Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Hope took the first bite of the muffin she had just purchased from Honey Bee Bakery and practically moaned with happiness at the taste.
It was a raspberry muffin, baked with those big, coarse crystals of sugar across the top.
The generous sprinkling should have made the white chocolate drizzle overkill…
but it wasn’t. It was a perfect muffin. It was the kind of muffin that made Hope think that more people should write poems about muffins.
It quite honestly made her consider calling up the handful of food critics she’d made contact with over the years and telling them that they were all sleeping on the eateries in this tiny town in Massachusetts.
Another part of her wanted to keep the secret for herself, lest she find herself battling the masses of culinary tourists for this sweet, tart, rich, deliciousness.
She took another generous bite, her eyes closed with happiness, and chewed slowly. When she had swallowed the bite, she opened her eyes and—
She nearly choked on a mouthful of nothing when she saw June standing right in front of her, grinning.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” June said, stifling a laugh as Hope pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm her racing heart. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I just didn’t want to interrupt what seemed to be a private moment between you and that muffin.”
Fortunately, Hope had also purchased a cup of coffee. She took a mouthful, found that it was nearly as excellent as the muffin, and carefully cleared her throat.
“It was a private moment,” she said with a smile when she could trust herself not to cough again. “I was composing an ode. Have you ever eaten one of these?”
She lifted the muffin in illustration. She would offer June a bite, in the name of friendship and all that, but it would be a notable sacrifice. It really was that good.
“Oh, trust me,” June said with a laugh. “Every muffin they sell in this place and I go way back. In the fall, they do an apple walnut oat muffin that will make you cry.”
“Ooh, I will have to try that,” Hope said before she could pause to consider that it wasn’t at all likely that she would still be in Magnolia Shore in the fall.
I can visit, though, she reminded herself. No, she would visit. She should have been visiting more anyway, rather than always offering to host her grandmother in Boston. Now, she just had lots of reasons to do so.
Friends, muffins, Miriam. There were way worse reasons to hop on a train up from Boston.
“Did I see you at Anchor Bistro the other night?” June asked, taking a sip of her own coffee. “I could have sworn that I saw you lingering near the bar while Levi and I were singing, but when I got offstage, you were gone.”
“I was there!” Hope said. “I left a little early because Miriam is the lightest sleeper you will ever meet, so I try not to stay out too late, since she always wakes up when I come home. Since I’m out for work late a few times a week now, I wanted to give her an early night.
I waited for the end of your set, but I didn’t last until after you were done greeting your adoring public. ”
June blushed, looking bashful and flattered, at the reference to the group of people who had flocked to praise her and Levi for their performance.
“People have been really sweet,” June said.
“And it’s well deserved,” Hope said firmly. “You were… wow, June. You can really sing!”
June jokingly hid behind her coffee cup for a moment, as though she couldn’t stand the praise.
“Stop,” she said, chuckling. Then her expression grew dreamy… though there was a hint of sadness behind it, as well. “I do love singing with Levi so much, though,” she said. “He’s basically perfect…”
She trailed off, and Hope frowned. There was something lurking behind that comment. Before Hope could decide if it was her place to press, June’s distant look evaporated and her regular smile returned.
“Sorry, got distracted,” she said airily.
“Anyway, I’m headed out to help Diana try on about a zillion dresses, because she still hasn’t found her perfect match.
Want to join? A bunch of the book club ladies are coming, and it’s a real ‘the more the merrier’ situation, because Diana is on the cusp of giving up and going with one that she likes only a medium amount, and that is not the energy we want our most stylish friend to be bringing to her wedding. ”
June said this last bit with fierce determination. Hope got the sense that June was testing out the speech to use later on Diana.
“I would love to,” she said. “Are you sure I wouldn’t be intruding?”
“Of course not!” June said. “We wanted to invite you, but… do you realize you haven’t given us your phone number?”
Hope blinked, then laughed. She’d just been showing up to book club; she hadn’t even thought about the oversight.
She and June quickly exchanged numbers, then took their coffees to go.
Hope had walked to the bakery, so June offered her a ride to the boutique, which was a decent distance beyond Magnolia Shore’s limits.
“We have been working steadily outward trying to find the perfect dress,” June said. “We will find it.”
“You’re a bit scary when you’re determined, do you know that?” Hope teased.
“That’s the right attitude.”
Hope was still a little doubtful as they rode to the store. Was she really not intruding? Any lingering wariness vanished the moment she entered the store and three heads whipped in her direction with a grin.
“Hope, yay!” Eleanor said.
“Oh, June, how did you manage it?” Cadence said happily. “I tried texting Miriam, but she isn’t the best at responding to messages.”
