Chapter 10 #2
Simone laughed and the tightness in her face relaxed a little.
“It’ll take some getting used to, I imagine.
Every year Tommy and I end up spending more time in warmer climates once the snow starts.
The cold is harder on the bones the older you get.
He’s already making noise about Arizona after the New Year. ”
The only good thing about the snow was it made a gorgeous backdrop for the family photos she’d started shooting. And curse Lila or bless her, Marnie’s calendar was full of appointments and she’d already started bringing in steady income.
She’d insisted that the reception area of the studio be completed first. So many people walked by daily, looking in the windows and stopping to stare at the portrait displays she’d hung.
They especially enjoyed the little display she called The People of Laurel Valley.
She’d gotten permission from the subjects, of course, but it thrilled people to walk by and see their own faces—or faces of someone they knew—displayed in the window.
She wanted to make sure she gave a professional presentation from the start.
She’d learned how important perception was.
The people of Laurel Valley might not remember her as a child; they might only know the rumors surrounding her gift.
But they’d be intrigued enough to stop by and see for themselves.
And she had no qualms about capitalizing on that curiosity.
The walls were painted a soft blue and the crown molding and trim stained dark.
Photographs were framed and hung throughout—some from her personal collection of favorites and others of standard wedding and family portraits she’d done over the years.
A dainty love seat with a pattern in the same blue as the walls sat on one side, and a small tea table with two chairs sat on the opposite side.
The reception desk sat right in the middle, facing the front, blocking the new door that led back into the studio.
The scratches from the vandalism had been sanded and restained, visible only if you looked closely.
Marnie grabbed the basket of cookies Beckett had sent that morning and set it on the tea table.
“I’ve got hot tea if you’d like some,” she said.
“That sounds perfect.”
She brought two cups of tea and set them on the table, then took the seat across from Simone.
“Nice basket of cookies you’ve got here,” Simone said, arching a brow. “Not being romanced, you said?”
“He says he’s being neighborly.”
“Uh-huh.” She bit into a cookie. “I’ve been hearing how neighborly he’s been from every shop in town he’s visited. I also heard he fixed your dishwasher. Which,” Simone said, pointing a finger at her, “is our responsibility as your landlords, so let us know if anything else goes wrong.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Marnie said, resisting the urge to salute.
Simone smiled and then grew thoughtful. “I was married before. Did you know that?”
Marnie raised her brows in surprise. “No, I didn’t.”
“The folks around here have long memories, and they gossip about what happened fifty years ago as much as what happened last week, so you’ll eventually hear it from someone.”
“Better than the news,” Marnie agreed.
“Too bad it’s not as reliable.” Simone took a sip of tea and settled in.
“I married Michael Nolan the year after I graduated from high school. Michael and Tommy had grown up together and were best friends. Then they went off and joined the Marines together. I was a couple of years behind them in school, and let me tell you, the summer after I graduated, when Michael came home on leave…” She smiled, her eyes going soft with memory.
“Well, I knew the moment I saw him that something had changed. Or maybe I had.”
Marnie settled deeper into her chair. She’d missed conversations like this. She’d always been so careful not to forge new bonds or make new friends. Losing Sloane, her closest friend, had been like losing the best part of herself, and she hadn’t been willing to go through that again.
Simone set down her teacup. “Let me tell you, there’s something powerful about a man who has that quiet confidence in himself.
Who can command with a look. Who doesn’t have to speak to be heard.
Michael Nolan had that in spades. And when he came back home on leave, he’d grown into himself in a way that took my breath away.
“Girls flocked to him that summer. But I knew the way to catch the interest of a man like Michael wasn’t to throw myself at him like the others.
I kept my distance.” She winked. “Oh, I made sure I was in his path every now and again. I’d make eye contact and give a friendly smile.
Then I’d turn around and walk the other direction.
” Her laugh was full of humor and good memories. “I drove him crazy.”
“What happened?” Marnie asked.
“Men like Michael aren’t ones to let moments pass them by. I was driving my daddy’s pickup home one afternoon and got a flat tire. Our house was a good forty-five minutes outside of town, and there were no cell phones in those days. I was well and truly stuck.
“To make matters worse, the sky opened up and we had a torrential downpour. I had blankets in the truck, a book, and groceries I could eat if I was there too long. I knew if it got dark my parents would come looking. So I hunkered down and waited.
“Not twenty minutes later, here comes Michael, his headlights glaring into the cab of the truck when he pulled up behind me.”
Simone’s gaze turned nostalgic. “There are moments in a woman’s life she’ll never forget. And I knew the moment he knocked on that window in the pouring rain that it would be one of mine.”
Her eyes grew misty. “Well, I don’t have to tell you what happened.
He changed my tire in the rain, and then he climbed into the cab to wait out the worst of the storm with me, and by the time the rain stopped, I knew I was going to marry him.
He told me later he’d known it too.” She smiled softly. “We were married within the month.”
“That’s beautiful,” Marnie said quietly.
“Finding someone like that is rare,” Simone agreed.
“I was lucky enough to find it twice. Michael and I hadn’t been married but a few months when a couple of uniformed officers showed up on my doorstep.
Tommy was with them. I could see he’d been wounded—his arm was in a sling and there was a bandage on his head.
But we weren’t close then. He was just my husband’s best friend.
“It was hard to focus on anything other than the fact that they were telling me Michael was dead.” Simone’s voice caught. “I was nineteen years old, pregnant, and a widow. I couldn’t imagine living a life without Michael in it.”
