9. Penny
9
Penny
T he six women were crowded around a four-person table, the surface of which was barely visible through a myriad of half-drunk cups and empty plates that once held some of Kimber Tate’s divine pastries. Hazel had been right about the woman; she could bake.
Liz had brought her sister, Candy, with her as promised, and Penny had found her to be absolutely charming. She wasn’t much taller than Penny, but she made up for it in personality. A general contractor with a design background, Candy had landed a dream job on the crew of a house-flipping show on the DIY channel. Although the show had been canceled after only three years, Candy had come away from it with lots of experience and a plan to launch her own business specializing in renovating and remodeling. “I’m not that interested in building from the ground up,” she told them. “I love the process of taking something old and outdated, something other people may think is too far gone, and bringing it back to life, or giving it a whole new life altogether.”
It was that declaration that gave Penny the courage to speak up.
“So, I have something that I want to talk to all of you about.” Penny took a deep breath, still not sure that she was doing the right thing, but desperate to talk to someone about what was going on.
“What’s on your mind, girlie?” Juno asked. She hadn’t stopped grinning every time she looked Penny’s way, and of course, everyone had wanted to know why.
Penny had given the group a very abbreviated version of things, with Juno filling in a few details that were highly subjective. In particular, things like, “Ward St. James is in trouble, ladies. Penny’s feeding him tonight, and you know what they say about the way to a man’s heart and all.”
“I’m not trying to find my way to his heart. Or any man’s heart,” Penny insisted. “Food is a language everyone understands, that’s all. And when middle ground is hard to find, a shared meal is a perfect place to start.”
“Oh, I like that,” Addison Wedgewood murmured from her corner of the table. She was the quietest of all of them, and although she was a year-rounder, she, too, wasn’t technically a local. Addison had moved to Autumn Lake about five years ago and had fallen in love with everything about the small lake town. She worked at a regional airport about half an hour’s drive away, and even though her job came with as many free flights as she wanted, she insisted that she had no desire to ever leave her new little hometown again.
“It’s probably a good thing you’re not aiming for his heart,” Claire said with a shake of her head. “He still says he’s not staying past tourist season. It’s been what? Nine or ten months now?”
“Yeah,” Juno agreed. “But his mom is doing better, and from what he says, his dad is taking on more of the workload, too, now that Ward has set things with the business back on course. I have a feeling we may be saying goodbye to him before too long.” She reached over and patted Penny’s hand. “But you know what? It’s kinda perfect, Penny. No strings attached—you’re both leaving in a few months. Have a summer fling. I think you’d be good for each other.” She sat back, a smug expression on her face.
“Ha. No. Stop trying to set me up with anyone, you guys. I’m not—”
“We know you’re not interested,” Claire said, cutting her off. “We’ve heard you say so a gazillion times.”
“And yet, here we are, you all still setting me up and me still standing my ground.” Penny gestured at Juno. “I mean, seriously. A summer fling? Do I look like a no-strings-attached-summer-fling kind of girl to you?” She looked around the table at her friends.
Every single one of them nodded, even Candy. “Oh, definitely summer fling material,” she teased with a giggle.
Penny snorted. “Et tu, Brute?”
Juno lifted her hand to Candy, who high-fived her.
“What was it you were going to tell us about a minute ago?” Liz asked, bringing the conversation back around to Penny’s request. Liz was a down-to-earth, git-er-done kind of woman. A plumber by trade, she’d landed her dream job working for the county doing water line construction and inspection right around the time that the resort started going up across the lake, which meant job security for her for many, many years to come. As a woman in a predominately male line of work, she was rightfully proud of what she’d accomplished, and even though it had taken some effort to convince her team members that she wasn’t afraid of hard work, they now treated her like one of the guys.
Which didn’t sound so awesome to Penny, who liked her sundresses and sandals, and who, unlike Liz, didn’t own a single pair of shoes with steel toes. To each his own, though. Penny admired Liz all the more for their differences.
