Chapter 24
When she left Oliver’s house, an energy rushed through her. Oliver had been on his way to see her. She couldn’t believe the coincidence. She remembered back to the night she had thought Zack was proposing because everything had aligned, simply because superficial dates and anniversaries had coincided that night. It didn’t mean the stars were aligned for true love. And she was okay, even relieved now, looking back. She was hunting for the fairy tale but didn’t pay attention to the right signs. Now, she couldn’t help but notice all the things that got her to the present.
The night she first met Oliver, who told her Zack wasn’t worth it. Seeing him at the market and Oliver being Sadie’s teacher. Then breaking her arm and seeing the kind side, the caring side, of Oliver. Finding out he enjoyed teaching and loved living in Blueberry Bay. Meeting Amy. Everything had aligned.
She looked down at her phone and opened her photos, then scrolled down until she found the selfie she’d taken that night before the fateful dinner with Zack months ago. She’d looked so different.
She drove to her mother’s house and found many cars parked down the road and in the driveway. She got out and noticed Quinn and Ginny’s house had just as many cars.
“What is going on?” she said, pulling out her phone. Maybe she should’ve called her mom before dropping in.
She dialed her mother’s number, but no one answered. Then she got a text.
Sorry I can’t talk right now, but will call you back.
Muriel texted back. I’m at the house.
Muriel walked up to the house and onto the porch and looked inside. The place looked empty, but the kitchen looked messy. She went inside the side door. “Mom?”
She walked in, listening to hear someone but heard nothing. Empty pastry boxes and dirty dishes sat all over the counters and surfaces. Purses and raincoats that weren’t her mother’s sat on the back of the dining room chairs and table, along with more boxes from what looked like a deli.
“Hello?” she called out as she walked deeper into the house. It was lunchtime. Where was everyone? “Mom?”
She went to the sink, filled with dishes, and looked out the window. The ocean water looked light blue under the sun that day, which was unusual for the cool Atlantic waters. The sun’s reflection shimmered along the water’s surface.
She walked out the back door to her grandfather’s favorite spot. “Hello? Grandpa?”
She stood quietly, waiting to hear something, but she heard nothing other than the waves hitting the rock cliffs. She walked back inside and up the wooden staircase, which creaked with every step, to check out the bedrooms to see if she had missed something. All the beds were made. The bathroom clean. The house looked like they had been there, so where were they?
Muriel walked into her mother’s bedroom and went up to the painting her grandfather Jacob had painted. Looking at the landscape of Blueberry Bay, her eyes went directly to the mermaid in the corner. His signature symbol he’d put in every one of his paintings. Her grandmother Jacqueline, also an artist, had used the same symbol in her paintings until she passed on. Their marriage hadn’t lasted, but the love they had for their relationship could be seen in each one of their paintings. That tiny mermaid symbolized so much for her.
It symbolized renewal and rebirth. Blueberry Bay had been so many people’s rebirth. Her mother’s, her aunt’s, even Oliver’s. Now it was her place for a rebirth. She didn’t need anyone to be herself, but she could have the support of a community behind her. Things for Muriel would be alright, and she felt it.
That was when she heard people outside through her mother’s bedroom window. She walked over to the side of the room and peered through the screen. She could just make out people near and inside the barn. It looked like there was a party going on in there.
She looked back at the painting. Jacob had made all this possible. She so badly wished she had met him. She couldn’t imagine how her mother had felt discovering who her father had been when she’d inherited his cottage. Had she felt regret and pain, or had she seen this cottage as a renewal of sorts?
Such a strange string of events had happened over the years. It seemed haphazard, but now, she didn’t think it was haphazard at all. And neither was running into Oliver in Concord the night she’d broken up with Zack and then again in Blueberry Bay. It wasn’t haphazard getting a call for a job interview the day she decided to go back to Blueberry Bay. Everything she’d gone through had been part of the plan, and now everything was coming together at exactly the right time.
She ran down the stairs and out the door, jogging to the barn.
“Muriel?” Meredith said as soon as she saw Muriel coming to the group.
The large barn’s doors were left wide open. Inside, she could see a large spread of food sitting along the side. Tables and chairs were set up in the middle of the barn under the loft’s opening. Ever since the auction, Meredith had opened the barn for the town’s gardening club called the Queen Bees.
“It’s Muriel!” Ginny announced to the crowd, and all the women, and even the men sprinkled in the crowd, waved and greeted her.
“Hi,” she said to everyone, then walked to her mother.
“What are you doing here?” Meredith asked as she wrapped her arms around Muriel. “You came at the perfect time. We’re having a luncheon for the festival.”
Muriel smiled. Everything at this point of the summer had something to do with the town’s great annual Blueberry Festival. The Queen Bees had been running the festival for years and using the proceeds to take care of Blueberry Bay. The festival was the culmination of hard work and determination to keep the town and its people thriving. All the honorable blueberries happened to be in her mother’s fields.
“I actually can’t stay for very long,” she said. She grabbed her mom’s hand. “I have a job interview at the village school today.”
Meredith’s jaw dropped and she grabbed Muriel back into a hug. “That’s wonderful news!”
