Chapter 3
Isla
D ay four of work at Straight to Ale was going much better than the first. Isla had yet to drop an entire tray of drinks all over the floor and had actually remembered to clock in and out for her shifts. Despite the learning curve, Isla thought she was doing a decent job at serving the customers at the pub. Even if she had no prior experience to working in a restaurant.
Prior to moving to Moonflower Cove, Isla had been a stay-at-home mom. She loved every single minute of it, and loved that it allowed her to still follow her true passion. Isla had always had lofty dreams of being on Broadway one day. In fact, if she hadn’t had Blake when she did, Isla had no doubt she’d be performing on Broadway. But when she got pregnant with Blake, everything changed. Not in a bad way; on the contrary, it put life into perspective for her. Blake showed her there was more to life than seeing your name in the Broadway lights. Her family was what was most important.
A pang of regret hit Isla as she remembered that Mason was currently with a babysitter and not with her. Maggie had offered to watch her while Isla figured out childcare, and Isla trusted her. But that didn’t negate the fact that she would much rather be the one watching Mason. She hated the idea of missing even a moment in Mason’s life, especially since she was missing so much of Blake’s life. Her regret turned to sadness at the thought of Blake, but Isla forced it away. Not because she wanted to, but out of necessity to keep her head above the water she was treading. No matter how tired she got, Isla had to stay afloat for Mason.
“Isla,” Maureen O’Riley called out as she entered the kitchen with a tray full of dirty dishes, “table thirteen needs refills. Can you take care of that?”
“Absolutely.”
Darting out of the kitchen, Isla grabbed the pitcher of water and Diet Coke and carried it over to the table. She greeted the customers sweetly, trying to be as polite and sweet as she could to hopefully garner a tip. Although she was able to log a lot of hours at the restaurant, the pay wasn’t enough to keep her and Mason afloat. Eventually, Isla knew she’d either have to get a second job, or find a better paying job.
Isla bumped her hip against the swinging kitchen door as she sat the empty pitchers into the sink. All her tables were empty, which was usual for the mid-afternoon lull she’d noticed the last few days. Lunch was usually steady, but nothing overwhelming, while dinner usually had a slight wait for tables. But for a town as small as Moonflower Cove, Isla knew the restaurant had tons of potential to become the number one hangout spot in town. If only Cliff and Maureen saw that vision, too.
Having only been at the restaurant a few days, Isla knew she couldn’t—and shouldn’t—overstep her place. So instead, she kept a list of things she’d change if she were in charge. Adding a pool table, covering the outdoor patio for longer use, maybe even some karaoke—Isla had plans. It was too bad she wasn’t in charge. Not that she’d have any idea how to run a restaurant if she were in charge. Daydreaming about pie-in-the-sky changes was vastly different than actually enacting them. Especially since she had only been working at Straight to Ale for a few days.
“Maureen?” Isla knocked on the slightly closed door to the small office off the kitchen. “I was wondering if you needed me to stay longer today? I can help with…”
“That’s okay, Isla.” Maureen smiled up from the pile of paperwork on her desk. “It’s a slow day. You can go home.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks.”
Isla hoped her voice didn’t sound as dejected as she felt. She needed money and didn’t care to work longer shifts. Granted, the restaurant was slow. But still. Only covering the lunch shift for five hours a day wasn’t going to cut it financially for her. Sighing, Isla slumped into the driver’s seat of her old Pontiac and drove to Maggie’s house to pick up Mason.
The drive through the Cove was beautiful. Leaves had started to change into varying hues of oranges and red that made the trees look like they were on fire. Fall was Isla’s favorite time of the year, especially in New England. She wasn’t a beach kind of girl so the mountains of Maine suited her just fine.
I wonder if Vera likes fall.
“What the hell?” Isla asked out loud in the empty car. Why was she thinking about her doctor ? It had been days since Isla had seen her, so why was she on her mind? And on her mind like that ? Shaking her head, Isla gripped the steering wheel as her mind wandered back to thoughts of Vera.
If the circumstances had been different, maybe Isla could have asked her out to coffee or whatever casual friends did. Not that they were friends. But Isla wouldn’t mind if they became friends. She could use someone in the Cove to hang out with, even as just a platonic friend.
