The doorbell chimed just in time to stop Julie from having to answer that question. Miss Bessie, her favorite customer, was being wheeled in by her caregiver.
“Hey there, old lady,” Bessie joked when she saw Dixie. “Where’ve you been?”
Dixie stood up and walked over to hug her. “Oh, I’ve just been doing some traveling with my new husband.”
Bessie’s eyes widened. “You went and got married? You crazy old bat!”
The two women had been friends for ages, and Julie loved to hear them rib each other. “I know, I know. But, he’s a good man. You’ll like him.”
“Oh, you know I’m happy for you, old friend,” Bessie said, squeezing Dixie’s hand.
“Maybe your Prince Charming is out there?” Dixie teased.
“Yeah, well, he can stay out there. I’m too old to put up with any man’s crap!”
Julie couldn’t help but laugh at their conversation. She imagined that she and Janine might have a similar conversation when they aged a few more decades.
“Hey there, pretty lady,” she said as Julie walked over and rubbed her shoulder.
“Good afternoon, Miss Bessie.”
“Tell me something good.” She would always ask this when she saw Julie. It was her “thing”. She said hearing one good thing each day made for a beautiful, happy life. Julie believed her.
Julie sat back down at the table, as did Dixie. “Well, I’m throwing this wonderful woman a big wedding reception in a couple of weeks, and I think that’s pretty dang good! And you’re invited, Miss Bessie. You as well, Amelia,” she said to her caregiver. Amelia smiled.
“Oh, I don’t get out much to parties these days, but that sure is a good thing!”
“What about you, Miss Bessie? What’s your good thing today?”
She smiled slightly. “Well, darlin’, I found out this morning that my grandson is coming to get me.”
“I’m not sure I understand?”
“My grandson, Carl, lives in Tampa. He just retired from being a police officer, and he and his wife are coming to take me to live with them.”
Julie was stunned and a little heartsick. She knew what this meant. Once Bessie left Seagrove, the likelihood of ever seeing her again was minimal. She was in her nineties, after all.
“Oh, wow. Are you happy to be leaving? You grew up here, didn’t you?” Julie asked.
“I sure did. Man, I ran around on these beaches my whole life. Raised my kids here too. But, life takes funny twists and turns sometimes, doesn’t it?”
Dixie smiled. “I sure will miss you.”
Bessie reached out and held her hand. “Honey, I know where I’m going one day, and I know I’ll see you both there.”
“Let’s not talk about things like that,” Julie pleaded, her eyes welling with tears.
“Dying’s all a part of living, honey. Live while you’re young! Do all the things you want to do, especially the ones that scare you half to death!”
Something about what she said resonated deep in Julie’s heart. She literally felt it go through her, like someone had hit her in the chest with a heavy book.
“When do you leave?” Dixie asked.
“End of the week. He’s got a whole apartment set up for me. Amelia’s coming too!”
Julie looked at Amelia. She’d been taking care of Bessie for years, according to Dixie. “Are you excited?”
“I am. I couldn’t bear to leave Miss Bessie’s side. We’ve been together a long time,” she said. Amelia was getting up in age herself, but she was devoted to Bessie. It was heartwarming to see. Julie imagined Carl would end up caring for Amelia at some point too.
“So this is your last visit to our little bookstore?” Julie asked.
Bessie nodded sadly. “I’m afraid so, but I sure will think about y’all every time I get Amelia to read me a book.”
“Well, what kind of book are you looking for today then?” Dixie asked.
“I’d like to get some books about Florida. I need to know all about my new home state,” she said, smiling broadly.
“I think we can help you with that!” Dixie waved her hand, and Amelia followed, pushing Bessie in the wheelchair. As Julie watched them go to the back of the store, it occurred to her just how quickly life could change.
One minute, you think you’re happily married, and your husband comes home and destroys everything.
One minute, your daughter is a college student in France, and the next minute she’s a mother.
One minute, your favorite customer is sitting in front of you, and the next she’s moving to Tampa, and you’ll likely never see her again.
Julie sighed. Life sure could turn on a dime.
Chapter Six
William stood back and looked at the boat. Even though he, Dawson and Harry had been working on it for a couple of weeks now, it still looked like a wreck, at least cosmetically.
Thankfully, Harry had been able to fix a lot of the mechanical issues. It was definitely seaworthy now, and Tucker had been by a couple of times to help as well. The foster kids’ camp was taking up much of his time, which William totally understood.
“I don't think people are going to want to get on this boat with the way that it looks. Personally, I would assume it would sink before we even got away from the dock,” William said. Dawson, the only person helping him today, laughed.
“Which is why we're going to start painting it. Of course, we need to start sanding first. And you might want to consider replacing the flooring. I'm not sure there's much we can do with this.”
William looked down at the warped wooden floors, holes sporadically scattered across the surface. “You don't think we could put a big piece of plexiglass and just say that it's one of those cool glass bottom boats?”
Dawson chuckled. “Yeah, I'm gonna say no on that one.”
“I didn't realize how much work this thing was going to take. Are you hungry?”
“Starving. I worked all morning helping to set up for the camp, so honestly this was a nice break. Colleen is quite the dictator,” he said, sitting down on the dock and hanging his legs over the side. “She was getting a little stressed out this morning. I’ve never heard her raise her voice, so I got the heck out of dodge.”
William pulled a cooler out of the boat and joined him, sitting down and putting it in his lap. He reached in and removed a couple of sandwiches, handing one to Dawson.
“When I went by to see Janine this morning, Julie gave me these. She said they were your favorite,” William said, in a singsongy way.
Dawson bumped William’s shoulder with his. “Don't be jealous. At least my girlfriend knows how to cook.”
William laughed. “Well, you've got me there. Janine's great at heating up macaroni and cheese and the occasional cold pizza, but she’s certainly no chef.”
“But you love her.”
He nodded. “That I do. The fact that she's okay with me starting up this new venture and doesn't think I'm some sort of immature, adolescent boy is amazing.”
“Yeah, I guess we're both lucky that way. We found two women who want us to dream big and do what we love. Not many of them out there.”