“I stalked her like a hunter stalking a deer,” June said, taking a prim sip of her drink. “It was very impressive. I am a woman of many talents.”
Winnie gave June a skeptical look.
“We ran into one another at Honey Bee Bakery,” June admitted. “But I did succeed in Operation Phone Number. I’ll send it to the group chat.”
Just then, Diana came out from behind a curtained dressing area, wearing a wedding dress that was…
Well, Hope supposed it was nice. Or that it could be. On someone else. But somehow the cut of the dress made Diana’s tall, slender frame look awkward and reedy, and the shade of the gown made her look washed out and wan.
“Oh,” Eleanor said with careful neutrality.
“Please,” Diana said, rolling her eyes. “I am perfectly aware that this is not the dress. I know we’ve had a million ‘not the dresses,’ but this one is really not the dress.”
Even the shop assistant, whose job it was to say nice things about the dresses, looked a little doubtful.
“We can do better,” she said diplomatically.
“It’s good to have a baseline of what you don’t want,” Cadence quipped. “And ‘makes you look like you’re about to barf’ seems as good a line as any.”
Hope might have worried that this comment was a little harsh, but Cadence and Diana had known one another for years, and Diana did indeed laugh at the joke… and look overall a little more cheerful as she turned to the shop assistant.
“Okay. The first try is a no. But let’s see what we’ve got next.”
“I’ll take out the dresses that come in this particular cool pearl shade,” the assistant said. “Not the best hue to bring out the brightness in your complexion.”
Diana blew out a breath, nodded, and went back into the dressing area.
“Okay, team,” Eleanor said, gesturing for everyone to huddle around. “Today’s theme is Operation: No Discouragement.”
“We’re very into spy analogies today,” Winnie muttered under her breath.
“Hope,” Eleanor went on, speaking like a general directing her troops. “You are the new voice of reason. And the reasoning is, ‘You only get married once, none of us are impatient, we will find the dress.’”
“Aye aye, captain.” Hope saluted.
“Cadence,” Eleanor continued. “You are already crushing it at your role: keeping up morale even when the dress is, uhh…”
“Ugly?” Cadence supplied.
“I was trying to think of a nicer word, but basically, yeah,” Eleanor agreed. “June, Winnie, and I are on general encouragement. We’re the dodgers and weavers. We go where we are needed.”
Winnie nodded solemnly, as though she was committing this to memory.
Just then, Diana came out of the dressing space again, the assistant helping her fluff out the train behind her.
Unlike the previous gown, this one was in a more neutral shade of white that flattered Diana enormously.
It was not quite princessy in the breadth of the skirts, and there was an antique style lace overlaying the whole thing that lent it an elegant air.
“Okay,” Eleanor said, nodding. “I like that one.”
“Me too,” June agreed. “I feel like it fits your style.”
“It’s really beautiful,” Hope agreed. “What do you think?”
Diana scrunched her nose as she looked at herself in the mirror. “You don’t think the train is a bit… much?” she asked. “I don’t want it to get in the way of dancing.”
“It does pin up,” the assistant supplied helpfully.
It was clear, though, that Diana wasn’t convinced.
“If you don’t love it, don’t commit,” Cadence reminded her.
Diana looked a little discouraged, but she nodded.
The rest of the morning went much like that. Diana would put on a dress, some of which were perfectly lovely, some of which were only adequate. The beautiful ones were heaped with praise by her friends, but it was clear that there weren’t any that Diana truly loved.
“Maybe I’m just impossible to please,” Diana said with a sigh. She was trying to sound cheerful, but some self-directed annoyance leeched through.
“You are a gorgeous, successful boutique owner with high standards,” Winnie corrected. “High standards that you deserve to have. Don’t make me pull out the ‘ice queen’ persona again, Diana. I can do it. I will do it.”
Hope raised her eyebrows in surprise at this. It was hard to imagine sweet, somewhat shy Winnie as anything resembling an “ice queen.” June caught the expression.
“Long story,” she murmured to Hope. “But trust us, nobody else thinks she’s going to break out that attitude either.”
Winnie overheard this part and stuck out her tongue… which didn’t exactly do anything toward making them believe that she could be icy and stern.
But it did the trick in making Diana laugh.
“Okay, okay,” she said, huffing out a breath. “Let’s try another one.”
When Diana disappeared behind the curtain, Winnie gave a little fist pump of victory.
Hope’s grin was irrepressible. She didn’t know how long she would be living in Magnolia Shore. She didn’t know where the next stage in her life would take her. All of it was a mystery… and that was scary.
But she did know that she would have the friends that she’d made here for a long, long time. And that brought her more comfort than she could ever put into words.