Chapter Sixty-Three
Sixty-Three
Commercial Street was painted yellow from end to end. Town Hall glowed in green lights as the Emerald City. Carnival “Somewhere over the Rainbow” had begun, and Shelby was on her way to see the closest thing she had to a wizard: Duke.
Hunter dropped her off in front of his house. They’d spent the entire morning drive back from Boston talking about the future of Land’s End. They both felt that losing the store meant more than losing a store. Land’s End was part of their personal history, the nexus of their three-way friendship. But it was also a piece of Provincetown history, and that gave them confidence that Duke would help them with the idea they came up with for a plan B.
Shelby walked up Duke’s driveway and saw he’d posted a painted This Way to Oz sign in his yard. He’d also set out a vintage bicycle with a front basket holding a stuffed dog, and a bunch of haystacks made out of what appeared to be shredded cardboard.
Duke answered the door wearing powder blue pajama shorts with navy piping and a matching top. Surprised, she checked the time on her phone.
“Did I wake you?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” he said. “But it’s obscenely late so I’m glad you did.” He closed the door. “Tell me everything: How’s Colleen? Did you see the twins?”
She followed him into the house.
“Colleen is great, the twins are tiny but healthy. Doug said it will be a while before they can bring them home.”
The living room was cluttered with used dessert plates and mostly empty champagne flutes. “Apologies for the mess,” he said.
“Looks like I missed a good party,” she said.
“When I realized no one from the meeting yesterday was in a hurry to leave, Max ran out to get more food and drinks and it turned into a spontaneous pre-Carnival bash. Are you coming to the pier tonight? We’re doing a dramatic reading of The Wizard of Oz . I’m the Tin Man.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said. “I hadn’t even planned on being here this week.” She felt disoriented. Like she’d forgotten what character she played in her own life.
Duke pushed the plates and glasses to one side of the coffee table and made room for her next to him on the couch.
“This is my favorite line,” he said. “‘I shall take the heart. For brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.’ So true, right?”
She smiled. “Yes. Although, I imagine you more as the Wizard.”
Duke looked reflective for a minute. “I take that as a compliment. So what brings you here not so early in the morning?”
Shelby leaned forward, hands on her thighs. “Colleen changed her mind. She doesn’t want to take over Land’s End after all—it’s too much for her.”
Duke’s eyes widened. “Oh, dear,” he said. “That’s a bit of a curve ball.”
“Pam and Annie think it’s the right decision, and they want to move forward with the sale. But since the trust won’t buy the business without a local on board to run it, they’re back to entertaining the Hendriks’ offer.”
“Well, that’s it, then,” he said. “Personally, I think Colleen will wake up one day and regret it, but that’s life, I suppose. We all have our regrets. And we learn from them.” He stood and began gathering plates to bring to the kitchen. Shelby picked up a few, sticky with melted ice cream, and followed him. They loaded the sink and Duke ran hot water over the pile.
“It’s not necessarily over,” she said. “We just need someone who lives here to take on the bookshop.”
He scratched his cheek. “Finding the right person could take a while. How long do you think the Millers are willing to wait?”
“Not long,” she said, leaning on the counter and facing him. “That’s why I was thinking...since Seaport Press is shut down, maybe you could take this on as your next venture?”
It seemed so obviously right to her. And from the look on his face, he agreed.
“I love the idea,” he said, reaching out to touch her arm. “And I love you for thinking of me. But alas, I can’t do it.”
“You...don’t even want to think about it?” She truly hadn’t considered the idea that he’d say no. If anything, she suspected he might prefer to buy it himself. He’d taken joy in funding his press, he liked running the show, and he’d get to own a piece of Ptown cultural history.
“Shelby, in other circumstances, I would jump at the chance.”
“So what’s changed?”
“Max,” he said. “I’m moving in with him. In Boston.”
“You’re leaving Provincetown?” It was unthinkable.
“We’ll be back every summer. And holidays. But he’s got his job, so I’m the one who has to be flexible.”
She couldn’t believe it. “That’s more than flexible,” she said. “That’s giving up your whole life.”
He shook his head. “No,” he said. “It’s me taking a leap to have a life. But I understand it doesn’t help your cause much. I’m sorry.”
Duke was leaving Provincetown to have the life he wanted. How could she blame him? She’d done the same. And she got some of those things—important ones, like her work. But what about the things she’d lost?
Shelby stood and walked to the sliding door leading to the deck, watching a dragonfly on the other side of the glass and fighting an idea she was afraid to let surface. Outside, a neighbor played Judy Garland’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow.” Duke began singing along, “‘There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby...’”
What if she didn’t go back to New York? What if she turned down the Woodstock job, let go of her apartment, and just...stayed? The idea was so simple, so obvious, she realized the answer had been there all along.
“Duke,” she said, turning around. “You are a wizard.”