“You sounded kinda serious,” Liz added. “Is everything okay?”
They’d all taken turns updating each other on their lives, and although the rest of them lived in the same town, it was remarkable how easy it was to go months at a time without getting personal, even when they saw each other in passing on a regular basis. It always made Penny feel less like an outsider when she wasn’t the only one who needed catching up on what was going on with everyone.
She’d already told them about her mother’s rapid decline over the last year, and how she worried that her summers in Autumn Lake were coming to an end. It was easy to talk to these women about her struggles with her mother, probably because of the degree of separation between her vacation life in Autumn Lake and her normal life back home.
But talking to them about Hazel was a different story altogether. She felt intrusive, like maybe she was crossing a line. But she couldn’t stand by and pretend she wasn’t concerned, especially if Hazel was indeed in trouble.
Penny chose her words carefully. “I’m not exactly sure, and I really hope I’m not overstepping here.” She grimaced at the concern on every face in their little circle. “I think maybe Hazel isn’t doing so well.”
She told them about the stack of bills, about the forlorn, neglected garden. “And you guys, I’m her only guest. When I asked her when I’d have to start sharing her company with others, she simply said she hadn’t booked anyone else for the next few weeks. That she needed to get a few things done around the place first.”
“Is Ward still stopping by to help out?” Juno asked, tracing circles in the condensation on her glass. “What about Alex?”
“I haven’t seen Alex since the first day I got here, but Ward was there fixing a leak this morning. I guess last night’s rain was a doozy.” According to Ward, the storm had blown a few shingles loose and had caused a minor leak in the attic.
Juno nodded. “He’s so good to her.”
“He really is,” Claire agreed. “It’s not like he’s got extra time on his hands, what with taking care of his parents, running his dad’s company, and keeping his own business going back on the west coast.”
Penny glanced between the two of them. “Am I understanding you right? Is he doing all of that work for her for free?”
“It’s called being neighborly, Penny,” Liz said with a good-natured chuckle. “It’s the way we do things around these parts.”
That seemed to be the prevailing sentiment around Autumn Lake, Penny thought. Hazel, then Juno, and now Liz had all said variations of the same thing to her.
Their surprisingly pleasant chat while he ate his sandwich had her acknowledging that her first impression of Ward St. James might not have been quite as accurate as she’d assumed. And now hearing how highly all her friends thought of him had her feeling like a real toad for the terrible thoughts she’d had about him. Well, tonight at supper, she was going to have to make up for it with the best batch of chicken curry she’d ever put together.
She took a deep breath and set thoughts of Ward aside. “Well, here’s the thing. Ward said he’s doing mostly just cosmetic stuff, easy repairs, you know? Nothing that would prevent her from having guests. I’m afraid that there might be something a little less obvious going on.” She hesitated, hating to put her next thought into words. “Like maybe she’s got financial troubles?”
After a moment, Juno nodded. “I’ve been wondering the same thing myself. I was pretty surprised when Kimber told me Hazel had given her all her chickens. She loved those clucky birds.” She pointed at the bud vase in the center of the table. In it was a slightly bedraggled posy of carnations and daisies. “I used to buy my fresh summer flowers for the tables from her. She’d handpick little bouquets and have them sitting in water ready for me to pick up every other day. Then back in April, she told me she was giving her garden an off year, whatever that means, but that’s when I got worried. I mean, The Garden Gate without a garden?”
“Yeah, that’s a big deal,” Claire said in agreement, frowning down at her coffee cup. She looked as lovely as ever today in a pale blue dress with a wide Peter Pan collar. She reminded Penny of Alice in Wonderland, her blonde curls held back from her face with a black velvet headband. She looked around the table, her gaze landing on Penny. “So, what can we do to help? Can we help without offending her?”
