Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
G retchen flipped another page in the photo album, the edges yellowed with age. Her eyes widened when she spotted a black-and-white photograph of Edith in a bikini.
“Va-va-voom,” Gretchen said. “How old were you here?”
“Probably close to your age,” Edith responded. The two of them were sitting side by side on the couch. They’d intended to watch a movie together, but that plan changed when Gretchen spotted the photo album on the bookshelf.
They’d spent the last couple of hours turning through the pages as Edith recounted stories of her younger years, which was way better than watching a movie.
It was the night of the mayoral election, so they were staying up, awaiting the results. Because Gracemont was a small town, Edith said the ballot counting didn’t run super late, so they hoped to know the results by ten or eleven p.m.
Theo had promised to call as soon as he heard.
“That was the summer I traveled to Myrtle Beach with a few girlfriends for a week. Oh my,” Edith exclaimed. “Didn’t we think we were all the rage, smoking cigarettes and drinking Old Fashioneds around the pool, while the boys circled us like flies on honey.”
Gretchen looked at the picture again. “If your girlfriends were even half as pretty as you, I’m sure you all were the center of attention.”
Edith pressed her shoulder against hers. “Oh, go on with you. I made a lot of bad decisions on that trip, but damn if I didn’t enjoy every single one.”
Gretchen laughed. “Bad decisions, huh?”
“Sometimes those are the best ones.”
They turned another page, Gretchen pointing to another photo, this one of Edith standing in front of the Washington Monument, surrounded by hundreds of other women.
“A protest?” Gretchen asked.
“A march for the ERA,” Edith replied. “One that worked, as we were successful in getting the House and Senate to approve an extension of the amendment. I’ve attended quite a few protests and rallies in my time.”
“Good for you.” Every time Gretchen learned something new about Edith, she loved the woman even more.
Gretchen laughed when they turned the page, and she spotted a picture of Edith draped over the hood of a car.
“God, I loved my Ford Mustang. Used to drive that thing everywhere,” Edith confessed.
As they continued turning the pages, she watched as Edith got older.
“This was the first property I ever bought on my own.” Edith’s parents had owned several rental properties in and around Gracemont that she inherited following their deaths.
“How many have you bought since then?” Gretchen asked.
Edith tapped a finger against her lower lip. “That’s a good question. I’d say at least twenty.”
“Twenty?” Gretchen wasn’t sure why she was surprised. Edith was a shrewd and clever businesswoman.
“Property is a good investment,” Edith said.
“Though I’ll admit, it took some time for the older generation in town to accept a woman investing in real estate.
Especially a woman who was still single in her thirties.
By the time I turned forty, I’d acquired a tidy fortune, thanks to some very good stock market investments, so I guess some people around here considered me quite the catch. ”
“You would be quite the catch without money. You’re smart and funny and,” Gretchen looked back down at the photo, “gorgeous.”
Edith smiled. “Maybe so, but at the time, I was considered an enigma and even a little eccentric. Quite a few of the local men started suggesting I was a lesbian.”
“ What? ”
“It was the only way they could explain why I kept turning them down for dates. God forbid they have to accept that they weren’t smart enough to capture my interest.”
“What assholes.”
Edith waved her hand. “Oh, I didn’t care about that, because it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with their inability to see a world that wasn’t based on the patriarchy. They were threatened by an independent woman capable of making her own money and decisions. They didn’t like it.”
Gretchen laughed. “So no torrid romance with another woman?” She was joking—until she saw the smug expression on Edith’s face. “There was?!”
“I wouldn’t call it torrid. One of the friends I traveled to the protests with was a lesbian, and one night she confessed her love for me. We kissed, but…”
“No sparks?”
“Sadly, no,” Edith said. “Because she was quite perfect for me in every other way.”
“You are so badass. I totally want to be you when I grow up.”
“Well, I’d say you’re well on your way, my dear.”
Gretchen didn’t agree, but she didn’t have a chance to say so before her phone rang.
“It’s Theo,” she said, picking it up.
“He won! Sam won!” Theo announced, as soon as she answered.
She and Edith cheered. Then she and Theo spent a few minutes discussing how to get word out about their celebration happy hour.