Because there was no way Vera would be interested in her beyond that. Sure, Isla knew gay people existed and even considered herself to be bisexual but no one openly talked about it. Being gay had almost a taboo feel around it to the point Isla knew asking a woman out on a date could go very badly very quickly. And yet that didn’t stop her mind from wondering if maybe—just maybe—Vera was having the same internal conflict about her.
Maybe I could call her…
Although a nurse had called a few days ago with her lab results and a prescription for birth control, Isla could call Vera’s office back under the guise of a question about her health. Then maybe she could segue into asking her to coffee or lunch or whatever. But would that be weird? Isla didn’t know Vera at all beyond their brief interaction.
“Where she was just doing her job,” Isla sighed. Vera wasn’t being friendly to her because she liked her. She was being nice because it was literally her job. “Clearly I’m too out of practice to ever date again.”
Pulling the car into the driveway, Isla parked the car at Maggie’s house. It was a large, two-story house that overlooked the ocean. There was a swing set in the backyard along with a dock that went out into the water. Isla could only dream about owning a house like Maggie’s one day.
Isla could hear the sounds of children laughing around the back of the house, so she followed the sound. As she rounded the corner, she could see Mason playing with three other kids who looked to be a little older than her. But that didn’t stop Mason; she was always older than her years, for better or for worse. Maggie waved at Isla from the patio.
“Hey, Isla.”
“Hey, Maggie.”
Mason stopped playing and ran over to Isla. She jumped into her arms, and Isla savored the feeling. Isla didn’t care she was getting to be too big to do that; she’d do it until she physically no longer could do so.
“I missed you, Mommy.”
“I missed you too, sweetie.” Putting Mason down, Isla brushed her curling hair out of her face. “Why don’t you introduce me to your friends?”
“Okay!” Mason ran over to the swing set where the three girls smiled politely up at Isla. “This is my mom,” she stated, as if that was all Isla had wanted.
But Mason wouldn’t be Mason if she didn’t occasionally take things too literally.
Thankfully, Maggie joined them by the swing set and introduced the girls to Isla.
“This is my granddaughter, Maddie, and her best friend, Emily.”
“It’s so nice to meet you all. Thanks for keeping Mason company for me today.”
The girls giggled, which made Isla smile. She’d never had a close group of friends before and she hoped Mason could grow up to be close with them.
After saying their goodbyes, Isla and Mason piled into the car. It was only three-thirty on a pretty Sunday, so Isla stopped by a park for Mason to play some more. She pushed her on the swing, enjoying the way she giggled, before they walked along the path near the water and watched the waves come in. Mason had requested pizza for dinner, so they picked one up on the way home.
“Mommy?” Mason had a serious tone as they sat at the makeshift dining room table, an almost empty pizza box between them.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Can I go to school?”
“You want to go to school?” Isla chuckled. “Most kids hate going to school.”
“But Maddie and Emily said they get to color and play outside and go to music class. And they get chocolate milk every day at lunch.”
“Chocolate milk every day, huh?”
“Yup. So, I need to go to school.” She nodded firmly, sitting up in her seat as if she were ready to have a full-blown discussion with Isla about school. “Tomorrow,” she stated.
Although Isla knew Mason was too young to start kindergarten, she could at least look into pre-K classes for her. If anything, it would make Mason happy and would give Isla the chance to either pick up more hours at the restaurant or find another job. As much as it pained her that her baby was getting old enough for school, she knew it would be good for her.
“Well, I’m not sure you can start tomorrow, but I’ll see if I can get you into school soon, okay?”
“Can you do it before lunchtime so I can get chocolate milk?”
“I’ll do my best,” Isla laughed as she stood, placing a kiss on Mason’s head. “Why don’t you go get ready for a bath, okay? I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Okay, Mommy!”
As Mason bounded off to the bathroom, Isla put the pizza box into the fridge and rinsed out their cups in the sink. She made a mental note to ask Maggie tomorrow when she dropped Mason off if she knew of any pre-K programs she could enroll Mason in.
Or maybe Vera would know.
“Isla, really,” she scolded herself. “She’s a doctor, not a teacher.”
Shaking her head, Isla tried to put the thoughts of Vera out of her head. Which was going to be easier said than done.