Page 28 of Always You (A Lilac Bay Novel)

CHAPTER 5

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Libby, Posey, Cora, and I had dinner at Rose’s on Wednesday night. It was one of our favorite places to have girls' night—the food was the best on the island, the wine list was extensive, and if Edward or Zane were around we could always be assured they’d sit us in whatever section the cutest waiter was working. On Thursday night our Rec League team got crushed by the Elks team in kickball. Posey played for the Elks and was responsible for three of their runs, but she made it up to us when she bought the first round at Cora’s after the game. At work, I spent the week preparing for the Fish Fry, arguing with Millie about what she called mychronic overuse of printer paper, and sharing my lunches with Andrew. All in all, a pretty typical week on Lilac Bay.

On Friday morning I woke up to gray skies that matched my mood. I’d had one drink too many the previous night at Cora’s, and was paying for it now with a persistent, throbbing headache. A headache that I would have happily endured, if it only had the ability to get me out of my commitments for that evening.

Though I had promised Rebecca I would stop by to check on our mom, I had been avoiding it all week. I knew if I put it off until the next day it would just ruin my weekend, so after work it would have to be. At least that way I had a built-in excuse to leave early—the monthly meeting of the town’s commerce committee was that evening, and I was supposed to attend as representative to the mayor’s office.

A visit with my mother and a mind-numbingly boring meeting. Not the most fun way to spend a Friday night, that was for damn sure.

I felt like I was dragging from the moment I woke up, either from the effects of the booze the night before or my reluctance to start the day. By the time I got out of the shower, I was already running late, so I pulled my still-wet hair back into a quick ponytail and pulled on a pair of jeans—they were a little faded, probably not totally work appropriate, even on casual Friday, but I couldn’t make myself care too much—and an old sweater Rebecca had bought me for my birthday years ago. The cashmere had seen better days, but it was soft and the light blue matched my eyes. I always felt just a little better when I wore it and I figured I could use all the good mojo I could get today.

I bent to scratch Gordie Howe behind his ears, trying to ignore his plaintive mew. I swear, that cat could always tell when I was going to be gone for longer than a normal workday.

“I’d much rather stay here with you, all cuddled up on the couch,” I told him. “But one of us has to pay for your Fancy Feast, buddy.” His wide, please-love-me kitty eyes faded into that half-disgusted, half-disappointed expression, so popular in cats the world over, and he hopped down from the couch to slink away into the kitchen, probably in the hopes that his food dish had somehow managed to refill itself.

“Yeah, I’ll miss you, too,” I muttered, glancing out the window to find that the threatening gray clouds had decided to open up into a steady flow of rain.

“Awesome.” I turned to the coat closet, rummaging around until I found my umbrella. “A car would be really nice right about now,” I called to Gordie, but he ignored me.

I normally enjoyed my walk into work. Oak Street lived up to its name, lined on both sides with towering trees that kept the rambling old Victorians in constant shade. Making my way into town, I passed Sadie Taylor’s bakery and Fran’s fudge shop, which meant I started each day with the scent of both fresh baked bread and chocolate, my two favorite smells. But today even the combo of bread and fudge couldn’t snap me out of my bad mood. The rain seemed determined to come down in practically sideways sheets, and there were already puddles everywhere. By the time I got to Town Hall I was well on my way towards being drenched. So much for my lucky sweater.

Andrew made a sympathetic face when he saw me. “You get stuck in the rain?”

“No, Andrew,” I snapped. “I felt like going for a swim in the bay before work.”

He looked like he might want to tease me some more, but a glare from me had his mouth snapping closed.

“Want me to take your lunch to the fridge?” he asked nicely.

“Shit,” I muttered, looking down at my empty hands. I had taken my lunch out of the fridge that morning—leftover gumbo from Rose’s the other night—but it apparently hadn’t made it in with me. Now it would be ruined.

“Hey, I’ll get us a pizza or something,” he said.

I sighed, pushing some hair that escaped my ponytail back behind my ears. “Sorry I snapped. Crappy morning.”

He rubbed his forehead. “I’m having some of that myself. We should really stop going to Cora’s on work nights.”

“Then we’re going to need to stop losing on work nights,” I said.

“I can support that.” He gestured for me to go ahead and followed me into the office. “You’ll be glad to hear that Millie is also in a bad mood this morning.”

“Why would I be happy to hear that? Millie in a bad mood means Millie giving me even more crap than usual.”

“True. But if we have to be upset and annoyed, doesn’t it make you feel just a little better that she is too?”

I laughed. “You have a point.” We reached his desk and I gave him a little wave. “See you for lunch.”

“Pizza makes everything better!” he called after me.

I collapsed into my desk chair, relieved to find that Millie, bad mood or no, was nowhere to be seen. I glanced down at the clock on my phone as the computer booted up. Eleven minutes late. On second thought, maybe Millie was in with the mayor complaining about my tardiness.

I pulled up my email and got to work answering all the requests for the Fish Fry that had come in since yesterday. Sadie wanted to make sure that her booth was placed close to Cora’s mulled wine table. “You and everyone else on this island,” I muttered. The mulled wine was consistently the most popular item of the night. Everyone wanted to be stationed near Cora.

I pulled up an email from Jerry Brooks and immediately wished I hadn’t. Apparently his neighbor’s new English Shepherd had been getting into his yard.And it really upsets the chickens, Riley,he wrote.You know how sensitive they are.

“Lord, give me strength,” I muttered under my breath, and I pulled out a pad of paper and took notes on the pertinent details. Of course, dealing with upset chickens was hardly part of my job description. But most of the people on this island seemed to think that the best way to deal with any problem, regardless of size, was to bring it to the mayor’s office. So Jerry’s chickens had just become my number one priority.

My phone rang. A quick look at the screen showed Andrew’s extension.