Page 80 of The Cottage on Plum Island
“It’s okay. It happens all the time,” the server assured her. “What would you like?”
“I’ll have the same as he’s having, but can I have a chocolate malt and a bottle of water, please?” Jennifer ordered.
“That sounds good.” Harley smiled at the server, and Jennifer thought the woman would swoon. “Make that two chocolate malts.”
“Sure.” The server nodded. “Do you still want the bottle of water?”
“Yes, please.” Harley nodded.
The server took their menus and left with their order. Harley leaned his elbows on the table and looked at Jennifer questioningly.
“So…” Harley’s eyes dropped to Jennifer’s purse on the seat beside her. “Are you going to open the gift Andrew gave you?”
“I’m not sure,” Jennifer admitted. “It feels like a trap.”
“How so?” Harleyasked.
“Andrew said that he and my mother picked it out together before she died,” Jennifer told Harley what Andrew had said. “My mother died a few months before my eighth birthday.”
“That’s awful.” Harley reached over and squeezed her hand. “Then open the present.”
“I don’t see how my mother could’ve chosen a present for me back then, as she was bedridden in the hospital,” Jennifer said skeptically. “So how did my mother choose a birthday present for me, and why would Andrew have kept it for forty years?”
“You won’t know unless you open the present and the card,” Harley pointed out.
“If I open it, will you stop hounding me about it?” Jennifer sighed and pulled the present and the envelope from her purse to put them on the table before her and Harley.
“If youopenit, you may find some answers,“ Harley told her.
Jennifer eyed the present, wondering if Andrew had re-wrapped it. There’s no way the present would still look so pristine after forty years.
Did they even make those tiny royal blue bows forty years ago?Jennifer tilted her head.Wow! I’m in my forties and not even my early forties!
“Should I open it for you?” Harley’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
Jennifer’sprocrastinationthoughts, as Caroline called them. Whenever Jennifer tried to avoid something, she’d think of the weirdest things and then get lost in the tunnels of thoughts it would take her down. Like now!
She didn’t want to open the present because it meant she was slowly being drawn back into Andrew’s world. Next, Jennifer would want to find the answers to the questions she’d stopped asking years ago.
Jennifer wasn’t ready to test those scars to find out how well they’d really healed after forty years. Her eyes fell on the envelope, and her heart skipped a beat when she recognized the handwriting.
How didn’t I notice that before?Jennifer picked up the envelope as the server returned with their food and drinks. She put it down next to the present before sitting back.
“Oh, is it someone’s birthday?” The server saw the present, and her eyes slid toward Harley.
He smiled politely and pointed to Jennifer. “Not mine. Hers.”
“Happy Birthday,” the server said as she handed Jennifer her food, shake, and water. “You get a free dessert for your table on your birthday if there are no more than four of you.”
“Those are huge burgers!” Harley stated and looked at Jennifer. “Do you think we’re going to have space for dessert after these?”
Jennifer gave him a tight smile before looking at the server. “Thank you for the birthday wishes.” Then back at Harley. “There’s always room for free dessert.”
The server laughed and left their table, but not before another doe-eyed look at Harley, igniting that weird feeling inside Jennifer once again.
Oh no!Jennifer’s eyes widened.Am I jealous?
“Jennifer?” Harley called. “You’re doing that thing I’ve noticed you do when trying to put off doing something.”
