Chapter 15
Noelle
As Kailee opened the café door, a bout of raucous laughter rolled across the room.
A large table at the back was piled with yarn, books, and wineglasses, with a huge plate of cookies in the middle.
Around it, six ladies howled like it was male burlesque night on deck C. Kailee halted at the doorway.
I nudged her forward, raising my voice over the ruckus. “Hi! Are we in the right place?”
“My spawn!” Felicity shouted in delight. “And Noelle! I wasn’t sure you’d show up. I’ve been trying to get Kailee to join us for months.” She glanced at the other ladies. “She’s fifteen, so let’s keep it above board, okay?”
“I’m not a baby,” Kailee grumbled. “I know you read smutty books.”
An older lady I recognized as Ida from the bus stood. “Of course. We’ll focus on the crafts this week!”
A dissatisfied murmur fluttered around the table.
“Oh, shush now!” Ida raised a finger. “You’ll be happy when you finish those beautiful Christmas gifts. You’ll thank me later!”
Felicity pulled out two chairs for us. I sat between Kailee and Ida and declined the drink they offered, hoping Kailee wouldn’t feel left out if I wasn’t drinking either.
Ida ran through the introductions. “You already know Felicity and Eileen, who owns this café. And this is Astrid Wilde. She owns the tea shop down Main Street.”
“The Wilde Kettle? It looks so cute!” I exclaimed. I’d peered through the window on my nightly walk.
Astrid raised her glass, grinning. She looked well into her sixties and wore more color than I did.
The crystal chandeliers hanging from her earlobes jingled as she tilted her head in my direction.
“Next time, come in, and I’ll mix you something to regulate your cycle and calm that restless spirit. ”
I took a deep breath, trying to look less restless. “Sounds… great.”
Ida turned to the next stranger at the table. “And this is Lola Monroe. She runs a… business in town.”
A woman with voluminous blue hair who looked about my age smiled, casting a tired look at Ida. “It’s an adult toy store called The Perfect Package. Come for a visit! I’ll give you my friends-and-family discount.”
I stared at her wineglass, wondering if I’d been too hasty to turn down alcohol. “That’s… exciting.”
“And this is Erica Locke,” Ida continued around the table.
A middle-aged woman with a sunny smile waved at me from across the table. “Lovely to meet you! Are you new in town, Noelle?”
Erica reminded me of my own mother, down to the deep dimples on her cheeks when she smiled, and I instantly felt at ease.
“She’s right next door to Fredrik,” Eileen added. I could almost see little hearts floating out of her eyes.
“How wonderful!” Erica’s smile turned a little misty. “It’s so lovely to see young people coming in. Maybe settling down… finding love.” She blinked away tears.
Settling down and finding love? Did they not know I was running a pop-up shop for one month? I cast a panicky glance at Felicity, who offered an apologetic smile.
“Erica’s daughter lives in Brooklyn,” Eileen explained, making Brooklyn sound like the International Space Station. She patted Erica’s hand. “Piper will settle down soon. I can feel it! Didn’t you say she’s bringing a boyfriend home for the holidays?”
Erica wiped her eyes, smiling. “We’re so excited!”
“If you have any issues with the town, you can take them up with Erica. She’s married to the mayor,” Felicity said briskly.
Erica nodded, looking a little cheerier. “I’m more popular than the suggestion box at the town hall.”
“How did you end up in Hideaway Harbor, Noelle?” Astrid asked.
Everyone leaned in, and my insides spasmed.
“I’m here to run the Christmas shop on Hideaway Ave,” I said. “It opened today.”
“Oh, I saw that!” Lola exclaimed. “Do you sell anything naughty? I’d love to get something with cocks, but seasonal.”
I stared at her, my cheeks a little hot. “Sorry. I haven’t seen any penises. It’s not my store. I’m just here to run it for four weeks. Then… I’ll be off.”
It was better that they knew the truth—that I was a rootless, lost soul and not the future of Hideaway Harbor. I cast a nervous glance around the table. Would they ask me to leave?
The older ladies nodded in unison, smiling like they were in on some big secret.
“Of course, dear.” Eileen shrugged oh-so-innocently. “Unless love throws a wrench in your plans.” She gazed out the dark window. “You might end up staying for forty years. I can usually sense these things, and I have strong—”
“Maybe she’ll stay with us for the next two hours if you all behave,” Felicity shot back, then turned to her daughter. “Did you have fun with the Christmas decorations earlier?”
Kailee pulled a Grinch ornament from her pocket. “I found this guy who looks like Uncle Fredrik.”
“You took that?” I tried not to sound too panicked. “I need to write down everything I’m taking from the store.”
Kailee’s lip wobbled. “I was gonna bring it back.”