A tear trickled down her cheek, but she didn’t wipe it away.
“It wasn’t long after that I lost the baby too.
The doctor said the shock and stress were just too much for my body.
I didn’t think I’d ever recover. She was a girl—the only part of Michael I had left.
Losing her was like having him die all over again. ”
Marnie felt helpless. Seeing this woman who’d always been so strong show such vulnerability made her ache. “I’m so sorry, Simone.”
“You know what?” Simone pulled a handkerchief from her purse and dabbed at her face.
“You’ve been a daughter to me from the first time Sloane dragged you to the house.
Poor little thing. Scabs on your knees and dirty clothes, all that beautiful hair a tangled mess.
And then I looked into those sad brown eyes of yours and I just fell in love. Pure and simple.”
Now it was Marnie who felt tears prick at her eyes. She looked away, remembering all too well the little girl she’d been.
“I’m going to give you some advice,” Simone said, her tone shifting to something more matter-of-fact. “Just like I would give a daughter. Because that’s what you’ll always be to me, and I don’t care who tries to say otherwise.”
The sudden shift made Marnie laugh despite the emotion thick in the room.
“People like you and me are survivors, Marnie. The past is what shapes us. What makes us who we are. But it doesn’t define us.
It took Tommy three years to wear me down.
To pull me out of my grief and misery so I could see what was right in front of me.
We all get second chances. And third chances.
And fourth. But we have to be aware enough to recognize them when they come. Otherwise we miss out.
“Thank God that man was patient,” she continued.
“I’d wrapped myself in my sadness like a shroud, and I didn’t want anyone trying to take it from me.
But the thing about the past is that no matter how we might want to cling to it, the distance keeps growing.
The memories will always be there. That’s good—that’s how we learn. But they’ll never be our future.”
“Is that your way of telling me I should give Beckett a chance?”
“I’m telling you that you’re worthy of love, Marnie. Tommy loved me despite myself. Don’t get in the way of your own happiness.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“Partly.” Simone nodded. “But I also understand the need to protect yourself. Just because I lost you all those years ago didn’t mean I stopped trying to find you.
I hope you know that Tommy and I fought tooth and nail to get the state to let you come live with us.
We didn’t know how bad it was at home. I knew money was tight, so we offered your mama work when we could.
And I suspected your daddy had a hard hand.
I looked for marks on your body every time you came over. ”
Marnie stared into the bottom of her teacup. “I didn’t come over unless I was healed. And I’d learned to stay out of his way for the most part, the older I got.”
“My poor girl.” Simone let the tears flow freely now. “I’m so sorry we couldn’t save you.”
Marnie cleared her throat and reached across to hold the other woman’s hand. “I’m back now. That’s all that matters.”
“And maybe someday you’ll be comfortable enough to tell me about the sadness you brought back with you. I know you left a relationship to come home. That’s never easy.”
“Easier than it should’ve been,” Marnie said, then changed the subject.
“I gave Jax Michael’s name. Jax Michael,” Simone said.
“Tommy insisted. I was hesitant at first, but he convinced me it was the right thing to do. We both loved Michael, and I had to remember that Tommy lost a lifelong friend—someone who’d watched his back on the battlefield. They were as close as two men could be.
“Jax very much reminds me of Michael sometimes. Stubborn as a mule and always wanting to be the hero.” Her smile wavered. “I thought we’d lost him in that explosion. But my biggest fear is that we might still lose him. Stubborn as a mule,” she repeated quietly.
Marnie stayed silent. Her visions involving Jax were still hazy, still shrouded in fog. She couldn’t tell Simone that his future was secure, and it was better not to give false hope.
“One of the things I’ve always admired about you is that you never give up,” Marnie said instead. “Jax needs your strength. He needs his family, but he especially needs you. And whoever Lacey is. He needs her too.”
Simone’s eyes widened slightly. “His physical therapist. They fight like cats and dogs. She’s as stubborn as he is, thank goodness.” She straightened her spine. “I’ve taken up too much of your workday already. It’ll be dark soon and I don’t like to drive at night.”
“I’m glad you stopped by,” Marnie said, standing to help Simone with her coat.
She rested her hand on Simone’s shoulder until the older woman met her eyes.
“You said I was like a daughter to you. I want you to know that you and Tommy were always the parents I wished I’d had. When Sloane and I went off to camp those summers, we told everyone my last name was O’Hara and we were sisters. Those were the best weeks of my life.”
“Well, there goes my makeup.” Simone pulled her into a fierce hug, and they stood there for a long moment, both of them crying and then laughing at themselves for it. When they finally pulled apart, there was a lightness in Marnie’s heart that hadn’t been there before.
“Come to dinner tonight when you’re done here,” Simone said, smoothing her coat. “We’ve always got plenty of food.”
“I’ll take a rain check. I think I might have other plans tonight.”
Simone’s face broke into a knowing smile. “Good for you, my girl. Good for you.”
The bells above the door tinkled as Simone left, and Marnie stood alone in her studio, watching the snow fall softly outside the window.
She picked up her phone before she could talk herself out of it and typed a quick message: Fine. One pizza. One movie. Don’t make me regret this.
The response came back almost immediately: You won’t. Pick you up at 7.
She stared at the phone for a long moment, her heart beating faster than it had any right to.
Maybe Simone was right. Maybe she was getting in the way of her own happiness.
Maybe it was time to stop.