Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
MAGNOLIA
Imet Eunice at Rocks On the Roof, perched right above the river. We sprawled across one of those plush, oversized couches, a couple of small plates and a bottle of wine between us, the paperwork sitting in the middle like an unwelcome third wheel.
I stole glances at her from beneath the brim of her massive sunhat, trying to decode her expression. But with her oversized sunglasses and an air of practiced calm, she might as well have been a poker pro holding the world’s best bluff.
“You look like you’re feeling much better. Leland tells me he did some work on the apartment while you were ill. How very kind of him. It’s good he’s getting in the swing of fixing up that old building before he becomes partial owner,” Eunice rambled.
Something was up with the Wilder matriarch, and I didn’t think it had anything to do with her son buying the bar.
She handed me another stack of papers, and I’d finally had enough.
“Are you going to tell me what’s really going on here, or are you going to make me figure it out on my own?
Because you haven’t touched your food, or your merlot, and you haven’t hugged me.
All of these things are bizarrely out of character for you. ”
She removed her sunglasses and shifted in her seat, taking a slow, deliberate sip from her wineglass.
For the first time, I noticed how exhausted she looked.
Her hair, barely visible beneath the oversized hat, was tousled and unkempt, and she wore barely a trace of makeup.
It was clear that the weight of everything had been taking its toll on her.
A far cry from the always-perfect, well put together woman I’d known my whole life.
“You know, I might be dating your son, and, you know, dated your other son, but you’ve been a part of my life for so long… You can tell me anything, Eunice.” I reached over and grabbed her hand, and small tears pooled in the corner of her eyes.
“I need to… talk to you about something,” she finally said, sniffling slightly and dabbing at her tired eyes with a cocktail napkin.
“Anything,” I said confidently, but my heart was racing. Whatever was on her mind was big—bigger than Lee investing in O’Malley’s.
“This is going to sound… Magnolia, this is really hard to say, and what I say today needs to stay between us. Do you understand?”
I nodded and picked up our glasses from the table, handing one to her and holding on to mine for dear life.
“Did you know your momma and I were the very best of friends once? You are so like her sometimes, you know? She was headstrong and smart as a whip. She had the biggest heart in the world.”
My stomach dropped. I had no clue that my momma and Eunice were friends.
No one had ever mentioned it—not even Uncle Cole.
It was like discovering a hidden chapter in our family’s history, a bond that had been quietly coursing through our veins all this time—a connection forged long ago by our mothers.
“I had no idea. I figured y’all knew each other from around town, but… ”
“We more than knew each other. Our relationship was quite like yours and Sutton’s.
We spent almost every second together until I went away to college.
But we had the best times together. Summers on Tybee Island, stealing whiskey from O’Malley’s and drinking it after dark in Forsyth Park, exploring the tunnels beneath with nothing but a flashlight and a prayer. ”
I nodded, not wanting her to stop talking for one second about my momma.
She paused for a moment and looked out over the river, letting the memories wash over her.
“So, did something happen?” I asked softly, wanting Eunice to come back to me and tell me more.
But judging by the look on her face, whatever had gone down between them… it wasn’t good.
“Well, there’s a lot to the story, but her and I had a falling out when I broke your Uncle Cole’s heart.”
That was definitely not the best moment to take a sip of wine. The second her words landed, I sputtered, sending a fine mist of merlot across the table—and straight onto Eunice. “Oh, Lord, Eunice, I’m so sorry!” I gasped, half-choking, half-apologizing as the wine burned its way through my nose.
I grabbed at my sleeve in a panic, dabbing at her with all the finesse of a toddler cleaning up a juice spill.
My thin sweater soaked through almost instantly, leaving both of us dripping and me flushing with a fresh wave of mortification.
Eunice blinked at me, her face caught between horror and amusement, as a single red droplet traced a deliberate path down her cheek.
Eunice motioned for the server, who came running over. “Napkins, please. And two shots of tequila. We may need it.”
In all my life, I’d never seen Eunice Wilder take a shot of anything that wasn’t meticulously prepared, garnished, and served in the finest glassware.
We sat quietly for a moment, and when the shots were dropped off at the table, I’d somewhat regained my composure and had expelled the remaining wine from my nostrils.
She lifted her shot glass to cheers with mine, and we locked eyes for a moment before shooting them down.
“I guess I’ll just start at the most important part. I loved your uncle. I loved him very, very much.”
I watched her in complete bewilderment. Fancy-pants, immaculate, Daughter of Savannah Civic Society herself, Eunice Wilder was once in love with my scruffy, no-frills bartender Uncle Cole. I just couldn’t wrap my head around it.
“We fell in love when we were kids. Not unlike you and Lee. I realized that almost too late. He even escorted me to the Fall Formal once. My daddy had an absolute fit over that one.” She paused, staring out over the river as if the memories were flickering in front of her like an old film.
“It’s strange, really. Almost like history’s trying to play out the same old scenes, even if the players have changed.
Just like how you and Lee are finding your way back to a friendship, it feels like we’re all destined to relive these moments, no matter how much we try to rewrite them. ”
She laughed and looked down into her lap, playing with a napkin she used to clean up the wine that I had nose-hosed onto her blouse.
She went on. “We had a few beautiful years together until I went to Boston. That’s where I met Vance, you know.
Well, not met him, but re-met him, I guess.
Our parents had been friends. I was at Wellesley, and Vance was at Harvard.
We ran into each other at a party in Boston and sort of formed this weird, southern alliance amongst all those Yankees. ”
I imagined a young, vibrant Eunice, traipsing through the snowy streets of Boston, and of all people in the city, she ran into Vance Wilder.
