CHAPTER 13 
CHAPTER 13 The next morning, Grace sat in her car in Sarah’s driveway and waited. It had taken a lot of discipline to get up early enough to be here, especially after Mama G’s late-night run next door to cook dinner. “Spaghetti in the middle of the night,” Grace muttered. “Who does that?”
Between Mama G’s odd pronouncements and Trav’s quiet intensity, it had been an uncomfortable dinner. Grace had to give her neighbor credit, though. He’d been more than kind and had gone out of his way to make Mama G feel safe and welcome, even after she’d started making prophetic statements like some sort of seer.
Grace leaned back in her seat and sighed. The whole thing had been unbelievably awkward. After she got Mama G home and back to bed, Grace had been too awake to sleep. And so she’d made herself some coffee, sat on the steps on her crooked porch, and did something she hadn’t done in forever—she watched the sunrise.
It had been beautiful. The night had taken on a pinkish morning glow that had gradually warmed to an orange and then a bright golden hue as it lit the tree-lined street, burnishing leaves, catching the glisten of the dew, shimmering across puddles left by yesterday’s rain, and highlighting the ornate trim work of the gorgeous houses. And as Grace watched the sun grow brighter and the neighborhood slowly come awake, she remembered what Mama G had said during their spaghetti dinner about clinging to the good things in life, rather than the bad. Mama G had made it sound easy, but Grace knew it took effort and a lot of love to find brightness in the middle of gloom.
As Grace drank her second cup of coffee, it dawned on her that perhaps the people of Dove Pond felt that way about their festival, that it was one of the good things that they clung to when life wasn’t going well. From what she could tell, it might well be the only thing they had left. That explained the anger they’d expressed when the budget had been cut.
And so, here she was, waiting on Sarah. Grace wanted to see the archives located in the basement of the library that Kat had mentioned at the café, but it was more than that. Seeing Trav sitting at that big table in his kitchen, looking so alone, had tugged at Grace’s heart. She knew he had friends, as she’d seen them coming and going throughout the weeks. But last night during dinner, she’d recognized him, one soul to another. He was private, quiet, intense, feeling everything deeply while trying not to. She was the same way. Mama G had been right about that: Grace and Trav were the same in many ways.
The door opened and Sarah stepped out onto the porch carrying her heavy tote bag. She came down the steps and had just reached the sidewalk when she saw Grace sitting in her car.
Sarah stopped in her tracks.
Grace picked up the two cups of freshly brewed coffee she’d brought with her and showed them to Sarah through the car window. Then Grace set the cups down and held up the bag of croissants. “See?” Grace said, rolling down her window. “I have snacks!”
Sarah smiled.
Grace grinned back, relief washing over her.
Sarah came down the rest of the walkway and opened the car door. “We’re carpooling?”
“Yes, please,” Grace said.
Without hesitating, Sarah climbed in, setting her heavy tote on the floorboard. “What’s in the bag?”
“Chocolate croissants. I got them from the Moonlight.”
“You drove there this morning?”
“I did. I got the coffee from there, too.”
“Wow. This is nice.” Sarah settled into her seat and was soon sipping her coffee. “I could get used to this.”
“Me too.” Grace smiled, put the car in reverse, and pulled out of Sarah’s driveway. “I wanted to talk to you.” Here we go, Wheeler. Let’s do this right. “I’m going to do something I really, really suck at. I’m going to apologize. I’ve been an ass. That’s all I can say.”
“You don’t owe me an apology.” Sarah pulled the croissants out of the bag. “I owe you one.”
“No, it was me. I just—”
“Grace, it was my fault! We should never have forced you back onto the committee. I knew Zoe was going to do something—I encouraged her to do it. I wanted you back on the committee so badly and I—”
“Damn it, Sarah. This is my apology, not yours!”
Sarah’s eyes widened.
Grace gave a reluctant laugh. “We are a crazy couple of women, aren’t we?”
Sarah’s smile returned. “Yes, we are. By the way, I saw what happened yesterday.”
“Which time?” Grace said drily. “Yesterday was a long day.”
“You know . . . The truck? The puddle?”
“Oh yes. That.” Grace shook her head. “Not my finest hour.”
“I’m sorry I laughed.”
Grace looked at Sarah. “You did?”
Grace shook her head. “By the time I could see anything, you had your hand over your face. To be honest, I thought you were just sending me the message that I was getting what I deserved.”
“Oh no! But I shouldn’t have laughed, either. It was just . . .” She shrugged helplessly. “It was a really good splash.”
“Too good,” Grace agreed, smiling. “I told Kat it was like a movie splash. I saw her at the café later. But look, about who owes who an apology and the committee and the festival and all of it. I’ve been rude to you all week and it was stupid. I don’t know why I got so mad at you, rather than at Zoe and Kat. They had the most to do with it, but you . . . I guess I thought you were on my side.”
Sarah groaned. “See? I knew that’s what you thought. Grace, I was wrong. But I just wanted you to help us. We need you. The town needs you.”
