Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
City living, Hope realized as she turned in a circle on the sidewalk, her taxi disappearing in the distance, had made her cocky.
She had assumed that she would have no problem navigating Magnolia Shore once she got here, using the directions that her grandmother had given her. It wasn’t like this was her first trip to the adorable little town, after all, although admittedly it had been a while.
Hope turned in another circle, hoping this would help. Unfortunately, it only got her more mixed up.
“Shoot,” she muttered to herself. “I shouldn’t have let that taxi go until I asked for directions.”
She was just digging in her pocket for her cell phone so that she could call Miriam and admit that she was lost when a friendly voice greeted her.
“Excuse me? Can I help you find something?”
She turned to find…
Okay, she thought to herself, so that is a very attractive man.
The person who had called out to her was tall, likely over six feet, but lean in a way that suggested he was strong and active.
His dark hair was messy, as though he’d been running his hands through it, and he stood with an easy confidence.
The thing that struck Hope the most, however, was the sparkling warmth in his hazel eyes.
It was this last quality that made her agree to his assistance.
In the city, she might have been cautious about admitting to a stranger that she was lost, but she would bet dollars to donuts that if she described this guy to Miriam, her grandmother would know exactly who he was.
That meant he wasn’t really a stranger, right?
“Um, yeah, actually,” she said with a slightly self-deprecating laugh. “I am totally turned around. I’m looking for Miriam Landers. Her address is—”
“Oh, I know where Miriam lives,” the man said, then flushed slightly as he realized he had cut her off. “Sorry. That was rude.”
“Not at all,” she reassured him. “I love the confidence of a local expert.”
He laughed. “Well, thank you. Anyway, you’re in luck. Miriam’s house is right over there.”
He pointed across the street and one house down. Hope felt her cheeks go red.
“So, right in front of my face,” she said, pressing a hand to her forehead. “Whoops.”
“Don’t worry about it at all,” he said. He glanced down at the wheeling suitcase at her side. “Have a great trip!”
“I will, thank you!” she called back as he continued walking down the sidewalk. It was only when she’d crossed the street that Hope realized that she hadn’t even asked the man’s name, nor introduced herself, but by the time she turned back to do so, he had disappeared out of sight.
Oh well. She’d have to try to make a better impression later. For now, though, she was eager to see her beloved grandmother.
She rang the doorbell, and the sound of it echoing from inside the house summoned an acute sense memory from her childhood. She smiled, feeling as though she was nine years old again, coming to visit Miriam and Grandpa Harry for the annual weeklong visit that she and Felicity enjoyed each summer.
Her grandmother opened the door after a moment, and Hope was jolted back to the present.
Miriam looked… well, not quite frail, but certainly more so than she had the last time Hope had seen her.
It was strange to find herself eye to eye with a woman who had loomed larger than life during Hope’s childhood, but she supposed that this was how things always went.
Time passed and things changed, even when you didn’t want them to.
But Miriam’s broad smile was as big and bright as ever, and when she threw her arms around Hope’s neck, her hug was no less comforting for the slightness of her form.
“Oh, honey, hello, hello,” Miriam greeted, pulling back to get a good look at Hope, just like she’d always done. “I’m so happy you’re here. I mean, I’m sorry about your job, of course, but I’m only sorry for you. For myself? I am delighted.”
Hope laughed brightly, letting herself be drawn into the cozy vestibule of her grandmother’s house.
“I’m so happy to see you too,” she said. “Let me just grab my bag.”
Miriam gave the suitcase in question a critical look. “That doesn’t look big enough for how long I’m going to try to convince you to stay,” she said doubtfully.
“Oh? And how long is that?” Hope asked.
Miriam fluffed her chic silver bob. “Forever, probably,” she said airily, which made Hope laugh again. This was the same old Miriam.
Except, Hope realized as they continued into the house, that was only somewhat true.
Although her grandmother’s spirit remained undaunted, she did move a little more slowly than she had previously, and she was looking a little bit thinner than Hope would have liked.
Even so, she moved around her kitchen with the confidence born of decades spent living in the same place, and when Hope offered to help make the tea that they planned to share, Miriam cast her an affronted look.
“Between you and my friends, you’d think that I had two broken hips and one missing arm,” she chastised.
“I am not an invalid, my darling. I’m recovering well.
My doctor actually told me that moving around a little bit is good for my recovery, so if you try to stop me from making this tea, I shall get Dr. Iverson to yell at you. ”
Hope held up her hands in surrender. “Very well,” she acquiesced. “Don’t mind me.”
“I won’t,” Miriam said, sending Hope a wink over her shoulder.
When the tea was made and a plate of cookies deposited on the table, however, Hope couldn’t ignore that her grandmother did look as though the effort of getting this little snack together had cost her more energy than it should have taken.
“Are you really feeling okay, Mimi?” she asked, extending a hand across the table to lay it atop her grandmother’s papery skin. Miriam flipped her hand and held on to Hope’s fingers, offering a comforting squeeze.
“I might not be as young as I once was,” her grandmother admitted, “but there’s still some life in me yet; don’t you or your sister worry about that.
Oh, yes, that’s right,” she added when Hope looked askance at the mention of Felicity.
“Don’t think I don’t know that the two of you cooked this up together, not that I’m complaining.
The only thing better than a visit from one of my girls would be a visit from both of my girls. ”
“Felicity wanted to come, for what it’s worth,” Hope said. “She feels terrible that she can’t. But she’s got a classroom full of kids who’d be lost without her, especially this time of year.”
“Of course she does. That girl was born responsible.” Miriam pressed the plate of cookies in Hope’s direction, her eyes going soft. “Maybe she’ll come out over the summer, once school turns her loose. Wouldn’t that be something, having you both under this roof at once?”
“Careful,” Hope teased, taking a cookie. “Dream that big and you’ll never get rid of either of us.”
Miriam’s expression lit up. “Don’t tempt an old woman.” She quirked a brow, jerking her chin toward the back of the house. “I’ve got enough room in this old place for the two of you, easily!”
Hope laughed and settled in to listen as her grandmother caught her up on the local gossip, then pried the story of the closing restaurant out of her granddaughter.
It was a lovely time, and Hope enjoyed herself immensely, although she kept getting distracted from her pleasure when she observed all the ways that Miriam seemed not quite in full health.
There were a few slight tremors in her hands, and when she coughed, it was a little rougher than Hope felt comfortable with.
It was good that she had come here. She’d already known that, of course.
She’d recognized the wisdom of the idea almost as soon as Felicity had suggested it.
She’d needed a little time to freak out over the idea of changing her life even more than it was already changing, certainly, but once that had passed, she’d recognized the truth.
But that had been mental. This was emotional. This felt right. She was needed here, and though she’d liked her previous life, she hadn’t necessarily been needed there. It was… a nice feeling.
“I’m really glad I’m here, Mimi,” Hope said impulsively, reaching out to clasp her grandmother’s fingers in her own.
Miriam’s face creased into a soft, fond expression.
“Oh, honey,” she said, squeezing Hope’s fingers. “I’m so glad you’re here too.”