Page 25 of The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle
“No. I’ll go back to my dad’s tonight. I just couldn’t deal with things yesterday. I needed to be alone.”
“I understand.” Liz shifted from one foot to the other, looking nervous. “Well . . . I’ll see you later then?”
“Yeah.” Melody watched Liz turn to go, feeling something opposite of grief and sorrow. She hadn’t allowed herself to realize how much she’d missed her friend until now.
“You open?” a voice asked, grabbing Melody’s attention.
Melody turned to the middle-aged woman with two kids in tow. “No. I’m, um, not open this morning.”
“It’s nine o’clock though,” the woman said impatiently. “The hours say you’re open at nine. I need some shoes for these two. Jo always helped me find exactly what I needed.” The mom looked past Melody into the store. “It won’t take long.”
Melody glanced back for just a moment. Before she knew it, one of the kids ran past her.
“Chandler! Come back here! . . . Sorry!” The mom followed with the other kid trailing behind.
Melody was at a loss for what to do as she watched them run around the store. Finally, she flipped on the store lights so that the mother and kids didn’t hurt themselves. Next thing she knew, another customer walked in. “Oh, I’m not open for business,” she told the older man.
He didn’t even acknowledge her. Instead, he went straight to the rack of men’s clothing and started perusing.
After that, another man walked in. Then a woman.
“Okayyy,” Melody said to herself. “I guess I am open.” She headed to the back room of the thrift store long enough to freshen up. Then she stepped up to the counter where the mom was waiting with two pairs of shoes for her children.
“So you own the store now?” the mother asked, lying a worn wallet on the counter and pulling out cash.
“Temporarily. I inherited it,” Melody explained.
“Jo was so amazing. When I was pregnant with Chandler, she placed a hand on my belly and said that he would be a force to be reckoned with.” The mom laughed. “She wasn’t wrong.”
The rest of the morning was filled with customer after customer and story after story. Melody greeted and listened to them all. At noon, she finally flipped the sign to CLOSED. At least some of the store’s stuff was sold, which would help a little with cleaning the place out like the real estate agent had suggested. Melody really needed to stop the donations though. Every time Melody stepped back there, the donation box was full.
Melody grabbed a piece of cardboard that she’d seen in the back room and a Sharpie and wrote: NO LONGER TAKING DONATIONS! She searched through the drawers until she found some masking tape and carried the sign out back, stopping in her tracks. Since the last time she’d stepped out, she’d received even more donations. The bin was now overflowing onto the pavement. She couldn’t just leave the stuff out here to get rained on or ruined.
After taping the sign to the metal bin, Melody grabbed a few boxes and took them inside. At a glance, it was full of clothing, toys, and a small wooden jewelry box that caught Melody’s eye. It looked like one she’d had as a child with a pop-up ballerina that twirled when the lid was open. Curious, she pulled it out and sat it on the cot in front of her.
Music played as she lifted the music box’s lid. There was a ballerina lying flat that should have popped up, but it was broken. Maybe she could fix it with some superglue later. She was about to close the jewelry box when she noticed something silver wedged between the crevices of the velvety inner casings. She pried the material back with her index finger and shimmied out a thin charm shaped as a burst of fireworks.
Goose bumps fleshed on Melody’s skin. What were the odds of finding such a charm the night after Jo’s Celebration of Life? It hit too close to reality to be a coincidence, but Melody’s rational brain thought that was the only explanation. It certainly wasn’t the work of Jo or Alyssa behind the scenes.
Melody ran the tip of her finger over the smooth surface of the charm. The bracelet was with Liz right now, but when Melody got it back, she was going to attach this charm, she decided. Coincidence or not, it held meaning and it deserved a new home on one of the golden links.
Still feeling the goose bumps, Melody walked over to her purse and placed the charm into a tiny pocket for safe keeping. Then she grabbed her keys, locked up the store, and got into her car to drive back to her dad’s. Her father was asleep in his recliner when she arrived. Quietly, she closed the front door behind her and tiptoed toward her bedroom.
“Melody?” his deep voice called. He’d never been one to call her Mel like her friends.
She stopped in her tracks and turned back, halfway down the hall. “Hi, Dad. I’m sorry if I woke you.”
“It’s okay. I was up late last night,” he said. “I thought maybe you’d left town.”
She looked down at her feet. “No. I went to Hidden Treasures. I didn’t mean to worry you.” She winced because he probably hadn’t lost any sleep over where she was. Maybe he was just a night owl.
“It’s fine. Are you . . . okay?” he asked, his words stopping and starting.
“I’m not sure,” she said honestly.
“Is there anything I can do?”
The question took her off guard. “I don’t think so.”