Leave it to Claire to move quickly toward resolution. She always had a plan for everything. That was one of the things that made her such a great businesswoman. She didn’t wait around for someone else to do the things that she could do herself, and if she had an idea that she thought was good, she acted on it with the confidence of a warrior. Penny wanted to be her when she grew up.
“Does she have a website?” Candy asked, reaching for her phone from the basket in the middle of the table. She paused, her hand hovering over the pile of phones in their varied and colorful cases. “May I? Or will I have to pay the bill if I get my phone? Is that how this works?” It was tradition; phones went on silent mode and got put in the pot, and they only responded to phone calls. Even then, the call had to be from someone they knew, and it had to be answered on speaker. Claire’s boyfriend—ex-boyfriend now—had braved calling her once during one of their ‘counseling sessions’, as they all called these get-togethers. They’d answered the phone as a group, Juno had asked the disconcerted Damon what the emergency was, and when he’d said he was just wondering when Claire would be finished so he could see her, they’d collectively explained to him how much his impatient demands on Claire’s time was not an emergency. Claire and Damon had broken up only a few weeks later, and although she’d insisted it had nothing to do with that phone call, Penny secretly wondered if they hadn’t scared him just a little.
“Go ahead,” Juno told Candy. “And no one pays the bill. This is all on the house.” The woman was generous to a fault, but there was no arguing with her.
“Actually, she doesn’t have one,” Penny said in response to Candy’s question. “I’ve asked her about getting one several times over the last few years, but she insists she doesn’t need one. Says her phone works just fine, and that’s how people have always booked rooms from her before.”
“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” Juno rolled her eyes. “How many times have I heard that woman use that phrase? Only a bajillion times, ladies.”
“Except it sounds like it is broken,” Addison said, frowning. “Believe me, people don’t want to make calls anymore. They don’t want to talk to real people.” She pointed at the basket. “They go to websites. They text. They email, if necessary. And they call only if—and I mean, last resort—they absolutely have to.”
Candy was nodding along with every word Addison said. “Exactly. They’ll move on to the next place if they can’t find what they’re looking for online. Businesses can’t afford not to have websites these days, Penny. She needs one, like, yesterday.”
“Like, last decade,” Liz interjected. “I didn’t realize she was so behind the times. That woman is a force to be reckoned with. I’d never have imagined she’d be so stuck in her ‘old-timer’ ways.” She sounded genuinely bemused by the notion.
“I could easily put together a website for her. I could even do a mockup first, so she can see what it looks like. I kinda need a project right now, just to keep me distracted.” Candy leaned forward, her eyes alight with anticipation.
“Distracted from what?” Liz asked, turning in her seat to eye her sister. “Don’t tell me you’ve already got a boyfriend. You just moved back here less than a month ago.”
Candy elbowed her in the side. “No, Lizzy. I don’t have a boyfriend. I’m waiting to hear back from my contract attorney to make sure I can go into business on my own without any issues from the television show. My contract with them included a non-compete clause, and I’m freaked out that I may have to wait to start my own renovation business. So yeah, I need a distraction. A project would be nice.”
“Wow. Can they do that?” Claire asked. “Keep you tied to them even when the show is dead?”
“I don’t know,” Candy said with a shrug. “Which is why I’m letting the attorney handle it for me.”
“Well, I think a website is a great place to start,” Penny said to Candy. “But how much will it cost her? I don’t know how bad things are—I honestly don’t know for sure that they are bad—but I’d wager money is going to be an issue.”
“Right. Sure. Totally understand. So maybe let me take care of it. At least for the first year. Then, if she wants to keep it—and I’m sure she will—she can pick up the tab at that point. It’s not that expensive to maintain a website these days. The expense comes when you have to pay someone to create it for you.”
“But you should be paid for your time,” Penny protested. Juno and Claire both nodded in agreement.
“No, it’s fine. I like doing techy stuff; it’ll be fun for me.”
