Page 1 of Wisteria Winds
CHAPTER 1
Danielle sat in front of her laptop as she did most days, her finger hovering over the trackpad while she waited for her mother to answer a video call. Her heart pounded with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. The weight of the new diamond engagement ring on her left hand still felt a bit unfamiliar, but also exciting. How would her mother react to her engagement? There was no way to predict that.
The screen finally flickered to life, and she saw her mother’s perfectly coiffed silver hair and crisp white blazer appear before her. Even though she was a little bit pixelated on the video feed, Cecilia Wright always looked like the most elegant person in the world. She had poise, and her sharp eyes immediately zeroed in on Danielle’s face.
“Danielle, darling, to what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected call?” Her voice had the faintest hint of Southern drawl, which was just a charming remnant of her Atlanta upbringing that even her decades in New York hadn’t fully erased.
Danielle sucked in a deep breath, unable to contain the smile spreading across her face. “Mom, I have some huge news. Bennett proposed, and I said yes. We’re engaged.” She held up her hand, grinning.
Cecilia looked surprised, stunned even. Her perfectly arched eyebrows - that she had done in what she called the “best salon in New York City”- arched upward. Then a smile bloomed, lighting up her elegant features.
“Oh my gosh! Congratulations, sweetheart. I’m so happy for you.” She leaned closer to the screen. “Now tell me everything. Exactly how did he propose? Goodness, we have so much planning to do.”
As Danielle recounted the proposal to her mother, she could practically see the gears turning in her mother’s head. Cecilia had always wanted a big, grand society wedding for her only daughter. While Danielle appreciated her mother’s enthusiasm, she felt a knot of anxiety forming in her stomach.
She and Bennett had envisioned a simple, intimate ceremony on Wisteria Island, surrounded by the community they loved so much.
“Actually, Mom, Bennett and I are planning to have the wedding here on the island. You know, it’s become the most important place in the world for both of us, and we want to celebrate with our friends here,” Danielle began, watching as her mother’s expression changed.
Cecilia waved dismissively, her perfectly manicured nails flashing across the screen. “Oh, nonsense, darling. A wedding on that little island with a bunch of retired people? Come on, you deserve a real celebration. You just leave everything to me. I’ll book The Plaza and call that amazing wedding planner, Lydia Harrington. She did the wedding for Angelique’s oldest daughter, and it was beautiful. Somehow, she made that plain Jane daughter look beautiful, so I know she has some tricks up her sleeve. Oh, and we’ll need to fly to Paris for your dress…”
Danielle’s heart sank as her mother prattled on about guest lists and color schemes. She should have known her mother would have grand plans that didn’t align at all with the intimate island wedding she and Bennett dreamed of. Danielle loved her mother, but their visions for the perfect wedding couldn’t be more different.
She braced herself for what she knew would be an uphill battle.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
“Oh, Mom, I need to go. We’ll talk more later. Love you,” Danielle said, ending the call before her mother could say anything else.
She opened the door to find Eddie, the island’s jack-of-all-trades, looking uncharacteristically somber.
“Hey, Eddie, what’s going on?”
“Oh, sorry to bother you, Dani, but Bennett wanted me to let you know that a new resident has arrived, and she seems a bit lost. He was hoping you might check on her and make sure she’s settling in okay.”
Danielle nodded, her previous concerns about the wedding momentarily forgotten. Tending to the island’s residents always took top priority.
“Oh, of course. Let me go grab my bag, and I’ll head over. What’s her name?”
“Clara Whitman. Recently widowed, retired orchestra conductor. Bennett says she’s been struggling since her husband passed away.”
“Oh, poor thing. I’ll see what I can do.”
Danielle grabbed her medical bag and pushed thoughts of wedding plans aside as she headed out to welcome the island’s newest resident. She was determined to help her however she could.
She walked the short distance to Clara’s cottage and spotted a figure slumped in a rocking chair on the front porch. The woman appeared to be in her late sixties, with her silver hair pulled back in a simple ponytail. She wore a plain black dress that hung loosely on her thin frame. Even from a distance, Danielle could see grief emanating from her, a heaviness that seemed to weigh down her tiny shoulders.
Danielle approached slowly, not wanting to startle her.
“Clara, I’m Danielle Wright, the island’s nurse. I just wanted to come and see how you’re settling in.”
Clara looked up. Her dull blue eyes were rimmed with red, evidence of recently shed tears. She tried to smile, but it just came out as a grimace.
“Oh, hello. I’m, um, fine, thank you. Just trying to get my bearings around here, I suppose.”
Danielle sat in the chair beside her, sensing that that was far from the truth.
“Listen, Clara, I understand it can be really overwhelming moving to a new place, especially under these difficult circumstances. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
