3. Penny
THREE
Penny
I was getting used to Magnolia.
After Maggie’s wedding, I officially moved into the small basement room of Cordelia Swanson—an old friend of my mother. She was sweet but nosy. I mainly kept to myself the days when I was there. Lucky for me, those were few and far between. After I bought Magnolia Daily from Georgette, I had my work cut out for me.
So many nights were spent holed up in the small office, fixing aging machines and revamping the newspaper’s website. I knew that if we didn’t go digital, we were going to fail.
Maggie and I had fallen into a smooth rhythm. I wanted to give her space, so I never pushed her to include me in her activities. If she wanted me there, she would let me know. Which I think she appreciated.
We were having weekly lunches though. To catch up on everything .
The inn was booming, which meant money was coming in. I was grateful for that. My severance was only going to last so long, and I was uncertain when the newspaper would finally turn a profit.
I was sitting at a small table in the corner of The Hideout when Maggie and her book club ladies walked in. It was a Saturday evening, and they were all wearing red stilettos and laughing.
I smiled when Maggie caught my gaze, and she gave me a quick wave. They headed over to the counter to order from Anna, and I tried to bring my attention back to the newspaper’s homepage, which I had been working on.
I wanted to ignore the women. I wanted to tell myself it was okay that Maggie was spending time with her friends, even if the pangs of jealousy were almost too much to bear. She had a right to her friends, and I wasn’t going to step on her toes.
“Hey, Mom,” Maggie said, her voice startling me.
I turned to see her standing behind me with an iced coffee in hand. I quickly gathered my papers and shoved them into my purse. I didn’t want to seem overly eager, but I didn’t want her to think her presence wasn’t welcomed.
“Hey,” I said as my heart picked up speed. Gradually, the book club women gathered around the table after their drink orders were called.
“Mind if we join you?” Maggie asked as she moved to sit next to me.
I nodded as I watched the women sit one by one.
I wasn’t sure what to say as my gaze drifted from woman to woman. They seemed to be holding their own conversations about life and relationships, but no one was talking about their newest read. Finally, I leaned over and brushed shoulders with Maggie. “Is this how book club always goes?”
Maggie was sipping her coffee, so I waited for her to swallow. She nodded. “Pretty much. I mean, we all read the book and talk about it for a few minutes, but inevitably, the conversation always moves to something else.”
I smiled. So, the cliché about book clubs was true. And honestly, I dug it. It was nice that they seemed so relaxed. I’d lived a life of schedules and checklists. It was a nice change of pace to just go with the flow.
“Working on Magnolia Daily ?” a woman with deep red hair asked as she scooted closer to me. I was fairly certain her name was Victoria. “I have to say, I think the exposé that the Daily wrote about me was what clinched my first victory.”
“Victory?”
“I’m Magnolia’s disgraced former mayor.”
“You’re not disgraced,” Clementine said as she broke her conversation with Shari and shook her head.
Victoria shrugged. “I was usurped by Peter Tippens.”
I nodded. “Ah, Magnolia royalty.” Even though it had been decades since I’d lived here, I still knew the who’s who of this small town. Some things never changed. “I have an interesting story to tell you about the Tippens family someday. ”
She smiled. “Ooh, that sounds like a story I need to hear over drinks.”
We both laughed for a moment before it died down. Returning to her previous question, I nodded. “I’m trying to bring the Daily into this century,” I said as I turned my computer so she could see my screen.
Her gaze scanned the homepage, and she gave me an approving nod. “I like this. You know what you should do? Add a sign-up tab up top. That way, it’s one of the first things they see. There’s also a messaging system that allows the viewer to chat with the newspaper directly. It really gives the personal touch that websites have been lacking.”
I glanced at the corner she was pointing to and nodded. “Those are amazing suggestions.”
I saw a glint in her eyes. One that I recognized as I’d felt it numerous times in the past. It was the feeling of purpose. A passion.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come work at the Daily ?” I asked as I pulled out the pad of paper I’d been jotting notes on and wrote down her suggestions.
Victoria sucked in her breath. “I don’t know.”
“You should,” Maggie piped up. I glanced over at my daughter to see her give Victoria a soft smile. “I hate to lose you at the inn, but I think it’s time you moved on.”
“You’re working at the inn?” I asked as I pointed the end of my pen in Maggie’s direction.
Victoria nodded. “Ever since I lost my mayoral race, Maggie’s been nice enough to let me crash there. ”
I parted my lips and nodded. “And you’re sure you can afford to lose an employee?”
“Of course. I want her to find her purpose. And I don’t think cleaning bathrooms is something she enjoys.”
