Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Taylor was still reeling from the knowledge that her late father was communicating with her when she received a text invitation to dinner from Polly.
Excited and eager to tell her friend what she’d discovered about the coat and the notes, Taylor immediately accepted the last-minute invite.
Polly was about to be blown away.
Taylor arrived at her friend’s home shortly before five. In her text, Polly had said they’d eat promptly at five since the girls had dance class at seven. Even that had been a positive. Her time in the Cooper household was destined to be short but incredibly sweet.
The thought of Polly’s stunned surprise when she told her the news had Taylor practically skipping up the walk to Polly’s porch, dodging bicycles and scooters on the way.
The gorgeous fall evening was icing on an already sweet cake.
In response to her jaunty knock, a tall boy with his mother’s dark hair and eyes pulled open the door.
“Mo-om,” he bellowed over his shoulder even as he stepped aside to let Taylor enter. “Your friend is here. ”
“Jack,” a boy called from the living room. “Get in here. It’s your turn. I’m not waiting forever.”
Glancing toward her left, Taylor spotted another dark-haired boy—she recalled that his name was Mason—sitting on the floor, carefully guarding a massive Jenga tower from his two young sisters.
Kayla and Kylie were identical, right down to their pink shirts proclaiming Dance, Sparkle, Shine.
“It’s our turn.” Twin number one put her hands on her hips and cast her brothers a murderous glance.
“You’ve been playing with it forever.” Twin number two stepped close. “Time to knock it down.”
Mason held up his hands to block her.
Jack crossed the room. “You better not touch that tower, Kayla.”
The girl lifted her chin. “Or what?”
“Kids, time to wash up for dinner.” Sanity in the form of Polly stepped into the doorway, another girl at her side.
This had to be Lulu. While her brothers and sisters had dark hair and eyes like their mother, this child had inherited her father’s blond hair and blue eyes.
Lulu smiled at Taylor. “Hi, I’m Lulu.”
“Hi, Lulu,” Taylor began. “I’m Tay?—”
“This is Ms. Higgs,” Polly finished the introduction. “Lulu helped with dinner this evening. She’s also an excellent baker.”
“Wow, I’m impressed.” Taylor followed the two into the kitchen. Had she known how to cook or bake at eight? Not that she could recall. The fact was, she wasn’t great at it even now.
“Taylor, I’m glad you could make it.” Zach stepped into the room. “It’s good to see you.”
With his messy thatch of blond hair and five o’clock shadow darkening his cheeks, Zach looked like a mature version of his younger self.
“You, too. It’s been way too long. ”
“I’m sorry about your dad.” Zach’s blue eyes turned somber. “He used to bring his Chevy into the garage for repairs now and then. Great guy.”
“Thank you.”
Filling the awkward silence, Zach held out a hand. “May I take your coat?”
That’s when Taylor realized she still wore the houndstooth. She’d deliberately put it on before leaving the house, wanting to show Polly the mark on the cuff.
“Sure.” Shrugging out of the coat, Taylor handed it to Zach.
“Is that the coat you got at Nifty and thought was your dad’s?” Polly asked, turning from the stove.
“Yes.” Taylor opened her mouth, eager to tell Polly what she’d discovered, but the boys and twins rushed into the kitchen, talking over one another.
Once Zach returned, the noise increased to supersonic levels.
If Polly noticed the noise, it didn’t show. “Jack and Mason, we’re having Caesar salad with the spaghetti pie casserole. Please put the salad bowls on the table. Do you remember where they go?”
“I do,” Jack answered immediately. “To the left of the plates.”
His brother punched him in the side. “I was going to say that.”
“No punching, Mason,” Zach warned. “We’ve talked about that. Now, do as your mother asked.”
Zach shifted his gaze to the twins. “Kayla and Kylie, please put the salt and pepper on the table.”
“I’m salt,” Kayla announced as if they were in the car and she was calling dibs on the front seat.
Kylie shrugged good-naturedly. “I guess I’ll take the pepper.”
Helping must be a regular occurrence, because the children did as they were asked without complaint.
“I don’t have another job tonight because I helped with dinner,” Lulu informed Taylor, then glanced at her mom. “But I can take the breadbasket to the table. ”
“That would be wonderful, honey.” Polly gave her daughter’s shoulder a squeeze.
“Is the casserole ready?” Zach asked his wife.
“It is. I just need to?—”
“Let me take care of dishing it out.” Zach brushed a kiss across his wife’s cheek. “You talk to Taylor.”
The obvious love between them brought a pang of envy. It had been that way even back in high school. As far as Taylor knew, neither of them had ever looked at anyone else.
