Chapter 8 #2
“With our June.” Miriam sighed. “And things seem to be going so well for them. They actually are making music together now, which was June’s dream for the longest time. She just never thought she would get to have it. But now, the sky truly is the limit for them both. It’s so wonderful.”
Wow, Hope thought. That was astonishingly romantic, actually. It made her ache to rub away the pang in her chest.
One of the things that Hope had liked least about working in the service industry was the hours.
Most people went on dates in the evening, which was always when she was working.
And when she was free, people with office jobs were at their desks.
She still didn’t regret her career choice in the least, but it made it hard to meet someone, to have a romantic connection.
Any happy couples she’d known at Sharp’s had made it work because their partner was also in the restaurant world, and Hope had just never found someone she connected with who had that kind of job.
As a result, she hadn’t had a significant romance in a long time. She’d had boyfriends here and there, of course, but the relationships had always been casual enough that she’d been far from heartbroken when the mismatched schedules meant that those relationships inevitably ended.
It would be nice, though, to have her person, to have that one special somebody who she could go home to at the end of the day.
Her mind remained fixed on what it might be like to have someone worth changing her life over as she helped Miriam into the house, and then into her room to take a nap. Levi had to have been so brave to take that leap… and June too, in letting someone into her life after suffering such a loss.
Hope suddenly saw her own reason for not having a relationship as being a little silly. So, she worked weird hours. So what? People managed that every day.
While Miriam napped and Hope tidied a bit around the house, she found herself returning to this question. And every time she came back to it, she also found Jared’s face floating through her mind…
She supposed it would be fair to call what she felt for him a crush.
It wasn’t as though she knew him very well, after all.
They’d only had a few short encounters. But in each of those encounters, she’d felt pleasantly drawn to him.
He just seemed kind, what with his easygoing manner and his nonchalant teasing.
There was just something about him, something that made her want to see him again and again…
something that made her burn with disappointment when she thought she might not see him again.
Although she had made that promise to herself to go back and try the quiche Lorraine at Riverstone Kitchen…
She smiled just thinking about it as she wiped down the kitchen counters, which still held a little bit of mess from that morning’s breakfast.
When Miriam emerged from her room after sleeping for an hour or so, Hope could immediately tell that her grandmother wasn’t feeling much better. Hope’s stomach twisted with worry.
“How are you feeling, Mimi?” she asked, already crossing to the kettle to make some tea. There were few troubles in life that couldn’t be made a little better with a cup of hot tea.
“Ugh, it’s hard getting old,” Miriam said, sounding defeated in a way that Hope didn’t like.
“When I was your age, I used to be able to do everything I wanted to do. I always had the energy. And if, for some reason, I felt tired, I would just rest, and then I was good as new. These days, it can feel like no amount of rest is enough to bring me back to full pep.”
Hope reached out to squeeze her grandmother’s hand.
“I’m not counting you out yet,” she said, feeling fierce protectiveness surge through her.
“You’re Miriam Landers, for goodness’ sake!
We’re going to get you back in fighting shape soon enough, and then you’ll be able to go back to doing all the things you enjoy…
which is everything, if the people of this town are to be believed,” she added, hoping to tease her grandmother into better spirits.
To her relief, it worked.
“That’s true,” Miriam said. “And while I can’t say that I’m enjoying being sick, especially not when spring is right outside my doors, but I am pleased that you’re here. I’ve got the best nurse in the whole Northeast to tend to me.”
“Yes,” Hope agreed dryly. “I have so much medical expertise. So much. I am an expert.”
“Oh, hush,” Miriam said, bopping her on the nose. “There is one thing that it would be helpful if you could do for me, though…”
“Anything,” Hope said immediately. “You know that.”
That was a dangerous promise to make to Miriam Landers, but Hope stood by it. That was how much she adored her grandmother.
“Well,” Miriam said, tapping her fingertips together in a way that made Hope nervous. “You could go to book club in my place this week. I don’t think I’m going to be up for a whole evening out, but I don’t want to leave my seat empty. People rely on me to bring color to the party, you understand.”
Hope laughed, glad that her grandmother’s flair had come back… and glad that the request had been a simple one. You never did know with a spitfire like Miriam.
“Of course I can do that,” Hope said. “Your letters always made book club sound like a blast, so I would actually be delighted.”
“Oh, yay,” Miriam said, clapping her hands together in excitement. “I’ll read along with you, so that you can still tell me all about the discussion that happens.”
“I’ll take diligent notes,” Hope promised, laying her hand over her heart in a gesture of solemnity. “Although, you did make it sound rather like book club is a little more like a town gossip session than a long literary analysis.”
Miriam shot her a pert look. “Of course it is, darling. That’s what I need you to bring me home the discussion for. I can’t be left out of the loop on what happens around here! The horror!”
The kettle whistled at precisely that moment, as if to agree with Miriam’s fear of being left out. Hope rose to her feet to pull it off the stove, and the two women laughed, cheer encompassing them once again.