Victoria wrinkled her nose. “Nope.”
Excited to have a woman who would work as hard as I did, I nodded. “Well, you’re hired.” I paused. “I can’t pay you a ton right now—”
She waved away my words. “I’ll work with what you can give me.”
I capped my pen and extended my hand. “Then you’re hired.”
Just as Victoria and I shook on it, Anna’s daughter, Fiona, approached the table. She looked tired as she plopped down on the chair Shari had dragged over.
“Hey, guys,” she said softly.
We all greeted her.
“Are you okay?” Clementine asked as she wrapped her arm around Fiona’s shoulders.
After rubbing her temples a few times, Fiona nodded. “I’m getting there.” She reached out, grabbed a napkin from the dispenser in the center of the table, and fiddled with it. “Jackson’s getting in tonight with his sister.”
A hush fell over the table as all the offshoot conversations stopped.
“Naomi?” I asked. This was the first I’d heard that she was coming to Magnolia.
Maggie glanced over at me. “You know her?”
“When I was trying to track down Jackson, I went to their house in North Carolina.” I paused. “She’s coming here?” I pointed toward the floor as if I needed to emphasize where here was.
Fiona nodded. “She was in a terrible car accident a month ago. She’s coming here so we can take care of her.”
My stomach sank. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. She had been so sweet to me. The idea of her almost losing her life weighed on me.
“I’m not sure what to think. Jackson is hush hush about it.” She nodded toward me as if I would understand this more than anyone. She wasn’t wrong. “He won’t tell me what to expect. I fixed up her room as best as I knew how, but now I’m freaking out that I might have done something wrong.” She set her hands down on the table and rested her forehead on her fingers.
“I’m sure you did fine,” Shari said as she reached across the table and patted the part of Fiona’s fingers that was visible.
I nodded. “I agree. She’s a really relaxed person. I’m sure she’ll appreciate anything you do for her.” I offered her a small smile when she lifted her head to meet my gaze.
“I just want to make a good impression. We’ve never met, and…”
“And you’re in love with her brother,” Victoria finished.
All gazes landed on Fiona again.
“Have you guys said love?” Maggie asked. From the corner of my eye, I saw my daughter fiddle with her wedding band. A sense of love washed over me as the memory of her wedding to Archer ran through my mind.
I was so happy that my daughter had found her Prince Charming.
Fiona’s cheeks flushed, and she nodded. “Yeah.” She pinched her lips for a moment as a wave of affection moved through her gaze. “Blake called him dad last week.”
A collective “aah” moved around the table.
Her eyes filled with tears, and I felt happy for Fiona. From the snippets that Maggie told me, I knew she’d struggled. Finding happiness was the purpose of life, and I was glad she’d experienced that.
When I looked around the table, I began to realize that everyone here had experienced that. There wasn’t one member of this book club that wasn’t currently in a relationship…except me.
And I didn’t count since I wasn’t actually a member of the book club.
If I was, I might feel a tad out of place. It wasn’t like I wasn’t interested in finding Mr. Right. I guess I’d just gotten to the point where that didn’t seem in the cards for me anymore. I was a woman who was stuck in her ways, and there had never been a man who wanted to break through the walls that I’d built over the years.
So, I’d stopped trying.
I returned my attention to the conversation. Clementine was giving a pep talk to Fiona. Maggie and Shari were smiling. Victoria looked bored as she sat there with her arms folded. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, so I picked up my phone and glanced at the screen.
A text message caught my eye. It was from Cordelia.
I’m so sorry to tell you this via text, but I had to go out of town. I just got a message that my basement flooded. I’m going to need you to find a different place as I work to get the basement livable again.
My entire body froze.
Her basement flooded? My belongings were there.
“Mom, you okay?” Maggie’s hand on my arm snapped me from my thoughts.
I glanced over at her. Her eyes were wide as she studied me.
“Cordelia’s basement flooded,” I whispered. The weight of what this meant pressed down on my shoulders. I’d wanted to start over here in Magnolia, but it seemed like fate didn’t want that for me. It was determined to make me miserable no matter where I went.
“I’m so sorry,” Maggie said. “Do you need a room? I’m sure we have a vacancy.” She moved to pull her phone from her purse.
I shook my head. Moving into the inn went against my plan. I wanted to be around, but Maggie and I needed to have our separate spaces. If I lived there, I might ruin our budding relationship.
“No, I can’t do that. Not when you’ve been booked solid.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I just need to find another place to rent.” Which, in a small town, was easier said than done .
