Chapter 25 #2
Miriam led the two adults deeper into the party, where all the original members of the book club were present, as well as a few other neighbors and friends.
Poor Garrett looked as though he was completely over interacting with people after spending the whole day at the bookstore with Eleanor, but he was valiantly keeping up a conversation with Tyler, who kept casting fond looks over at Cadence, as he had been wont to do ever since the couple had reunited.
Cadence, alas, was not looking back at her husband, because she was focused on pestering Diana, as was June.
“Oh hello again there,” Cadence said to Anthony, grinning at him so widely that her cheeks were going to end up hurt from it. “It is so nice to see you here. And with my good friend Diana! Wow! Who every could have predicted such a thing?”
“Please ignore them,” Diana told Anthony. If she had worried that he would be embarrassed though, she was absolutely incorrect. He looked like he was having a blast.
“Cadence,” he said. “Next time you think someone would make a good pair, tell them! I’ve been over here fumbling about by myself. I could have used your guidance.”
Cadence shot Diana an approving look. “I like him,” she said.
“And he likes Diana,” June chimed in, her voice a sing-song.
Diana narrowed her eyes at them both, although she was annoyed more in jest than in reality.
“I’m sorry, is this middle school?” she demanded.
“Oh goodness, I hope not,” came a voice at her elbow. “I hated middle school.”
Diana turned to see Winnie standing there, holding a wrapped parcel in her hand. Diana wrapped her arm around Winnie’s, leaving the other woman looking pleased.
“Winnie, thank goodness, I’m so glad you’re here,” she said, noting that the woman’s cheeks tinged slightly pink at those words. Diana made a mental note to remind their newest friend that she was wanted. It seemed like Winnie hadn’t had enough of that in her life. “Protect me from these vultures.”
“Isn’t that his job?” Winnie asked, nodding at Anthony.
“Oh, they’re after him too. He’s on his own.”
“Hey!” Anthony protested with a laugh.
Winnie patted Diana’s arm consolingly, then unlinked them. “Well, sorry to disappoint, but I’m going to have to abandon you too. I have something for Eleanor.”
“Something for Eleanor?” asked the woman in question, approaching at the sound of her name.
Diana was grateful, because that meant it was Eleanor’s turn to be mobbed by Candence and June. They wrapped her in a hug, one on each side.
“Congrats, honey!” Cadence said.
“The store was so bustling when I came in earlier,” June chimed in, bouncing on her toes.
Diana gave Winnie a sidelong look. “You abandoned me to their clutches, but I, in the very spirit of generosity, will help you get some Eleanor face time.” She made a shooing gesture at Cadence and June. “Begone, you two. Winnie is too nice to brush you off, but I’m wise to your tricks.”
Winnie looked a little bit bashful in the face of all this attention as she held out the parcel to Eleanor.
“Now,” she said,” I know it’s a little unconventional to give what is pretty obviously a book to someone who literally just filled the ground floor of her house with thousands of books.
But I wanted to get you something that befit the occasion…
and something that had a little bit of me in it too,” she added quietly.
Eleanor undid the wrapping paper delicately, revealing a gorgeous antique copy of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.
“Oh, Winnie,” she breathed. “It’s gorgeous.”
“It’s not a first edition or anything,” Winnie hastened to add. “Those are impossible to find, even with my Historical Society connections, and even if you do find one, they cost about a gazillion dollars. But that copy is over a hundred years old and, well, I just thought it was beautiful.”
“It is.” Eleanor looked up, her eyes slightly damp, clearly touched by the gesture. “I love it.”
She wrapped Winnie in a hug. It was the tiniest bit awkward at first, but then both women seemed to relax into the embrace.
When they pulled back, Winnie cleared her throat.
“I know we didn’t have the easiest start between us,” she said. “And I know we’ve talked about it since then too, so we don’t need to rehash everything about meddling and misunderstandings.”
She cleared her throat again. Everyone waited patiently. It was clear that this was important to Winnie.
“I just wanted to get you something to show how much I appreciate your willingness to bury the hatchet and let me join your group of friends. I… I never really had that before, so it’s pretty much impossible to say how much it means to me.
So, thank you, Eleanor. And all of you,” she added, looking at Diana, Cadence, and June.
“And Miriam, wherever she’s gotten off to. ”
Everyone chuckled at that, although Eleanor’s chuckle was a bit wet. Diana supposed it had been a rather emotional day for her friend, even if those emotions were pretty much all good ones.
“That’s all I want,” Eleanor said, her voice a little choked. “I just want this bookstore to be a place where people can come together. I want it to be a place that brings people together. So noting that this brought us together means so much to me… even if it did push us apart a little first.”
Eleanor’s jibe was light, and Winnie smiled.
“Okay, so that sounds like a toast if I ever heard it,” Cadence said. She turned to face the room. “Hey, everybody, grab a drink! Let’s make a toast!”
There was a flurry of movement as everyone, including Diana and Anthony, scrambled to make sure they had a drink in hand.
Eleanor smiled at the people who had all come out to celebrate her.
“To this store being a place for all of Magnolia Shore,” she said, raising a glass, “and to being the kind of community that made me want to build a place for togetherness!”
“And to reading lots of good books!” Miriam hollered from the back of the room. “Especially ones with kissing!”
Everyone laughed at that.
“To book clubs!” June contributed.
“To new friends!” Diana added, winking at Winnie.
“To new beginnings,” Winnie added quietly.
“Excuse you all,” Garrett grumbled. “Let’s toast the person who made it happen. To Eleanor!”
Eleanor turned nearly as bright as her hair at that.
“To all of us,” she amended. “To Magnolia Shore, friends, and many happy returns on it all.”
Nobody found they had anything to add to that. As one, they all raised their glasses into the air, saluting all the good cheer, and took a sip.
As Diana tasted the crisp white wine that now represented all the good things to come, she felt Anthony slip his hand into hers. Yes, that was one more good thing that was in her future too. She added a mental thanks for Anthony and Eloise to her personal toast.
It was hard, really, to imagine things getting any better than this.
There’s plenty more in store for the residents of Magnolia Shore! Find out what’s next for Eleanor and her friends in Driftwood Promises.