9. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
N adine was up with the sun, as her grandmother used to say. The previous night, she’d tossed and turned for a while and when she finally fell asleep, she’d slept like the dead and still woke up exhausted. Now she was anxious to get up and get the day started. Herman stirred where he slept at the foot of the bed, groaning. He wasn’t an early riser. But when Nadine stood, he jumped up, alert.
“It’s okay, buddy, I’m only going to the bathroom.”
He seemed to understand and sat there at the foot of the bed, waiting.
As quietly as she could, she padded to the bathroom, did a quick washup, and brushed her teeth. Back in her room, she dressed quickly, deciding an early morning walk on the beach was called for .
“Come on,” she said, holding up the dog’s purple lead. “Walk?”
He wagged his tail in response and leaned against her, pushing his head against her hand.
She rubbed the top of his head and leaned down and kissed him. “Did anyone ever tell you what a great comfort you are?”
He wagged his tail some more.
As they walked out of the bedroom, she whispered to him, “I think you know more than you let on.”
Before they’d said good night the previous evening, her mother had told her that she was welcome to stay as long as she liked.
They walked down the staircase, and Nadine was thankful that it was carpeted so as not to wake anyone. She bypassed breakfast, her stomach still feeling queasy after all the ice cream she’d eaten the previous night. She clipped the lead to Herman’s collar, and together they went out.
The street was quiet. There was only the sound of the birds chirping their morning greeting. The air was pleasantly warm, the promise of a hot day ahead of them.
She’d always loved this time of the day, when everyone else was still asleep and she had the world to herself. All of the houses they passed were darkened, curtains and blinds drawn, not yet open to the world. Herman loped along comfortably at her side as they headed toward the beach .
When they reached the beach they saw only one other person, an elderly woman some distance away picking things out of the sand that she then tossed in a tall paper coffee cup. Beach glass, perhaps? Seashells? Herman tugged on the lead, insisting they walk toward the shoreline. Nadine unclipped the lead from his collar and let him off. He had one destination in mind: the water. Herman loved the water. At home, they had an in-ground pool, and no one got more use out of it than Herman. It was one of the many things she loved about him: his carefree spirit. As he romped in the surf, his face full of joy, Nadine did a three-sixty of her surroundings. Not much had changed since she moved out of the area. The same houses lined the beach, only now some had been spruced up, the paint color changed, and some had fallen into disrepair, which was always sad to see. Her eyes traveled east, facing the rising sun, as the land sloped gently, and the town was laid out for all to see. The familiar landscape gave her a boost, which was desperately needed.
After a while, Herman emerged from the water and returned to her side, shaking off water right next to her, drenching her.
“Thanks,” she said wryly. She reattached his lead and they headed off.
As they left the beach, she said, “Come on, let’s see if we can find a cup of coffee.” She wasn’t sure if Angie opened this early, but she didn’t mind walking up to the town to find out.
Their walk was meandering. She gave the lead slack when the dog wanted to investigate things, which was often. He must have sniffed at every shrub, flower, and rock on the way into town. She didn’t mind; it gave her time to think, something she’d been doing a lot of lately.
What was she going to do with the rest of her life? Returning to her and Richard’s house was not an option. It used to be a home, but now it was only a house shared by two people who used to love each other. There really was no reason to return, especially since Emma was going off to college. If Emma was still at home, it would have been a no-brainer; she would have returned and figured something else out. She had been out of the workforce a long time. She’d liked keeping a home and taking care of her family. The idea of looking for a job at the age of forty-four with an empty resumé did not thrill her.
As she waited for Herman—who had his nose stuck in a privet hedge—she realized she had a lot of important decisions to make. As much as this scared her, there was a small part of her that felt that this newfound freedom was absolutely delicious. She could do whatever she wanted, with no one other than Emma to consider. She could live wherever she wanted in the world. That, too, was a no-brainer. She was going to live in Lavender Bay. Her mother’s suggestion had kept her up all night, and she knew it was the right choice.
Eventually, she and Herman found themselves back in town, shops still closed as it was only six thirty in the morning. Her first stop was her sister’s café, but it was still dark, and the sign said they didn’t open until seven. But across the street, Java Joe’s front door was wide open, the sandwich board was already perched out on the sidewalk, and the lights were on inside. Along the current of warm air, the smell of fresh-brewed coffee and grilled food traveled to her, her stomach gurgling in response.
“Come on, let’s get coffee,” she said to Herman. Despite the fact that there was hardly any traffic on the street that early in the morning, she still looked both ways when she crossed, the dog at her side. After she secured Herman’s lead around the lamppost outside the café, she stepped inside of Java Joe’s.
There were two people in the coffee shop; apparently, she wasn’t the only early riser out and about that morning. The inside of Java Joe’s definitely had a masculine feel. It was all dark wood and brass and copper fixtures. Chrome tables with Formica tabletops and black vinyl chairs filled the place. The wide plate-glass window in front looked directly across at Coffee Girl.
