Page 10 of The Spotted Cottage By the Sea
Sheila’s heart constricted in her chest. She couldn’t let Patty walk away from her home, not like this. Not in defeat. “Aren’t you going to invite me in for a cup of tea?”
“All right. One cup, then I’m taking you back to the ferry.”
She followed Patty up the walkway, preparing herself for the worst – boxes and dishes stacked to the ceiling, piles of dirty laundry, maybe a wall covered in newspaper clippings with words outlined in red.
But when Patty opened the creaking wooden door, the cottage looked just as cozy as ever. Derby rushed to greet them, his grand golden tail wagging, as he presented a shoe in his mouth, promptly pressing it into Sheila’s leg.
She knelt down and he overwhelmed her, knocking her to the ground and dropping the shoe to lick her face.
“Okay, Derby,” she yelled. “I thought you were supposed to be an old man!”
“Derby!Is this how we treat our guests?” Patty yelled, grabbing him by the collar and dragging him off.
Sheila laughed and sat up, regaining her balance as Derby reached as far as he could to plant another lick on her arm.
“I think he missed you.” Patty said, smiling down at them.
Sheila stood and scratched behind Derby’s ear. This halted his love attack and he tilted his head to the side, leaning into it.
He had aged, but he was as handsome as ever with his entirely white muzzle and his traditional rounded golden retriever body.
“He’s covered in dander. I can’t pick him up to put him in the tub anymore for a bath,” Patty said. “The groomer I used to go to left the island. That’ll be the first thing you do when you take him, okay? You have to give him a bath. Brush him out. He loves to be beautiful.”
“Derby has always been a diva.” Sheila stood up and dusted the fur off her pants. “I’ll give him a bath right here.”
Patty rolled her eyes, slowly making her way down the hall and into the kitchen. “I have lavender Earl Gray. Do you still like it?”
“It’s my favorite.” Sheila took her shoes off and set them aside. The hallway leading to the kitchen still had all the old photographs she remembered: a black-and-white picture of Patty and Ray when they had worked in the circus. Brian as a baby, riding the subway in Tokyo. Pictures of the girls, murals of them, from newborn to graduation day, with Patty smiling proudly in the background.
Patty had been the model grandmother. It was a shame when Brian tried to fire her from her post.
Sheila wouldn’t have it, and neither would Patty. She came to stay with them during the difficult months of the divorce, during those dark days when Sheila had to meet with her lawyer again and again, digging her fingernail into the skin on her thumb until she bled. Re-picking and opening the scab, for months and months.
Sheila broke her gaze from the pictures and wandered into the kitchen.
“I apologize for the mess. I’ve been busy,” Patty said, setting teacups on the small kitchen table.
“There’s no mess.” Sheila took a seat, eyeing the tidy shelves lined with containers of flour and sugar and loose tea. There was a new floor mat by the back door, and a pair of men’s boots sat atop it. “Did Brian forget his shoes here?”
Patty’s eyes shot over to the mat and her mouth popped open. “Yes. He did.”
“How long was he here for?” Sheila stopped herself. “You know what, you don’t have to tell me. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be nosy.”
Though of course shedidwonder – had Brian visited with his new wife? With his new stepchildren, the ones he’d chosen to live with on the other side of the country?
“He didn’t visit for long,” she said slowly. “He came to check on me and to make inquiries. About the property.”
Sheila had clenched her jaw and had to take a deep breath to unclench it. “Has he already found a buyer, then?”
“Oh, Sheila, don’t start. Brian’s right. I can’t live here forever.”
“What about the tea shop? If you’re having trouble with the business, maybe we can finally rename it and start from there.”
“I’m having a lot of trouble with the tea shop.” Patty dried her hands on a lemon-printed dish towel and threw it on the counter. “It hasn’t been open in years, Sheila. After I broke my hip, it was just too hard to manage. My employees left the island because they couldn’t afford to live here, then something happened with the insurance. I don’t have it anymore, and I don’t know if I could even get it if I wanted to. They sent me a letter threatening to liquidate the shop!”
Sheila gasped. “Patty! How could you hide this from me? All those times I called and asked how you were, you never mentionedanyof this!”
“It wasn’t for you to know,” Patty said simply, turning back to face the kitchen counter. The electric tea kettle beeped and she picked it up, pouring the boiling water into the teapot. “I’m only telling you now so you can take care of Derby.”
