie her newfound happiness. Not at all. Maggie smiled so much these days, and had a spring in her step Grace hadn’t seen in ages. She deserved happiness after the pain of losing her husband—Grace and Natalie’s father—and the fact she’d found joy with her first love, well, what could be better? Once upon a time, Maggie and Brett had dreamed of a life together, only to lose the dream, and now to have found it again? Priceless. That didn’t mean Grace wanted to witness every moment of their happy life under the same roof. And it wasn’t that Maggie and Brett were all over each other in Grace’s presence. If anything, they were actually quite restrained. And that was part of what bothered Grace, sensing her mother felt she had to avoid showing too much affection for Brett around her daughter. Grace wanted her mother to feel free to be herself in her own home. As Grace had told Natalie, “If Mom wants to nail Brett on the kitchen table, I don’t want her to feel she has to hold back because she’s afraid I’ll walk in on them and be horrified.”
Natalie had laughed. “Scarred for life, for sure. But yeah, I see your point.”
When Liddy mentioned the little house that stood empty at the back of her property, Grace couldn’t wait to see it again. She hadn’t been inside since she was a child, but as soon as she stepped across the threshold, she couldn’t wait to make it her own. She just knew she could polish that little place into a perfect gem of a home. She’d been able to think of little else since she stepped inside.
Grace’s phone rang, and she held the coffee mug away from her body lest she spill it while she searched her pockets for her phone.
“Hello?”
“Gracie, hi. Whatcha doing?” Natalie sounded unusually cheerful.
“Rocking on Mom’s front porch, drinking coffee, and trying to talk myself into getting dressed to run down to the bookshop. You?”
“Walking from the parking lot to my first class,” Natalie told her, which Grace could have guessed since her sister’s words were punctuated by her huffing and puffing. “How’re things in Wyndham Beach?”
“Great. It’s a beautiful morning. If I hadn’t promised Liddy to come in when she opened, I’d be walking on the beach right now. I don’t know how many more beautiful, sunny, warm mornings we’ll have here. I’ve never experienced a New England autumn or winter, so I don’t know what to expect.”
“Lots of color in autumn, lots of snow in winter. What else do you need to know?”