Page 43 of A Magnolia Move-In
My life was moments away from returning to normal, and there was no way I was going to jeopardize my happiness now.
THIRTEEN
Penny
It was hard to stay focused on work. Especially when my desire to think of Spencer and what he had planned for us tonight seemed more determined to invade my thoughts than I was to keep it at bay.
So, when Victoria came in at noon on the dot and asked if I wanted to join her for lunch, I quickly agreed.
Things were moving along beautifully at the paper. We’d finally gotten everything clean and organized. I was in my office, and Victoria was at her desk. We were expecting Lucy to return later in the month. Her mother had had surgery, so she’d asked for the transition time off so she could take care of her. Since I’d wanted the office to myself to make changes to it, I’d agreed.
Now, everything was in order and just waiting for her return.
I climbed into Victoria’s car, and she took off down the road. I settled back as she rattled off different places wecould visit. I wasn’t in the mood for anything fancy, so we settled on the diner.
She pulled into the parking lot, and we both climbed out. The walk to the front door was quiet, and when we got inside, a teenage boy I didn’t recognize sat us at a vacant table. After he handed us the menus, he took our drink order and left us be.
I sighed as I glanced out the large picture windows that faced the ocean. I could see the water lap the shore, and it made me want to slip off my shoes and let the cool water rush over me. It’d been so long since I touched the sand or salty water, and I was missing it.
Especially since it was fall and the water would soon be too cold to touch. Not to mention the chilly winds that were too violent to brave heading out in.
The sight of summer slowly slipping into the coolness of fall made me sad. I was a beaches and warm weather kind of girl.
“I’ve never seen someone look so forlorn when they stared out those windows as you do right now.”
Victoria’s words pulled me from my reverie. I turned to see her sip from the mug of coffee the waiter must have brought her. I glanced down to see the strawberry lemonade he’d left for me. I removed the straw from its wrapper and slipped it into the light-pink drink.
The sweetness of the strawberries mixed with the tang of the lemons made my tastebuds cringe. But it tasted like summer, and I was fairly certain that I was going to drink the entire glass before our food was brought out.
“I was thinking about how fall is just around the corner.” I sighed and sat back, folding my arms across my chest.
“And?” Victoria asked after she took another sip of her steaming hot coffee.
“And it’s sad.”
Victoria shook her head as she set her mug down. Her gaze drifted to the ocean. “It’s not sad. I love this time of year. Pumpkin spice. Crisp air. The fall festival.”
I straightened in my seat. “The fall festival? They still do that?”
Victoria glanced over at me. “You know about it?”
I nodded. “Dorthy—er, my mother and I pitched the idea to the city council.” I blew out my breath as I tried to remember. “That must have been forty-odd years ago.” A sense of nostalgia washed over me at the memories I’d made walking around the beach we’d cordoned off for the fair. The kisses I shared on the Ferris wheel and how competitive my father got during the fishing tournament. The fair here in Magnolia defined my childhood in a way I would never forget.
Victoria looked amused when I returned my gaze to her. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and there was a smile tugging at her lips.
“What?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I’ve never seen you look so excited about something before.”
I scoffed and stirred my drink with my straw, the icemaking clinking noises on the side of the glass. “I get excited.”
“Yeah, mm-hmm.”
“I’m excited about the newspaper.”
She squinted for a moment as if she were mulling over my words before she shook her head. “Not in the same way.”
Realizing that I was going to have to go deeper in this conversation, I decided to settle on the simplest answer. “It’s something I used to do growing up. I have a lot of good memories wrapped up in it.”
