Page 110 of The Summer We Started Over

Inside was a small, perfect, brilliant diamond ring. Jeff took it from her and slid it onto her finger. Time stopped. The world vanished. Tears speckled Eddie’s cheeks. She was here, with Jeff, and the universe was telling her she was exactly where she should be.

Jeff leaned down and kissed her gently. “I love you.”

“I love you,” she whispered.

The back door opened. Bobby popped out. “Can I have those Oreo cookies we left in the barn? Why are you crying, Auntie Eddie? Did you hurt yourself?”

“These are happy tears, Bobby,” Eddie said. She stood up and held her hand out to the little boy. “Look! Look what Jeff gave me!”

Bobby glanced at her ring. “Pretty. Can I have some Oreos?”

Eddie felt like saying,Sweetheart, I’ll give you an Oreo factory!Instead, she said, “Bring the bag here. We’ll give you a few cookies, but not all of them at one time. You’d be sick.”

Before she could finish speaking, Bobby hightailed it to the barn, quickly returning with the cookies. Eddie took the bag, carefully opened it, and gave Bobby a handful. Before the child could get into the house, Duke appeared, as if a bell had rung, sitting up prettily for Bobby, asking for a cookie.

“If the horse shows up wanting a cookie, I’ll know I’m in a dream,” Eddie said.

“Bobby,” Jeff said, “no chocolate for dogs. If you want, you can eat the chocolate sides and give the middle to Duke.”

Bobby looked at his cookies thoughtfully. “The middle is the best part,” he said. And then he broke open the cookie, scooped a large piece of creamy sugar onto his finger, and held it out to Duke, who happily licked it off.

“I like that idea,” Eddie said. “The middle is the best part.”

—

Later, Jeff’s boss called him to come work on another job, and Bobby fell asleep on the sofa, and in spite of the heat, Eddie felt energized, soshe zoomed around the house picking out more books to take to the Book Barn. She closed the door—no one had come to the barn all day. She hurried back into the house to shower and wash her hair. Did anything feel as good as a cool shower on a hot day? She put on a pretty sundress, because she wanted to look good when she and Jeff made their announcement. Bobby woke up and she played hide-and-seek with him, giving him a chance to use some of his little boy energy without going out in the clingy dampness of the day. After a while, she sat down at the kitchen table with him to work on a sticker book.

Only occasionally did she experience a sting of worry, a little bell of alarm reminding her that she was going to have to break Dinah’s heart when she told her she couldn’t return to the city with her, that Dinah would have to find a new assistant.

But Eddie was determined. No amount of money or glamorous travel could lure Eddie away from Jeff this time.

—

Barrett was glad to close her shop that evening. It had been a difficult day. Her suppliers sent two boxes of the wrong product and Barrett had to email the company for the right product and prepare the return boxes for UPS to pick up. In the afternoon, a gaggle of teenage girls came in, giggling, picking up jewelry and dropping it anywhere, and taking off with two blue bracelets without paying for them, so Barrett had to call the shoplifter hotline for Nantucket’s shops. Eddie had stopped by that afternoon to tell her about her conversation with Dove, leaving Barrett sad but also jealous that it was Eddie who got to spend precious time with Dove, and ashamed of herself for being jealous. Paul had called, but she’d had several customers and said she’d call him back, but she’d never had the chance. People kept coming into her shop, and Janny wasn’t there to help.

Now she stood outside Nantucket Blues, locking the door, when her thoughts made her stop and look at her window. A silver and turquoise necklace lay against a blue silk shawl. A suncatcher made ofspangling blue stars and planets dangled over a pillow silk-screened with blue waves.

What was wrong with her? She was upset becausepeople kept coming into her shop?

Of courseshe had hard days and difficulties, but who didn’t? She had created this blue world, and it was surprisingly successful. Most businesses took three years before making a profit. She was already turning a profit, and she hadn’t even had time to devote to her online shop. She loved her family, and in a different way, she loved Paul, but right now, for better or worse, she loved this eccentric little shop, and she wasn’t ready to give it up for anything.

Barrett caught her reflection in the shop window and had to laugh. She looked like a short, slender, bad-tempered bluebird.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Barrett told her window-self. Poor Dove was dying, and Bobby was about to lose his mommy, and here she was grumbling around because she was tired. She tested the door to be certain she’d locked it, and started walking to her car.

Her phone buzzed. Automatically, she said, “Nantucket Blues.”

“Hi, is this Barrett Grant? I’m Olivia Jayce, a contributor to the magazineCape Cod Life. I’ve heard so much about the shop and I’d love to do a feature about it for our next issue.”

Really?Barrett refrained from squealing like a little girl. In the most professional and friendly tone she could summon, she said, “That’s great.”

“It won’t come out until October,” Olivia said, “but Nantucket seems almost as busy in the shoulder seasons, and this should bring you some business.”

Barrett sat right down on a bench overlooking the boat basin. “That’s wonderful. What do I need to do?”

“Let me interview you,” Olivia said. “I’ll take a few good photos, too. Would next Monday work for you?”

“Absolutely,” Barrett said.

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