Raucous barking from the backyard had Taylor moving to the window to look out. She saw a reddish-gold dog barking at a squirrel that sat on the fence.
Taylor turned back to Polly. “You have a dog?”
“We do.” Polly smiled. “That’s Bentley. He’s a cockapoo, but everyone thinks he looks more like a labradoodle.”
Five kids and a dog. Taylor’s mind was officially blown. She couldn’t imagine having that many kids and then adding a big dog to the mix…
Polly looped an arm around hers. “Tell me what’s new with you.”
“I went back to Nifty Thrifty today,” Taylor began, excitement surging again.
“I love that store,” Polly exclaimed.
“What store?” Lulu asked, looking up from beside the table, where she’d deposited the basket of breadsticks.
Too late, Taylor remembered they weren’t alone.
“Nifty Thrifty.” Polly smiled at her daughter. “Taylor and I went there shortly after she got back into town.”
“Can we go there this weekend?” Lula asked. “Destiny said they just got a bunch of American Girl doll clothes in.”
“Destiny is Lulu’s BFF,” Polly informed Taylor. “They love playing with and dressing their ‘girls.’”
When Lulu began excitedly telling Taylor about her doll, Taylor accepted that the window for sharing with Polly what she’d discovered had closed.
Dinner ended up being a noisy, chaotic affair. The boys were excited about a Scoop-tastic ice cream creation promotion. Each flavor selected would be a weekly feature in January during the store’s Winter Warm-Up Wednesday promotion. A complimentary hot drink would be provided when paired with an ice cream purchase.
“I don’t have a name for mine yet,” Jack explained. “But it’s going to have Dr Pepper, cherries, and chunks of Berger Cookies.”
Polly offered her son an approving nod. “Sounds yummy.”
“I’m calling mine Jurassic Jungle Berry,” Mason declared. “Blueberry ice cream, Otterbein’s lemon cookie pieces, and dinosaur gummies.”
“I’d definitely go for both of those.” Zach smiled as he forked off a piece of spaghetti pie.
The girls then chimed in with some outlandish combinations of their own. No one laughed at them, as they were quite serious, though some of the names they gave the creations brought a few smiles.
By the time dessert—Otterbein’s Cookies—were on the table, a momentary silence descended. It didn’t last long.
“The spaghetti casserole recipe I used this evening was one I took from the cookbook I purchased when I was with Taylor.” Polly shared a smile with Taylor, then glanced around the table to make sure she had her entire family’s attention. “This story came with the spaghetti pie recipe.”
Taylor settled back to enjoy the story.
“‘I was going through a difficult time in my life,’” Polly began to read from the cookbook. “‘I’d always found solace and healing in cooking.’”
She glanced around the table. “Does anyone know what ‘solace’ means? ”
The kids looked at one another and shook their heads.
“It means comfort in a time of sadness. This woman says that cooking made her feel better when she was sad.”
Taylor wished she found solace in cooking. Instead, it stressed her out.
“‘I began to experiment with different recipes,’” Polly continued to read.
Drawn into the story, Taylor listened with rapt attention. She learned how the woman found strength, resilience and renewed hope for the future through preparing and sharing this spaghetti pie with loved ones.
“What do you think of the story?” Polly asked.
“It’s okay.” Jack shrugged. “I liked last week’s story better, the one where the family kept trying to discover Granny’s secret ingredient.”
“Yeah,” Mason said with a chortle. “Especially when the aunt added garlic, and it tasted so horrible no one would eat it.”
Kayla wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like garlic. Yuck.”
That single comment got the conversation bouncing from child to child like it was on steroids.
Taylor’s last hope for a few private moments with Polly ended when cleanup, also a noisy affair, began.
By the time Taylor was able to slip away, a headache had started to form.
Once home, Taylor downed two ibuprofen and changed into running gear. As she began her brisk walk down the sidewalk, the streetlights winked on, adding a golden glow to the twilight.
She breathed in the crisp evening air and felt the tension leave her body. She was ready to break into a jog when she heard a woman call her name .
Glancing around, she spotted Emily Curtis jogging toward her, also in running clothes.
Taylor smiled. “Looks like we both had the same idea.”
“It’s a beautiful evening.” Emily lifted her face to the darkening sky. “It’s good to savor these moments.”
Unlike the chaos of Polly’s house, Emily was a soothing presence. Though Taylor didn’t know her well, she got the feeling not much flustered this woman.
Even though Taylor had thought she wanted solitude after leaving Polly’s, she realized now it was calm she craved.
Not only was being with Emily calming, but the woman was also someone Taylor hoped to know better.
“Chloe mentioned you’re relatively new to GraceTown. How are you liking it so far?”