Liz put an arm around Candy’s shoulders. “If it sets your minds at ease, my little sister came away from that show of hers with a nice little settlement. They had a five-year contract, and they pulled it after three. Her attorney, the one who’s looking over things for her now? He got her a sweet settlement for the remaining two years of her contract.” To Candy, she said, “You can talk freely here, sissy. We have no secrets in this circle.”
Candy nodded, her concerned expression turning to one of relief. “It wasn’t my show, but yes, he made sure my whole crew got sweet settlements. This is why I can afford to go into business for myself now. It’s not going to happen overnight, I know that, but the settlement bought me the time I need to do it right.”
“Time she’s spending with me,” Liz declared, squeezing Candy’s shoulders again before releasing her. “She’s been a bum, lounging around my house all day. Please give her something to do.”
“If you can help me with some of the pertinent information, Penny,” Candy continued, not even acknowledging her sister’s jab. “Like room rates, hours, meals, anything you can think of, I can put something together in just a few days.”
“Absolutely,” Penny agreed, reaching across the table to squeeze Candy’s hand. “That’s awesome of you to take that on.”
“What about the rest of us?” Claire asked, not to be deterred. “Any ideas?”
Penny nodded, her bottom lip between her teeth as she quickly put together a plan that had been brewing in her head since Liz had made her comment about being neighborly. “What if we did this—” She swirled her hand in a circle around the table, indicating all of them. “Over at Hazel’s? What would you all think of putting in some time in the garden this summer? I mean, I can be out there every day, of course. You all have jobs, but is there a time like this when we could just schedule… I don’t know. Community work hours, or whatever we want to call it, over there? I know Hazel might balk if we act like we’re doing it out of pity, but what if we started a club, or an organization of some kind, and asked her if we could have our meetings in her garden?”
“We could offer to pay her to let us meet there,” Claire began, but Juno shook her head.
“Oh, girl. You know that won’t happen. She’ll flat out refuse any money from us.”
“I know that,” Claire shot back. “But then we can do the whole ‘If you won’t take our money, then at least let us pitch in a little around the place’ reverse psychology thing. She can’t say ‘no’ to that, can she?”
Addison nodded. “I think you’re on to something, Claire. That would let her keep her dignity.”
Penny felt the tingle of tears at the bridge of her nose. “You guys. You’re the best.” She pressed her lips together as she fought not to cry. “How am I going survive if I can’t come back next year?”
“Hey. None of that,” Juniper commanded, reaching over to grab Penny’s hand. She squeezed tightly. “Leave tomorrow’s troubles alone, okay? We have Hazel’s troubles to deal with right now.”
Penny nodded and sniffled, pulling herself together. “Okay. So what are we going to call our club?” she asked, needing to focus on something positive. “I mean, it has to be better than the “Save The Garden Gate Club.”
Addison’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Definitely. Hmm. Something less specific, I think. I mean, what if we find this is something we can do for more people than just Hazel? Maybe there are other businesses—or just people—in town who could also use a little neighborly help?” Her mind was clearly spinning with ideas.
“If we aren’t going to name it something to do with the project, then maybe we can name it something to do with us,” Liz suggested.
“Yes,” Candy agreed. “Good idea. What are some things we all have in common?”
“Well, aren’t we all single right now?” Juno asked.
“Yes, but we can’t call it a singles club,” Liz countered with a chuckle. “That’s a whole different vibe than what we’re going for, isn’t it?”
“Besides, I don’t want to be single my whole life.” Candy made a face.
They all heartily agreed with that sentiment.
Over the next half an hour, they tossed around ideas and finally landed on something that worked for everyone. Not only that, but the word ‘garden’ was in the name, an homage to their first community project in Hazel’s garden.
“It’s official, then,” Penny said, lifting her glass in a toast. The others lifted theirs, too, clinking them together in celebration. “Welcome to the first meeting of The Garden Variety Lovers Club, ladies.”