Page 77 of The Summer We Started Over

Best of all, at night, when the others were in bed, Eddie sat at her computer and spent time with her secret love. As she wrote, her worries and hopes for her life disappeared. As she struggled to delve deep into her heart to find the words she needed for this fictional life, she sensed she was creating new possibilities for her real life. When she wrote, it was like finding her way through a dark tunnel toward the light, and it changed, brightened, clarified, how she was finding her way through her own life. Also, what she wrote was becoming its own separate thing, as if she was weaving with words and creating something that hadn’t existed before.

Today, she opened the Book Barn and picked some of her zinnias to put in the barn and another bunch to put in the kitchen. Barrett was at her shop, Jeff was working. Her father was standing at the kitchen counter, eating peanut butter and crackers.

“Is that your lunch?” Eddie asked him.

“Mmm.” William drank a sip of water. “I’m thinking.”

“Dad, let me make you a sandwich.”

“Thanks, but this is good. I need to get back to work.” He gave her a rare smile and returned to his study.

Eddie strolled out to the mailbox at the end of the drive. Duke was lying in the shade of the porch and only thumped his tail as a greeting. The mailbox was stuffed. Eddie realized that she and her family had gotten lax about checking it. Everyone sent emails or texts these days and Eddie paid bills online.

She carried the pile of catalogs and envelopes into the house, set it all on the dining room table, and started sorting it out. It was mostly junk, but one envelope was addressed by hand. Eddie’s heart stopped.

It was a letter, addressed to Eddie and Barrett, from Dove.

Eddie couldn’t wait until Barrett was home to read the letter. She ripped open the envelope.

Hi, Barrett and Eddie, I hope you got my email. Bobby and I are on our way to visit you. I’m not sure when we’ll get there. Ihave a health problem that will slow me down. But Bobby’s very healthy. I can’t wait to see you all and especially for you to meet Bobby. He is a little Stearns.

Remembering the happy times we had when we were kids.

XOD

“What!” Eddie yelled. She stood up, then sat down again. She was thrilled and furious and excited. She felt like she was going to explode.

What should she do? Whatcouldshe do? She’d tried Instagram, Threads, Facebook, even Google, but she couldn’t find any mention of Dove Fletcher. Eddie had also tried Dove Grant, in case her brother and Dove had gotten married and hadn’t bothered to tell them. It wasthe sort of thing Stearns would have done. But no Dove Grant showed up.

She needed to talk this over with Barrett. Should she tell her fathernow? Eddie knew she was too emotional. She returned to the kitchen just in time to see a carload of people headed for the Book Barn. Eddie stuck the letter in the cloth napkin drawer and went out to the barn.

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Eddie decided to make a special meal for Barrett when she returned home after closing her shop. She wanted Barrett calm and relaxed before she showed her the letter Dove had sent. Barrett loved having breakfast for dinner, so Eddie made blueberry pancakes and piles of perfectly browned bacon and poured Vermont maple syrup from a can into a small glass pitcher.

Barrett walked into the house, dropped her bag on the front hall table, and entered the kitchen.

“What smells so good?” she asked.

Eddie couldn’t help it. She was very pleased with herself.

“Sit down. I’ve made a special dinner just for you.”

Eddie slid two pancakes onto a plate, added a pile of bacon, and set it in front of Barrett. “Butter and syrup right here. What would you like to drink?”

“Oh, my God, Eddie! You did this for me?” Barrett burst into tears.

“Hey, hey, Barrett, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing, really. I’m just tired. This is just so great of you, Eddie.”

Eddie sat at the other end of the table, idly folding napkins, chatting about nothing important, watching Barrett eat like a starving woman.

When Barrett had done everything but lick the plate clean, Eddie rose to get her sister a glass of cold water.

“Now,” Eddie said. “Did you have a bad day?”

Barrett sipped her water and sighed as she leaned back against her chair.

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