Felicity shot her daughter a stern look. “Did you take anything else? It’s not like Uncle Fredrik’s store. She needs to account for every item.”
Kailee pouted. “I only borrowed this because I thought it was funny.”
Why didn’t Fredrik account for every item? Why was his store different? My curiosity ramped up at an alarming rate, making my mouth twitch.
Eileen leaned in to examine the Grinch. “That does look like him! He made that exact face when I stopped by to invite him to the Santa Speed Dating. Which reminds me, I had more flyers printed. Here…”
She passed around the same flyer I’d seen in Fredrik’s store, the one with the shirtless Santa.
“You invited Fredrik to this?” Felicity’s eyes rounded in disbelief. “That’s optimistic. Last time I asked, he wouldn’t even go to the trivia night, and that was odd—”
“Because he’s full of trivia!” I blurted out like a kindergartener with the right answer.
Everyone looked over, and my face flushed with embarrassment. Why did I have a mouth?
Felicity reached across Kailee to grab my arm. “He told you about trivia nights? How he used to compete every week? How he was unbeatable? How he’d study… read every book and obsess over the most obscure details?”
I shook my head apologetically. “Not in so many words.”
“But he talked to you? He… shared?”
My eyebrows knitted together so tightly my face hurt. “He said trivia is useless.”
Felicity’s face fell, and she pulled away. “Well, I guess it’s still good that he’s talking to someone.”
Eileen cast her eyes heavenward. “I have a good feeling about this Christmas! Time heals all wounds, and even Fredrik will come around. He’ll change his tune, you’ll see.”
I noticed subtle eye rolls, but Eileen didn’t seem to mind. Her faith in all things love was unshakable.
“He made this face when we suggested he should put up Christmas decorations.” Kailee’s voice held a hint of defiance, the ornament still dangling from her finger.
“He needs to step up,” Astrid muttered. “That store is an eyesore.”
“It’s true,” Felicity agreed, draining her wineglass. “That store drives tourists away. I can only do so much with my weekly cleaning.”
“But Mom! He agreed to let us decorate!” Kailee protested. “Sort of.”
“You and… Noelle?” Eileen’s eyes lit up. “Oh! This is very good news! He’s warming up, just like I saw in my vision. Poor Fredrik. He has such a good heart under all that…” She floated her fingers like a daydreaming choir conductor. “He deserves a second chance. Especially since—”
Felicity cut her off with a sharp noise. “No gossip about my brother, on the off-chance that he connects with Noelle. It’d be much better if he shared his own story. He hasn’t talked to anyone about what happened.”
“Not even Jackson?” I blurted, swallowing the question I really wanted to shout, which was What happened?
I’d told Felicity I was okay with not knowing, but I wasn’t. Not really. This was torture.
“According to Jackson, no.” Felicity sucked in her lips and reached for a pile of printouts on the table. “But let’s get on with the evening’s program before Ida loses her mind.”
Ida flashed her a grateful smile and passed out the papers. “Thanks for printing these out for me! We have a lovely, seasonal pattern this week. A Santa hat!”
“There’s also an extra one on the reverse side,” Felicity said, biting her lip. “A wild-card option if you don’t feel like committing to a hat.”
Papers rustled as everyone flipped their printouts.
Lola waved her hand. “It’s me! Last time, Ida told us you can crochet practically anything, so I looked up this—”
“Lobster trap?” Astrid rotated the paper, trying to make sense of it.
“I think it’s a vagina, Astrid,” Eileen said.
“A vulva,” Lola clarified. “I found the instructions online.”
Ida frowned at the page. “This isn’t what I’d usually—”
“But I knew you’d be able to pick it up on the fly and help us out if needed,” Felicity said firmly. “We’ve done so many flowers already. All those lilies for that fundraiser. This is not that different.”
Ida gave her a dirty look. “You never finished a single flower.”
Felicity shrugged. “I’m more of an administrator.”
“And how is this keeping things above board for your young daughter?” Ida demanded, her voice a low hiss as if they were having this unseemly conversation far from Kailee’s ears, which were about two feet away.
Kailee huffed. “It’s a body part! Relax.”
Felicity glanced at her daughter, simultaneously proud and surprised.
“Also, Lola has agreed to buy any vulvas we create for her shop. The money goes toward our weekly yarn purchases and Ida’s bus tickets for her yarn shopping trips, which we happily subsidize.
If anyone has a problem with that…” She looked around the table, pausing at Ida.
“I do think it’s nice we have good quality yarn and a lovely selection of colors,” Ida said, pink blotches on her cheeks.
I studied the printout, feeling nervous. “Ida showed me the basics earlier, but I haven’t practiced, and this looks complicated.”