Grace turned the car toward Main Street. “I should be flattered by that. Heck, I am flattered by that. But . . . well, it hurt.”
“Which is why I should apologize.”
“No. You all were right when you said that if you hadn’t pulled that stunt, I wouldn’t have taken back the chairmanship. I didn’t really give you a choice, so it’s my fault. I walked into that first meeting and threw the folder at Zoe and left. At the time, it felt like the right thing to do, but I was wrong. To be honest, I’m sort of glad I’m back in charge.”
“Really?”
“Now that I know the real issues with the town’s finances, I have something more important to do than all of that boring data entry. I think I can help. I may not be here long enough to fix things completely, but I can at least get you all started.”
Sarah’s smile had disappeared. “I hate it when you talk about leaving. You should stay. You really should.”
Grace shook her head, smiling. “That’s not going to happen. But while I’m here, I should at least commit.”
“To this town. To the committee. And to being a good friend.” Grace turned the car onto Main Street. “I’ve never really had a friend, you know. Not like other women do, someone to talk to and share stuff with. I’m sort of new to this, so I’m going to make mistakes.”
“But we’re friends? You mean that?”
Sarah looked so happy that Grace laughed. “Yes, I mean it. We’re also officially carpooling and I’ll bring the snacks next week.”
“Deal.” Sarah put a napkin on Grace’s knee and placed a chocolate croissant on it. “I have to admit something, too.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve been a little jealous of you.”
“Of me? What on earth for?”
Sarah looked at her croissant and she said slowly, “I was jealous because growing up, I always thought I was going to be the one to save Dove Pond.” Sarah raised her gaze to Grace. “But it’s not going to be me. It’s going to be you.”
“Hold on there! I didn’t say I’d save the town. I said I’d get you all going in the right direction. That’s all I can do. I can’t save anything right now, not even myself.”
“No. You’re going to find a way to save Dove Pond. I already know it.”
“My God. As much as I like you, and I do, although I don’t know why, you’re a strange one.”
“I know,” Sarah agreed as she unwrapped her croissant. “You’ll get used to it.”
Grace had to laugh. “I guess I’ll have to.”
“I’m glad Kat ran into you at the diner yesterday. She called me afterward.”
“Why?”
“She’s worried about you. She said you seemed so tired.”
“Daisy’s been, well, Daisy. And Mama G is a handful lately. She ended up at Trav’s in the middle of the night, cooking spaghetti of all things.”
“Oh dear. I knew she was there; he texted me and asked for your number.”
“I wondered how he’d gotten it. Well, she made him pay for it, and me too, because she said some embarrassing things.” Super-embarrassing things.
“What did she say?”
“Nothing that made any sense, but I wish she hadn’t said them in front of Trav.”
Sarah took a sip of her coffee. “He understands. He took care of his dad, so he knows how it is.”
That was true. Maybe he wouldn’t put any stock in Mama G’s weird meanderings. “I just wish I knew how she got out. I had a lock installed way up high so she couldn’t reach it, but after Trav texted me, I found the door standing wide open. She’s not tall enough to reach the lock, and there weren’t any stools nearby or anything to show that she’d figured it out.” Grace shook her head. “I have no idea how she did it.”
“Oosh. That’s worrying.”
“Very.” Grace shot a glance at Sarah. “By the way, last week your sister sent some tea for Mama G.”
“She said she was going to. Does it work?”
“Amazingly, yes.”
The tin had been labeled AVA’S SPECIALTY TEA FOR MAMA G, and Grace had no idea what was in it. Whatever it was, it was effective. One cup at dusk, and Mama G visibly relaxed, humming to herself and willing to enjoy the moment. While it didn’t seem to help her sleep, it had alleviated the anxiety she seemed to feel every evening. “To be honest, I was a little worried it might not be good for her.”
“Ava’s teas are safe.” Sarah’s tone was a little stiff.
“I’m sure they are, but I was afraid it might interfere with Mama G’s medications. Of course, Linda scoffed at that. She loves all things Dove.”
Sarah grinned. “Linda is a good one.”
“She is. Ava dropped off her tea while I was at work, so before I got home, Linda had already made Mama G a cup. It worked great.” Of course, had it been up to Grace, she’d have never allowed Mama G to try the stuff without first knowing what was in it, but that was not to be. “I called Ava and asked for the ingredients. It was just some chamomile, lavender, and a touch of magnolia bark, none of which Doc Bolton thought would be harmful.”
“You can trust Ava.”
“I know. And I do.” Grace slanted a smile at Sarah. “Want to know something funny? The tea worked so well on Mama G that Linda decided to give it a try.”
“It doesn’t work like that. Ava didn’t make it for her.”
“You’re right. Linda said she drank six cups of it and all it did was make her need to pee in the middle of the night.”
Sarah laughed. “I knew she’d tried it. Linda stopped by the house a few days ago and Ava made her some special lavender tea.”
“Oh, I’ve heard all about it. The tea is supposed to make dreams vivid. Since then, I’ve had to listen to Linda talk about her dreams, mostly of her naked on a hot beach with a nameless man.”
