Page 88 of A Novel Summer
Still, she didn’t want to hear the group debate the pros and cons of buying the bookshop.
She made a discreet exit back into the house, where she headed straight for the kitchen. Shelby set her phone down on the counter near a few boxes from Scott Cakes, then opened the refrigerator for something cold to drink.
“Hey.”
She turned around. Mia stood in the doorway. She wore a floral print dress and white Birkenstocks. Her ubiquitous headphones were gone.
“Hey,” Shelby said, closing the fridge. “Good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too.” She started to say something else, then stopped.
Shelby walked closer. “Mia, I’ve wanted to talk to you. I only told your brother about your problems with reading because I truly believed it would make you happier in the long run. The one thing I’m sorry about is that I had to betray your confidence to do it.”
Mia nodded. She looked down at the floor, then up at her. “I’m glad you’re trying to save the bookstore.”
“Me, too.”
“If it reopens, are you gonna stick around?” Mia said.
“I can’t. But Colleen will find someone to manage the store until she’s back on her feet. And I’m sure she’ll need a lot of help if you know anyone who’s interested in working part-time.”
Mia smiled.
“Can we be friends again?” Shelby said. Mia nodded.
Her phone buzzed, a particularly loud vibration against the countertop. She wondered if the vote was done that quickly. Duke had warned her it could take a lot of discussion.
“These meetings are rarely efficient,” he’d said.
The text wasn’t from Duke. It was from Doug:Colleen in emergency C-section. She’s okay.
Shelby gasped, and pressed the phone to her chest.
“Mia... I have to go. But we’ll talk more, okay?”
Heart pounding, she rushed back to the porch. Hunter was standing up; from the look on her face, she’d gotten the same message.
I’ll drive, Hunter mouthed.
Shelby nodded.Let’s go.
Sixty-Two
Hunter wasn’t ready for motherhood. Not even Colleen’s motherhood.
She clenched the wheel of the Land Rover so hard her fingers ached. Traffic was heavy on MA-3 North, and the two-hour drive to Boston was going to take somewhere closer to three. She impatiently switched the Sirius station, pressing up up up until she reached the New Wave channel and the song “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat.
“This traffic is a nightmare,” Shelby said, propping her elbow on the passenger-side window and pressing her forehead into her palm. “Can we talk or something?” Shelby said. “I need to get my mind off what’s happening at the hospital.”
Hunter turned down the music. “Sure.” Therewassomething she wanted to discuss, although maybe it wasn’t appropriate to talk about work at a time like this. But Shelby did say she wanted to get her mind off Colleen...
“I got the job offer from Paragon.” She wasn’t surprised when the call came. But was still ambivalent about it.
“Amazing!” Shelby said. “So happy for you. You’ll be great.”
Hunter shifted lanes, picking up speed after a lull and feeling a rush of adrenaline along with it. “Thanks. And on the subject of agents...when are you going to look for someone new? You’re officially done with Claudia, right?”
A text alert appeared on the car’s navigation screen. From Doug.