“It already feels like home.” Emily glanced at her. “What’s being back been like for you?”
“Good but strange,” Taylor admitted. “Some places and people are familiar. Other things are totally new.”
“Life goes on, even when we’re gone.”
Taylor only nodded.
“Do you think you’ll be happy living here again? It’s a big change from Chicago.”
“I believe I will,” Taylor admitted. “Though I hadn’t planned to move back, at least not right away, this is home. I hope staying is the right decision.”
“There is no right or wrong course, just different.”
“I’m not sure I believe that.”
Emily inclined her head. “No?”
Let it go , Taylor told herself. She doesn’t want to hear about your mommy issues.
A soft hand on her arm had Taylor meeting Emily’s gaze.
“I really would like to hear your thoughts,” Emily said.
Telling herself the woman had asked, Taylor plunged ahead. “I’ll give you an example. My mom was a consultant. She was good at her job and kept advancing within the company. There had always been some travel, but with each promotion, it seemed that more travel was required.”
Emily nodded. “Some positions are like that.”
“Then she accepted a promotion that provided a lot of perks, but it kept her on the road three weeks out of four.” Though Taylor kept her tone easy, her insides began to churn. “Accepting that position was the wrong choice.”
“For you.”
Taylor blinked.
“From the pain in your voice, I can see that it was the wrong choice for you. And for your father?”
“Their marriage didn’t survive.”
“Do you think your mother regrets the choice?”
“I don’t think so.” Taylor didn’t even take a moment to consider her answer. “She liked the money and was proud of making so much.”
“Your father had a good job.”
“He did, but he said no amount of money was enough for her.”
“Really? He said that? I believe you, of course. It’s just hard to imagine Bob saying something so harsh. Um, from the few times I met him, I mean.”
Taylor was quick to defend her dad. “It wasn’t like that. He wasn’t criticizing her.”
Her brow furrowed as she thought back to the times her father had tried to make her understand. “If anything, I felt he was making excuses for her. My dad said she grew up poor—like, really poor. Sometimes there wasn’t money for food, and because her father wouldn’t take charity, she often went to bed hungry.”
Emily nodded. “She wanted to make sure you always had enough.”
“Except nothing was ever enough. We were never enough.”
“I believe many people reach a certain point in their lives where they look back and wonder if the choices they made were worth it.” Emily’s tone remained matter-of-fact. “I did that recently myself. I looked at my life and regretted not the road I took but all the ones I didn’t.”
It was rather amusing hearing such a young woman talk as if she were looking back on a life of many decades.
“I'm sure your decisions were difficult, but I’m guessing choosing a new road didn’t require you to abandon a husband and child.” Taylor half laughed, but Emily looked so serious she worried she’d insulted her. After all, she didn’t know much about her new neighbor.
Taylor was about to apologize when Emily replied, her tone soft. “No. No husband. No child. Some of that is due to choices I’ve made.”
Taylor didn’t want to discuss choices. Not hers, not Emily’s, not her mother’s. Especially since she’d received another text from her today asking about the memorial service.
Emily’s gaze grew distant. “I was engaged once.”
“You were?”
“His name was Vincent. For a long time after the engagement ended, I couldn't recall the good times we’d shared.” Emily met Taylor’s gaze. “I even convinced myself there weren’t any.”
“Why did you break up?” Taylor asked, then hurriedly added, “Unless you’d prefer not to say.”
“He moved. I couldn’t move with him and—” Emily stopped and held up a hand. “No, that’s not correct. I chose to remain in Gr—in my hometown. There were reasons he had to go and reasons I had to stay. That didn’t make the parting any easier.”
Taylor finally made the connection. “My parents fought constantly.” She heard the hint of bitterness she couldn’t entirely hide. “Except when my mother was gone, which was all the time.”
“You missed her. I get that. My mother died when I was young, and I’ve missed her every day of my life.” Sadness crept into Emily’s blue eyes. “I guess what I’m trying to say is just because we don’t remember the good doesn’t mean there wasn’t any. For me, forgetting was a defense thing. Losing Vince hurt, so I convinced myself it hadn’t been good between us, that I hadn’t loved him. But I did, and we shared many happy times.”
Taylor thought of the photograph on her refrigerator of a happy day she had no memory of before refocusing on Emily. “Is there a chance you and Vince might get back together?”
Emily shook her head. “Vince passed a few years back.”
“I’m so sorry. So young.”
Emily blinked for a moment, then nodded. “He’d found another love and was happy. I was glad for him.” Emily touched Taylor’s arm, her eyes clear and very blue. “The way I see it, as long as you and your mother are still living, the opportunity exists to find your way back to each other. If that’s what you choose to do.”