Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 145574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 728(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 728(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
“It was in Celebrity Weekly!” Juliet sang from the back.
“Not all of us read that tabloid trash!” Sophie retorted over her shoulder, then gave me a sympathetic smile. “Everyone here was really proud of the way you held your head up through…everything.”
“Thanks, Sophie,” I replied, swallowing the lump in my throat. The only thing worse than failing at the marriage everyone had warned me about was having my heartbreak and humiliation published by every website and magazine catering to the gossip lovers who devoured personal tragedy in the name of a guilty pleasure. Holding my head up and keeping my mouth shut when cameras were thrust in my face was exactly what had earned me the nickname “The Ice Queen” over the last six months, but if that was the cost of keeping whatever was left of my dignity, so be it.
“So, should I say welcome home? Or are you just visiting?” She handed me a little printed paper that would serve as my temporary driver’s license until the new one came in the mail.
“I’m home for good.” My answer may as well have been broadcast from the radio station. Juliet would make sure everyone in Poplar Grove knew before dinner.
“Well, then welcome home!” She smiled brightly. “Rumor has it your mom is in town, too.”
My stomach twisted.
“Really? I…uh…haven’t been over there yet.” Rumor has it meant Mom had been spotted in either one of our two grocery stores or the local bar. The second possibility was much higher. Then again, maybe it was a good—
Don’t finish that.
Even thinking Mom might be here to help me would only end in crushing disappointment. She wanted something.
I cleared my throat. “How is your dad doing?”
“He’s good! They think they got it all this time.” Her face fell. “I really am sorry about what happened to you, Georgia. I can’t even imagine if my husband…” She shook her head. “Anyway, you didn’t deserve that.”
“Thank you.” I looked away, spotting her wedding ring. “Say hi to Dan for me.”
“Will do.”
I stepped into the afternoon light that painted Main Street with a comforting, Rockwellian glow, and sighed in relief. I had my name back, and the town looked exactly how I remembered. Families strolled by, enjoying the summer weather, and friends chatted against the picturesque rocky mountain backdrop. Poplar Grove had a population smaller than the altitude, big enough to demand half a dozen stoplights, and was so tight-knit that privacy was a rare commodity. Oh, and we had an excellent bookstore.
Gran had seen to that.
I tossed my paperwork on the front seat of my rental car, then paused. Mom was probably at the house right now—I’d never demanded she give back her key after the funeral. Suddenly, I wasn’t so eager to head home. The last few months had sucked out my compassion, strength, and even hope. I wasn’t sure I could handle Mom when all I had left was anger.
But I was home now, where I could recharge until I was whole again.
Recharge. That was exactly what I needed before seeing Mom. I headed across the street to The Sidetable, the very store Gran had helped start with one of her closest friends. According to the will she’d left, I was now the silent partner. I was…everything.
My chest tightened at the sight of the for sale sign on what used to be Mr. Navarro’s pet store. It had been a year since Gran told me he’d passed on, and that was prime real estate on Main Street. Why hadn’t another business moved in? Was Poplar Grove struggling? The possibility sat in my stomach like sour milk as I entered the bookstore.
It smelled like parchment and tea, mixed with a little bit of dust and home. I’d never been able to find anything close to its soothing scent in any chain store while I’d lived in New York, and grief pricked at my eyes with my first breath. Gran had been gone six months, and I missed her so much, my chest felt like it might collapse from the hole she’d left behind.
“Georgia?” Mrs. Rivera’s jaw dropped for a second before she smiled wide from behind the counter, balancing her phone between her ear and shoulder. “Hold on one second, Peggy.”
“Hey, Mrs. Rivera.” I grinned and waved at her welcomingly familiar face. “Don’t hang up on my account. I’m just stopping in.”
“Well, it’s wonderful to see you!” She glanced toward the phone. “No, not you, Peggy. Georgia just walked in!” Her warm brown eyes found mine again. “Yes, that Georgia.”
I waved once more as they continued their conversation, then walked back to the romance section, where Gran had an entire stack of shelves dedicated to the books she’d written. I picked up the last novel she’d published and opened the dust jacket so I could see her face. We had the same blue eyes, but she’d given up dyeing her once-black hair around her seventy-fifth birthday—the year after Mom had dumped me on her doorstep the first time.