25. Greta #2
“Exactly! I’ve already called them,” Holly said.
“They’re excited to try something together.
But… we have to work fast. I have a little left in the budget for supplies, but I think we need to do as much of this as we can, ourselves.
On top of floors and bookcases, we need to repaint the walls and fill the bookshelves and find some nice second-hand estate furniture.
Overtime pay for anyone who wishes to pitch in. ”
This got everyone’s attention.
“My husband’s contracting business refinishes floors,” Josephine piped up. “I’ll ask him to give you a quote.”
“There’s a great outdoor flea market in Wellfleet on Sundays,” Oliver chimed in. “They get a slew of second-hand furniture vendors.”
“I’m not a professional, but I recently repainted my house,” Paul added. “Turned out pretty good.”
“You’re hired,” Holly said. “All of you.”
Greta had been listening, and her creative wheels were already turning with potential themed book event menus, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Oliver. He, too, was looking at her.
Was he tanner? Had he absconded to Nantucket with Sissy? How could he? Hang on—why did she care?
Staff meeting adjourned, Oliver approached Holly. “I’d like to speak with you, if you have a moment,” Greta overheard him say. At least he’d had the guts to approach their boss first.
“Yes, we need to talk,” Holly said. “Let me grab a coffee refill and I’ll be right back.”
Greta hurried past them without so much as a glance.
Now that he was back, she was no longer worried.
She was mad. And she didn’t have time for it.
Harvest was reopening to the public tomorrow, after being closed for the Suttons, and she was expecting a full house.
She had food to order, a farmer’s market to get to, and specials to curate.
Back to business, she told herself, heading into her kitchen.
Holly and Linus trailed her inside, talking quietly, but despite that and the fact she had decided not to care anymore, her ears couldn’t help but overhear.
“So what are you going to say to him?” Linus wanted to know.
“I’m still thinking about it. He didn’t do anything wrong, technically, but he should’ve spoken up.”
“Yeah. So we didn’t have a bomb dropped on us.”
“Maybe he didn’t want to be the one who let the cat out of the bag. Maybe he felt it wasn’t his business.”
Linus threw Holly a look. “He ran off with a popular influencer who posted their joint getaway. He’s an idiot.”
“He’s not an idiot. He’s just a kid in love.”
Greta felt her insides give.
“He’s not in love.” They all turned as Ezra walked through the kitchen door. He was carrying a water jug.
“Ezra. What makes you say that?” Holly asked.
“The heart gets all the credit for love, but really it’s the mind.” Ezra shrugged as if this made perfect sense. “Love is science, after all.”
Everyone went quiet.
“What does that have to do with Oliver?” Greta couldn’t help herself. Science was apparently having its way with her, too.
Ezra leaned against the kitchen sink as if this might take a while.
“Oh, love is a whole messy tangle, to be sure. Brain chemicals, neural pathways, hormones. What we call the honeymoon phase is actually very real: dopamine, norepinephrine.” He waved his hand in the air as if pointing to imaginary chemicals floating in the space between them, and the way he described it Greta could almost see them.
“Brain scans show our amygdala is actually suppressed at this stage. It’s why we exhibit poor judgment and do stupid things. ” Ezra was getting a kick out of this.
“Sounds like he’s at least in the honeymoon phase,” Linus said. “Zero judgment.”
“There are other phases, too,” Ezra went on. “There’s attachment, what we call mature love, and there’s lust, of course. All of it is expressed through behavior and body language. Visible, concrete evidence that we mere mortals who pay attention might pick up on.”
“And?” Holly asked. “Have you observed any of that?”
Ezra’s gaze flicked toward Greta, then quickly away. “Oliver may be in love. But not with the runaway bride.” Lecture over, Ezra turned back to the sink and filled his jug with water. “I saw her leave, I think.”
“Who?” Holly asked. “Sissy?”
Ezra nodded. They waited until he turned off the faucet. “The other night. A girl in a white dress was hurrying through the woods, alongside my yard. She got in a car and drove away.”
They watched in stunned silence as Ezra turned back for the door. “As for your Oliver, I did not see him. But I can assure you, he does not love that girl.”
When the door swung shut behind him, Holly and Linus gawked at one another for a long moment.
“Is he for real?” Linus asked, finally.
Holly shook her head. “He is, perhaps, the most real deal I have ever met.”
Greta did not chime in. She couldn’t. Ever since Ezra had stopped talking, her heart was doing its little flip-flop thing in her chest. It didn’t matter if the mind or the heart was to blame; there was no denying what she was feeling.
If Oliver was in love, and not with Sissy, that might just change everything.