Sarah grinned over her cup of coffee. “Oh no.”
“Oh yes. Linda said her dreams were so real that she woke up to the smell of salt water and coconut rum.” Frankly, Grace didn’t want more vivid dreams. She just wanted to sleep through one night. Just one.
“I’m glad Ava’s tea helped.”
“You’ve both been helpful.” Grace turned the car into the parking lot and pulled into a space. She turned off the car. “I can’t thank you enough.”
Sarah looked at her half-eaten croissant and set it down on her knee. “Look, I know I’ve been overeager in welcoming you to our town. And I know that made it harder on you. It’s just that I have a good feeling about you moving here, and I’m glad I’ve gotten to know you and Daisy and Mama G.”
Grace’s chest tightened, a bubble of emotion near the surface. She knew it was because she was just exhausted from too little sleep, but this time she didn’t fight it. “I’m glad I’m here, too. That’s the one thing Mama G said last night that was true; I’ve been holding on to my anger way too much. I was so, so mad when I had to leave my job in Charlotte, because I’ve always thought of money as a measure of success. That’s what I’ve told myself my entire life—that I would grow up, make a lot of money, and buy a house for myself and Hannah.” Grace sighed, and it came from her heart. “But things haven’t turned out the way I thought. Not even close. And I haven’t been at my best since I got here.”
“You’ve been great. You’re being way too hard on yourself.”
“Not really. To be honest, I’m not sure what I was mad at. Fate? The circumstances? Mama G’s illness? Probably all of that. But I think I’m angriest at Hannah. And I think I’ve been angry at her for a long, long time, but never admitted it to myself.” She sent a self-conscious glance at Sarah. “You’re close to your sisters, so you may not understand that.”
“I’m not close to all of them. Just Ava, really.”
“You never had one who hurt as many people as Hannah. She had Daisy, and she never once stopped to think how it would affect her own daughter, to just abandon her with Mama G. And Mama G has given me and Hannah so much, she didn’t deserve to have a kid dumped on her like that, either, even a good kid like Daisy.” Grace leaned back against the headrest. “In some ways, I was just as bad as Hannah. I should have helped Mama G more. I played Favorite Aunt and swept in and handed out presents, and took her out to eat, and spent money on her, and then I just left. I never really got to know her.”
“You know her now.”
Grace gave a dry laugh. “I argue with her now.”
“It can’t be easy moving from aunt to mom. I’m sure it’s been difficult for both of you.”
“It’s harder on Daisy. She’s bored, staying at home all the time, and that’s no good. I just don’t know what to do with her.”
“You’ll figure it out.” Sarah gathered her tote. “I know you will.”
They were simple words. And yet they were exactly what Grace needed to hear. She sighed as she opened her door. “I hope so.”
They climbed out of the car and were gathering their things when someone called Sarah’s name.
Grace turned as Mrs. Jolean Hamilton limped up, her dog panting happily behind her.
Mrs. Hamilton stopped on seeing Grace with Sarah. “Well! Have you decided to undo the damage you’re doing to the festival budget?”
“Aunt Jo!” Sarah said, frowning.
Grace waved her off. “It’s okay. I’ve been getting a lot of this.”
Mrs. Hamilton huffed. “You should be getting more! People around here are mad. It’s insulting when someone who doesn’t even know our town makes big decisions like that without so much as a by-your-leave.”
“Aunt Jo, you know I’m on that committee, too,” Sarah said with a touch of impatience. “I would never vote to do something reckless with Dove Pond.”
“I know you wouldn’t. But her?” Mrs. Hamilton jerked her thumb at Grace. “I don’t know about her.”
“Fair enough,” Grace said. “To be honest, I’m looking into the matter today. I think I may have missed something.”
Sarah and Mrs. Hamilton looked at Grace, both clearly surprised. Even Moon Pie appeared unsettled as he tilted his head to one side. Grace added, “In fact, I was going to ask Sarah if she would show me the town archives this morning.”
“Of course I will,” Sarah said. “But . . . why?”
“I want to see everything you’ve got about past Apple Festivals. I want to learn every last thing I can about them. It dawned on me yesterday that I have no right to change something without thoroughly understanding what it is to begin with. When I worked at my old job, whenever we got a new project, that was the first thing we did—we tried to understand the brand, and what it meant. We did all sorts of research before we made a single decision. Our committee never took that step and it didn’t dawn on me we’d skipped it until I was talking to Kat yesterday.”
“There you go.” Mrs. Hamilton looked impressed. “Sarah, show her those records.”
“Sure.” Sarah looked at Grace. “Do you want to see them now?”
“If you don’t mind. I already told the mayor I’d be in late. He’s doing data entry this morning, so he can cover the office until I get there.”
“The mayor is doing data entry?” Mrs. Hamilton broke into a wide grin. “Honey, I think I might like you after all.”
Sarah grinned and she said to Grace, “Let’s go. I’ve got a lot to show you.”