A hush fell over the table, and I glanced up to see the women all shooting me sympathetic smiles.
“I think I might know of a place,” Clementine piped up.
We all turned to look at her.
“Really?” Relief flooded my body. “That would be amazing.”
“Who’s renting?” Victoria asked.
Clementine parted her lips, but I waved away her words. “I don’t really care. As long as they have a room, and they don’t mind me being there, I’m sold.”
Clementine smiled as she pulled a napkin from the dispenser and jotted down a number. “He’s kind of prickly, but nice.”
I took the paper from her and glanced down. The name Spencer was scratched above the phone number. I nodded and tucked it away. I didn’t want to sprint from the shop. Not when Maggie and her friends had been so accommodating to me.
The conversation seemed to drag on. It wasn’t the company or the topic. I just wanted to figure out what of my things had been ruined and if Spencer still had a room to rent. When Fiona stood to take a call, I took it as my chance to leave as well.
“Jackson and Naomi are in the car from the airport,” she said as she shouldered her purse. “I’m going to say bye to Blake and then head over to the house to greet them.”
We all said goodbye, and she waved before slipping through the shop’s kitchen door .
I gathered my things and tucked them into my large purse. “I should get going as well. I’ve got a new place to find and damage control to do.” I sighed as stress began to mount inside of me.
“Well, come Monday, I’ll be there to help out with the paper,” Victoria said.
I gave her a smile. That was true. I’d forgotten about our arrangement. For a moment, the stress began to lighten. “That will be wonderful. I can’t wait to start.”
The smile she gave me was genuine. I had a feeling we were going to get along.
I gave Maggie a quick kiss on the cheek before I waved to the other ladies and headed out the door. Once I was in my car, I pulled out my phone, along with the napkin that Clementine had written on, and dialed the number.
Just as I was prepared to leave a message, a deep, gravelly voice asked, “Hello?”
“Uh, S-Spencer?” I asked as I rerouted my brain to conversation mode.
“Who is this?”
I swallowed. This was going well. “This is Penny. I’m a friend of Clementine. She told me that you have a room to rent, and it just happens that I’m in need of said room.” I closed my eyes. I sounded like an idiot to myself. I could only imagine what this stranger thought.
Silence.
Just before I pulled the phone from my cheek to see if we’d gotten disconnected, he growled. “It’s three hundred a month, and I don’t do any cooking or laundry. ”
“Oh, I can do that,” I said as I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Relief flooded through me as I moved to find a pen. “I’m fine with that. Really, I’m not a messy person.” I found a pencil with a worn-down tip and readied it over the napkin. “What’s your address?”
He paused before giving me his house number and street name. “I go to bed at ten, so if you’re not here before then, you can’t get in until the morning.”
I paused, trying to figure out how long it was going to take me to head over to Cordelia’s, assess the damage, and then head to Spencer’s place. I was still relearning my way around the island, and with the changes in streets and buildings, locations were vague for me. “Well, I was—”
“That’s my offer, Mrs…?”
“Penny, and it’s Ms.”
He paused. “Ms. Penny.”
“Oh, no. My last name is Brown, but you can call me Penny. And I’m not married so I’m a Ms.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop myself.
Silence filled the air, and I half expected him to tell me the room was taken and I was out of luck.
“If you want to rent my room, you need to follow my rules.”
I parted my lips to complain—I was a grown woman after all. My words lingered on my tongue, before I pushed them aside. I was here to change my life, and if I didn’t want to become a burden to my daughter, I was going to need to play by this man’s rules. “Of course. I will be to your house on time. ”
“Wonderful. See you then.”
I nodded. When he ended the call, I slipped my phone into my purse and sighed. I started the engine and took off down the street to Cordelia’s house. The entire ride, I kept thinking about how damaged my things were and how I was now starting my new lease on life in a home with a man who didn’t seem interested in having me there.
One thing was for certain — fate seemed to hate me. I went from one of the highest-paid editors in the publishing world to this. Trudging through six inches of water to rescue the few belongings I’d brought with me.
Once I had as much as I could gather up, I climbed the stairs and deposited the items into my trunk. I’d come tomorrow to gather the soaking wet items and either throw them out or find a way to dry them.
If I didn’t want to be out on the streets tonight, I needed to get to Spencer’s.
Even though my common sense told me to keep on driving once I’d pulled up to his small white rambler that was half covered with bushes and vines, I shook my head and squared my shoulders.
I never backed down from a fight, and if fate wanted to play games, she wasn’t going to intimidate me. No matter what she threw my direction, I wasn’t going anywhere.
I was here to stay.