Our Extraordinary Summer (Hobby Island #2)

Chapter 1

Eloisa

“Grief is the price we pay for love.”

—Eloisa Hobby

“Bring my daughters to your magical island,” Demetra Sarris said, her faded gray eyes beseeching. “I’ve failed them. Please help them heal, Ellie. You’re their only hope.”

“My dearest, I’m not Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Eloisa Hobby patted her dear friend’s cool, dry cheek, shooting for a dollop of levity even during this most solemn of times. Eloisa was, after all, a joyful person by and large.

“Oh, no, you’re far more powerful than that because you’re real.” Demetra paused, wheezing.

Fat tears gathered on Eloisa’s eyelashes and clung thick. No, no. She promised herself she wouldn’t cry. She would stay strong for the woman she loved like blood kin, the woman who saved her life when—

Stop it, this isn’t about you.

“Promise me . . .” Demetra’s restless fingers rubbed the crisp cotton top sheet.

Resolute, Eloisa blinked away the tears. “I swear it.”

“Heal them the way you healed me.”

“We healed each other,” Eloisa corrected, her heart cracking right in two.

“If only we had more time to plan . . .”

“No worries, my love, I’ll find a way. Leave it to me.”

“It won’t be easy. My girls are so stubborn.” Demetra’s voice came out faint, losing strength.

“Shh, rest.”

Demetra’s lids drifted closed, a soft, grateful smile forming on her lips, slipping away before Eloisa’s eyes.

Grief scrubbed her insides raw. Hard as it might be to reconcile her friend’s estranged daughters with each other, she would find a way.

For the last three days, ever since Demetra returned to Hobby Island, she lay nestled in this bedroom, covered in a handmade quilt, which carried the faint scent of roses and sunshine.

Eloisa’s faithful calico, Felena, curled up at her feet while she slept in the lounger beside the bed, straying from the sick room only for brief breaks.

Throughout the ordeal, Eloisa held Demetra’s hand, bathed her face with a cool washcloth, and gave her sips of soothing chamomile tea to ease her transition.

A sacred duty, these precious few last hours, filled with hushed confessions, shared memories, and absolute forgiveness.

They’d been through so much together—knitting, quilting, crafting, leaving abusive husbands . . .

Hobby Island was a sanctuary. A refuge for healing, where creativity flourished, and friendships deepened throughout the years. They’d created a haven for women like themselves, a space where crafting wasn’t just a hobby but therapy as well.

Demetra’s breathing slowed, and she dozed off again.

Eloisa sank her face into her palms, drawing in slow, deep breaths to contain her tumultuous emotions, and then, a weak tug on her sleeve startled Eloisa upright.

“Ellie . . .”

“Yes?” Eloisa leaned forward to catch every word, her pulse quickening.

“Without you, I wouldn’t have—” A hacking cough rolled through Demetra, shaking her entire body.

“No need to say more. I understand. Save your strength.” Eloisa took the washcloth from Demetra’s forehead, refreshed it in the white porcelain bowl of cool water sitting on the bedside table, and bathed her fevered face.

“No one ever treated me with such kindness or loved me the way you have. You never judged me for losing custody of my girls . . .”

“Oh, dear friend, who am I to judge anyone when I—” Eloisa gulped past the lump in her throat.

Demetra’s hand dropped, and her eyes drifted shut once more, her breath growing fainter with each passing second.

“Demi?” Eloisa’s voice quivered.

Demetra’s lips moved. Her words came so faintly Eloisa had to press her ear close to catch them. “Until we meet again.”

She took one final shuddering breath and her face went still, peaceful at last; her suffering ended.

With an anguished yelp, Eloisa gathered her friend to her chest and wept for everything Demetra had lost, for all the sorrow she’d been through and the heartache that weighed down her soul—the fate of her two daughters.

“I’ll heal them, Demi, and I’ll make sure your girls understand how much you loved them. I vow to reunite them if it’s the last thing I ever do.” She laid Demetra’s lifeless body back onto the mattress, smoothed her friend’s hair, and straightened the covers.

Wiping away tears with the back of her hand, she stiffened her shoulders, took in a resolute breath, and left the room, Felena at her heels.

Eloisa stepped from her cottage by the sea.

The garden welcomed her with the heady scent of jacaranda blossoms, their purple petals spilling like confetti onto the flagstone path.

As she strolled past, she brushed her fingers along the edges of tall, colorful gladiolas standing above the other flowers, grounding herself in their soothing textures.

Each bud and sprout reflected the years of care and hope poured into this place, a reminder of how healing could flourish even in the hardest times.

At the patio table graced with Demetra’s favorite tea set and breakfast foods, Eloisa’s closest remaining friends, Dot, Clare, and Vivian, waited for her, their faces etched with sorrow and sympathy.

They’d been in one another’s lives for so long, quilted baby blankets and dropped stitches together, that she could hardly remember a time when these women weren’t in her life.

“It’s over.” Eloisa dabbed at her eyes with a honeysuckle-scented, hand-sewn hankie pulled from her pocket.

Her friends rose to their feet and opened their arms. Grateful for their support, she fell into the group’s embrace.

Without a word, they held one another close.

Eloisa wasn’t alone because she had her lifelong friends, her chosen family, to lean on.

Serenity filled her heart, calming the grief as the four of them mourned Demetra together.

This.

Difficult as her task might be, this was the beautiful gift she must give Demetra’s daughters—love, peace, and community. She would carry out her friend’s wishes down to the last detail.

She owed it to Calista and Athena.

She owed it to Demetra.

But most of all, she owed it to herself because helping others through their troubles was the only way for Eloisa to keep walking the path to everlasting light, to find meaning and purpose in the face of life’s losses and heartaches.

With a deep sigh, Eloisa stepped from the group hug. “Let’s get started. We have much work ahead of us.”