Momentarily sheepish, Nadine hesitated. But the aroma of coffee was too appealing, and her feet propelled her to the long counter. There were a few pastries and cakes in the display case, but nothing like the assortment her sister offered. Overhead, a menu painted on distressed wood hung suspended from chains. A quick scan showed a variety of breakfast sandwiches. Her mouth watered.
“Can I help you?” a deep voice asked, startling her. The big man who’d emerged from the back room had a neat beard and multiple tattoos. He was intimidating.
“Um, sure,” she said, scanning the menu, grateful there was no one behind her in line. “I’ll have an Americano and a bacon-and-egg sandwich. On a croissant.” There were other, more adventurous choices, but she decided to keep it simple. As she waited, she stared out the window. The traffic was beginning to pick up.
He handed her her order in a brown bag and the coffee in a takeout cup, and she turned and exited, relieved to find Herman waiting patiently for her on the sidewalk.
“Hey, handsome, how about some breakfast?” She opened the bag and pulled out the sandwich, unwrapped it, ripped off a big chunk, and tossed it to the dog, who caught it in his mouth. When she looked up, she spotted her sister Angie standing in front of Coffee Girl, her hands on her hips.
She was not smiling.
Oh boy.
Quickly, she shoved the rest of the sandwich back into the bag and untied Herman from the lamppost, the two of them trotting across the street .
A thunderous look covered Angie’s face.
“Hey,” Nadine said, deciding to downplay things.
“I don’t believe you!” Angie started. “You’re not back in town for two days and you’re giving your business to my competition? Thanks. ” Angie’s temper matched that fiery red hair of hers.
“Now wait a minute,” Nadine said. “My intention was to stop here, but you weren’t open.” It was a bit early to be attacked like this. All over a cup of coffee and an egg sandwich.
“You could have waited. I was running late,” Angie said. “My freezer is on the fritz, and I had to empty everything into the sink.”
“How was I to know that?” This was how it was with her sisters. Sometimes, it only took a cup of coffee to set things off.
“Even so, why would you drink coffee from the enemy?” Angie asked.
Nadine thought her sister was being dramatic but kept that opinion to herself; she had enough drama in her own life. She glanced over her shoulder at Java Joe’s, watching as a couple entered the building.
“Does he know how you feel about him?”
“This isn’t some romantic comedy on Netflix, this is about some brute trying to muscle in on my business,” Angie said hotly.
Nadine frowned. “Does he feel the same way? ”
“I have no idea. Our conversations have never lasted long enough for me to determine how he feels.”
“But I bet he knows how you feel,” Nadine said, venturing a guess.
“Of course,” Angie said with a sniff. She pulled a large set of keys from her pocket. “Look, I’ve got to open up. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Nadine said goodbye and wondered if that was true. It seemed Angie was too busy to talk at all.
She stood on the corner of Maple and Main and finished her breakfast sandwich, handing the last chunk to Herman, who gobbled it from her hand, leaving a trail of slobber in his wake. She wiped her hand on the napkin from the bag. She gulped the rest of the coffee, which had now gone cold. She’d never admit to Angie that the sandwich and the coffee were delicious. No sense in stoking that fire.
After she threw the cup and bag into a garbage bin, she and Herman started in the direction of her mother’s house, but she felt compelled to detour past the Hadley home on Pearl Street. She couldn’t account for the pull, but she’d thought about the house during the night as she tossed and turned. It certainly was more pleasant to think about an old boarding house than her own problems. The distraction was good.
It wasn’t far from the center of town. She headed down to the end of Main Street and then made a right on Pearl, heading north. Soon she found herself standing on the sidewalk in front of the Hadley house. She could so easily see it being a boarding house all those years ago. It had a sturdiness and familiarity to it. She wondered about the boarding house residents. What had that been like? Why had Mrs. Hadley resorted to running a boarding house? To own a house right on the lake would have indicated some money at some point.
Herman sat patiently next to her, staring at the house. She looked down at him. “What do you think?” In a million years, she would never be able to explain the pull of this house. She tugged her phone from her back pocket and took a quick photo. She bit her lip.
“Come on, Herman, we’ve got to get back,” she said. Hurriedly, she trotted toward home, anxious to call Edna Knickerbocker before she lost her nerve and changed her mind.
No one was up yet at her mother’s house, the downstairs quiet and still. There was a small writing desk in the alcove beneath the stairs. Nadine rummaged through the drawer, searching out her mother’s address book. She opened it on top of the desk, flipping through the pages and finding the number she sought. She picked up the handset of the desk phone and began to dial.
It was answered on the third ring.
“Hello?” said a groggy voice.
“Mrs. Knickerbocker?” Nadine said.
“Who’s calling this early in the morning? ”
“It’s me, Nadine Eberhardt.” Excitement gripped her. “I’d like to talk to you about buying the house on Pearl Street.”