“Anyway,” she continued, “Vance and I went home for Christmas break, together but not dating, of course. I still loved your uncle. We wrote every day, and he would send me sketches of things that he drew on the back of O’Malley’s napkins.
He was so romantic. But when we got back to Savannah that winter, my daddy and Vance’s daddy had caught wind of the two of us spending time together, and well, my father gave me an ultimatum. ”
I was hesitant to say anything, so I nodded for her to continue. Given the kind of outdated, sometimes absurd expectations I’d faced being drawn into their world, I could only imagine what she’d been through.
“Politely as ever, of course, my father told me if I wanted to continue my education in Boston, I should let Vance court me. His father had struck some sort of deal with Daddy, and, well, my father was named a partner at the Wilder firm by spring. Vance and I were engaged by fall.”
My eyes went as wide as saucers. “I don’t know what to say. So, what did you do about Uncle Cole?”
Eunice released a weary breath. “Your uncle came to see me in Boston right after my engagement to Vance hit the pages of the Savannah Local. He begged me to change my mind, but I knew how important it was for my family that I marry Vance, so I broke things off with Cole. For good.”
I wanted to tell her I could only imagine how difficult it must have been, but she always seemed unfazed by her relationship with Vance. As the pounding in my ears grew louder and my blood pressure spiked, I clamped my lips together, swallowing my thoughts before they could escape.
“Anyway, your momma called me once she found out and said she would never speak to me again, and that was that. She kept to her word and never did. It broke my heart. I’d run into her occasionally, but once she moved to Tybee Island with your daddy, that was pretty much the end.
He’d always give a polite hello, but your momma…
well, she was as stubborn as ever.” Her laugh came out as a breathy, shaky sound, and she quickly caught it with a sniffle.
Her words shattered my heart into a million pieces.
I nodded and put my hand on her shoulder, offering her what little comfort I could.
Eunice turned to me and gave me a sad, tired look.
“I need you to understand that I don’t regret one second of my life.
I have never wanted for anything. Vance and I have a wonderful home, great friends, and we work well together.
I was able to continue my education and fulfill my dream of becoming an antiquarian.
And, most importantly, I have two beautiful, albeit insane, sons.
And both of them are just crazy about you. ”
I took our bottle of wine out of the chiller and refilled our glasses, letting her continue. She looked away from me, and I could see her shoulders rattling as she fought back tears.
“I learned to move on from the love I had for Cole. It took some time, and my obligations to Vance were a great distraction. But not having your momma, or her love and friendship in my life, was the worst heartbreak of it all. The void she left behind when she walked out of my life echoed louder than any other loss I’d ever experienced. ”
Her words hit me like a truck, and I leaned back in my seat, feeling the weight of the conversation. “I miss her, too. But I know my momma. She probably loved you until her last breath.”
“Like I said, our friendship reminded me so much of yours and Sutton’s. I often wonder what our lives would have been like if I’d had the courage to listen to her when she asked me to instead of doing what I thought was right,” she said, her voice tinged with regret.
We let the quiet settle between us for a moment. The traffic-heavy river bustled below, full of bellowing cargo ships and troves of tourists milling up and down the cobblestone streets. The sounds of laughter, of normalcy, wafted up toward us as we both struggled to figure out what to say next.
Eunice turned and met my eyes, tears streaming down her face. “Do you love Dane, Magnolia?”
“Of course I do. I always have. In a different way, of course. It’s all very complicated,” I offered nervously, bouncing my leg up and down and fighting the urge not to chew on my bottom lip.
She let out a small laugh. “Is it, though?”
“It is. If we’re being honest with each other, having Lee home—and now wanting to stay home—is complicating things.
I’m appreciative of him, truly, that he would want to step in and help me with the bar, but I can’t help but wonder if this is some weird, sick thing to get back at Dane for something? I don’t know.”
Eunice shook her head. “No, it’s not that.
I think Dane is confident enough in your relationship not to let Lee’s homecoming get in the way.
And I know my Leland; he will put up a fight if he wants something.
I saw it last night when we were going over the paperwork.
And I know he’ll do it. He’ll fight like hell if he wants you back. ”
I couldn’t tell from her tone if she thought that was a good or a bad thing, but I decided to change the subject.
“Do you mind if I take a look at the Trust paperwork?” I asked, nodding to the folder beside me.
She shook her head, a slight frown playing on her lips.
“Before we go over this, I need to tell you that if Leland buys in, the Wilder Family Trust will be the majority member of your business. Even though it’s Leland’s money, when he moved to Nashville, our accountants, and the Trust, have had control over his finances. ”
I opened up the package and glanced over it. “What does that mean?”
“Being blunt,” she said, waving her hand for the server, “if Dane wants to sell your property, which I now believe he’s wanted to do this entire time, he has the right to do it.
Basically, the Trust would have majority control over everything.
Leland has a right to vote, of course, but does not have as large a share as Dane or Vance, who could both override any of his decisions. ”
“Why are you telling me this, then? Wouldn’t it ruin whatever plans they have if I don’t agree to these terms?”
“I’ve been going back and forth about this for days, but if I didn’t tell you, I run the risk of watching someone I love as much as I love my own children lose her career, her passion.
I’ll never tell you what to do with your life or your business, Magnolia Louise, but I will tell you, sometimes we make choices for ourselves based on what we think others want for us.
Sometimes, we make decisions for the people we love, thinking it will make them love us more.
And sometimes, we do things for people because we think it’s the right thing to do.
” Her eyes narrowed in on me, and a deep seriousness settled over her features.
“I’m here to tell you that the only person you should be doing anything for, whether it comes down to love, finances, the business, anything… is you.”
I gulped down the rest of my wine and burst into tears.