“Well, I don’t have the job yet,” Muriel said, trying not to get her hopes up. “But what do you think? Is it crazy to move to Blueberry Bay?”
“Well, then we’re all crazy!” Meredith laughed in Muriel’s ear. “We’d all love for you to come live here. If that’s what you want.”
Muriel’s mom looked her in the eyes.
“That’s what I want,” Muriel said, laughing with her mother, who squeezed her tighter.
“Guess who has an interview for a teaching position here in Blueberry Bay!” Meredith announced to the group.
Quinn gave a loud clap. “That’s wonderful news.”
Ginny let out a little “Woo-hoo!”
She looked down at her watch. She only had a couple hours before she needed to be there.
The women shuffled Muriel through the crowd. Everyone said their hellos and scooted her through the food line and sent her back to the house.
“Do you have any dress suits I could borrow?” she asked her mom.
Meredith made a face and shook her head. “But I bet your aunt has plenty to choose from.”
It turned out her aunt did have plenty of beautiful suits. Remy told Muriel to go to the house and go through her closet. Sadie sat on the bed as Muriel tried on each one.
“You look really pretty in that one,” Sadie said as Muriel twirled in the tan dress suit.
“You know, I think you’re right,” Muriel said, looking from the back. She’d steal her mom’s pumps back at the cottage and use one of her silk scarves to finish off the look.
“Are you moving back if you don’t get the job?”
Muriel looked at Sadie in the mirror. She hadn’t really thought that far ahead, but she was pretty sure about what she wanted now. “Yes, I’ll find something.”
Sadie smiled at her. “Then tomorrow, you’ll have to go surfing with me. Now that the cast is off.”
Muriel looked down at her arm. She had almost forgotten about the cast and the broken arm. She had been so low at that point in her life. Now, she never felt so energized and ready to take on life.
“Thank you for taking me that day,” she said to Sadie, locking eyes with the young girl. It changed everything for her. “I really appreciate you doing that for me. I’m glad you’re my cousin.”
Muriel could see Sadie sit up a bit straighter, but she cast her eyes away as though she were uncomfortable with the compliment. “I’m glad we’re cousins, too.”
When Muriel went to leave, Sadie reached out her hand. “Here.”
“What’s this?” Muriel held out her hand, and Sadie dropped a small charm in her palm. “It’s a mermaid!”
“It’s for good luck,” Sadie said.
“I can’t take your charm,” Muriel handed it back. “That’s so nice, but it’s yours.”
“Keep it for the interview,” Sadie insisted, pushing her hand away.
Muriel held it between her fingers, studying it. “It’s beautiful.” She then hugged her cousin. “Thank you.”
Sadie hugged her back hard. “You better get going.”
Muriel looked at the time. “I’ll see you later!”
She ran to her car, and as she drove away, she honked a few times and waved at Sadie. “Surfing tomorrow!”
She took the quickest shower, blow-dried and curled her hair, placed a clip her mother had into her hair, and stole a gorgeous Chanel scarf. As the luncheon finished, Muriel left for the interview.
“I’ve already called Principal Tate,” Ginny said as she walked out of the front door to get to her car.
“Oh, Ginny, that’s so nice of you,” she said, but she didn’t want any special favors. “But I should be okay.”
She wanted this all on her own merit.
Her mother didn’t live far from the school, and as she pulled into the parking lot, she imagined herself walking to work on nice days.
As Muriel sat in her car outside the school, she looked in the rearview mirror. She checked her teeth, making sure she didn’t have lipstick on them, and patted down her hair one last time. She didn’t know why, but she wasn’t nervous like she should be for an interview on the spot. For some reason, she felt strangely calm.
A message flashed on her screen from Oliver. Where are you?
Her stomach did a flip-flop as she saw his name. I’m sitting in my car waiting for my interview.
Bubbles flashed on the screen, then disappeared.
She took a deep breath. She was a half hour early. She could show up early. Or wait.
She opened her phone and googled teacher interview questions, then went over her answers as she waited. What was she doing? She wasn’t at all prepared for this interview. She didn’t have a portfolio of her work. She didn’t have her computer with her. She didn’t even know much about the school. But for some strange reason, she wasn’t nervous. She felt weirdly ready.
An SUV pulled up next to her. She turned to look and smiled immediately.
“Oliver.” She got out and met him in the back of his truck.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, rushing up to him.
“I wanted to be here to support you,” he said, stepping close to her.
“That’s really nice, but I’m okay.”
“I know you are,” he said. “But that’s what friends do.”
“Friends?” She was a little disappointed at the term. “Right.”
“Muriel,” he said, taking her hand. “I don’t want to just be your friend.”
“Good,” she said, stepping even closer. “I don’t want you to just be my friend, either.”
“Even if you don’t get the job?” he asked.
She smiled, then leaned forward and said, “I’m moving to Blueberry Bay, no matter where I work.”
He placed both hands along her chin, holding her as he kissed her on the lips. It wasn’t a long kiss, just a soft, sweet kiss, but it was perfect.
“I should go inside now,” she said, weak in the knees.
“You’ve got this,” he said, letting her go. “I’ll be here waiting until you’re done.”