When she hung up, Edith—who was hardcore Team Theo—suggested that she channel her inner Edith at the party, make a few bad decisions, and go wild with her hot boss.
Gretchen scoffed, dismissing the idea—aloud. While inside, she seriously gave it some thought.
Maybe it was time for her to channel her inner Edith. Because God knew that woman had lived a life worth living, and suddenly, Gretchen wanted to do the same.
Time was too precious to keep wasting.
Gretchen took a moment to herself, leaning against the counter behind the bar, enjoying the victory party.
Sam had been touched by the surprise happy hour, and given the way he’d circulated the brewery, spending a few minutes with everyone who came to congratulate him, Gretchen had no doubt, he would be a wonderful mayor.
The celebration she and Theo had secretly planned behind the scenes “just in case” had been in full swing for way more than one happy hour. Glancing at the time on her phone, she saw they were approaching their fourth hour of happiness.
Every member of the Storm family was in attendance, and while she wasn’t sure, it certainly felt as if nearly every citizen in Gracemont had made a point to drop by. Well, everyone except Scottie Grover, who was probably hunkered down at home, licking his wounds.
Lark McCoy, who provided entertainment at least one weekend a month at both the brewery and the winery, had ensured spirits remained high, strumming her guitar and performing one amazing set after another, packing the playlist with sing-along hits like “Sweet Caroline,” “Party in the U.S.A,” “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Living on a Prayer,” “Wagon Wheel,” and more.
Gretchen’s voice would be hoarse come morning, as she, Mila, Nora, and Remi belted out the words while waiting tables.
Because of the sheer number of attendees, it had become an all-hands-on-deck situation for a couple of hours, with every Storm either manning the taps, working in the kitchens, or serving.
But as afternoon gave way to evening, a lot of people had finally headed home for a late dinner.
Edith, who’d left half an hour ago, would no doubt be tucking Manny in tonight, the man enjoying one flight too many. He was jovial when tipsy, and he had provided at least five of the countless toasts in Sam’s honor that had kept people lifting pint glasses.
With a much thinner crowd, consisting only of Storms and a few stragglers unwilling to call it a night, Gretchen could finally take a moment to catch her breath. It had been an amazing evening—one of the best of her life—something she’d been saying a lot of late.
Every day here was better than the one before. It wasn’t anything she’d ever experienced, but damn if she wasn’t loving every moment of it. That nagging feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop was fading away, leaving in its wake this constant state of sheer happiness.
It had been a week since Halloween, since Theo had kissed her senseless on the dance floor at Whiskey Abbey…
and then even more senseless on the front porch of Edith’s house after walking her home.
She was lying to herself when she said she tried to do the smart thing and resist his attention, because there was no denying her efforts couldn’t be labeled anything stronger than token at best.
God, she thought, stroking her finger over her lips.
They were chapped from all the kissing she and Theo had been doing lately.
Since agreeing to see where things led them, he’d taken advantage of the offer, dropping by her office nearly every single hour to steal another kiss.
She’d joked earlier in the day that if he kept it up, Nora was going to fire both of them.
After her driving lessons on Saturday and Sunday, they’d parked on a rarely used dirt road on the farm and made out like teenagers who’d discovered their fun bits.
So far, they’d limited their embraces to kissing and some hot-and-heavy, over-the-clothing touches.
It had been intense and far too innocent for Gretchen, who hadn’t felt arousal in years.
Any passion she might have felt for Briggs at the beginning of their relationship was lukewarm compared to her desire for Theo, and nowadays, she felt like a walking live wire, sparking brightly whenever he was in the same room as her.
She wanted him.
That thought was as shocking as it was terrifying.
She’d genuinely believed Briggs had beat out of her the part that craved sex and touching and kissing and closeness.
If he had, Theo had found a way to bring it all back to life.
With his sweet compliments, drugging kisses, and peaceful, gentle, nonthreatening nature, she was smitten.
For goodness sake, the man didn’t even hurt bugs. She’d watched him catch a bee in his office the other day then take it outside to release it. On the flip side, she’d seen Briggs kick a dog before, simply for making its way into their yard and rolling in the grass.