Page 8 of In This Moment

He couldn’t focus on the TV, however. Rebecca kept playing through his mind in a loop, their banter, the interactions.

“Hey.” He glanced at the dog. “You don’t know how to make chocolate chip cookies, do you?”

Bark.

“Yeah, me either.”

Chapter Three

Outside the library, Rebecca stood with Dorothy, waiting on Scarlett and Forest for their meeting on renovations. Warm sunshine and a slight breeze bathed her skin, and she tilted her face to stare at a cloudless sky. Gorgeous day. Even better, they got to begin phase one of their project.

A handful of months ago, Rebecca and her besties had been blown over by inheriting the library. In nearly one hundred and fifty years, the building had never left Vallantine heirs. And then, boom. Dorothy had met with Mayor Davis on his request for reasons unbeknownst to them, and learned Sheldon and Rosemary Brown had bequeathed it to them. They’d also left them a sizeable check, which Scarlett had put into a new checking account in their names.

Rebecca shook her head. They’d dreamed as girls to one day own the library. Had discussed fantasies of opening a bookstore and all the things they’d do. Never in a million years had Rebecca thought they’d ever come to fruition. Yet, here they were.

By Zoom, while she’d still lived in Boston, they’d made tentative plans for the place and had thrown ideas around. Dorothy had gathered contractors, plumbers, and electricians to get estimates on repairs. Costs of those were astronomical, and wouldn’t leave much wiggle room.

Dorothy sighed, gaze on the library. “I can’t believe we’re here.”

“Me, either.” Rebecca looped her arm with Dorothy’s and leaned closer. “I can’t tell if I’m excited or nervous.” After all, they could fail in their attempt.

“Same.”

The library was a severely dilapidated two-story old colonial-style building with a tiny parking lot out front, large enough to hold maybe five cars. Six if they got creative. The white exterior had been repainted many times, but it had been years, and it was flaking off in chunks. The shutters were gone. A small concrete porch held no furniture or coziness, and only a few holly bushes lined the stairs, overgrown and gnarled. Two Greek support columns flanked the front overhang on either side of the door, and another two at the corners of the porch. A gabled roof, rectangular shape, and symmetrical windows were classic staples of the architecture, but it also had trace design elements like dental moldings along the eaves and pedimented dormers.

It was really a Vallantine focal point, due in part to the history, and because it rested at the tip of Main Square, overlooking the shops as if protecting them. Behind it were the roads that led to older areas of town like the cemetery and plantations.

Memories swamped her, filled her with happiness she hadn’t known in too long. She hadn’t realized it until she’d come home, but for years she’d merely survived and settled for getting by. It hadn’t been living. “Remember how we’d come here every Saturday and sit on that old smelly couch in the back? We’d read and gossip about boys.”

Dorothy tucked a stray strand of her red hair behind her ear, cherubic face lit in amusement. “And drive poor Mr. Brown nuts.”

Rebecca laughed. “Yeah. The man was a saint for putting up with us.” She hoped he and Mrs. Brown were living their best life traveling in their RV.

“Well, we were about the only people who graced the library back then. Plus, we did play matchmaker for them.”

“True story.” It was because they’d helped two introverted bookworms find their ever-after that the three of them had been gifted the library. At least, that’s what the letter had said. That, and they were the only ones who’d respect its walls or do it justice. “Gosh, how we’d talk about all the things we’d do when we grew up, how we were going to take the world by storm.”

So long ago, it seemed. Young girls with stars in their eyes and hope in their hearts. And then they actually had grown up. Life and circumstances and reality had chimed the final say.

“You and Scarlett wanted to take the world by storm. I just wanted a house and kids.”

Rebecca smiled at her. “One out of two goals ain’t bad. You have plenty of time for the rest.”

“Maybe.” Dorothy tilted her head. “You got your journalism degree and on staff at a huge newspaper. Scarlett got the plantation and started her own business. Seems you two got everything you wanted.”

Not everything. “I’m still here, though, back where I started.”

“Could be worse places than here, Rebecca.” Dorothy looked at her, understanding in her depths. “I don’t know what happened to bring you home for good. Perhaps you’ll tell us the whole story someday. You didn’t seem happy in Boston, though. Not for a long, long time. So, yeah. There could be worse places than here.”

She was right. So very right. There was nothing wrong with Vallantine. It was a quiet, charming town with a lovely backdrop. All the people and places were familiar, and in this chunk of time, it was what Rebecca needed. Familiarity. Comfort. Plus, her besties were here.

Dorothy had not strived for grand adventures as a girl. All she’d ever mentioned was an accounting degree, a house, husband, and kids. The simple things most took for granted. She did the books for more than half the shops in town.

Scarlett had craved activity and social circles. Perhaps a hot lover on hotter nights who didn’t try to trap or own her. She’d utilized her decorative talents and people skills to create a thriving event business on her family’s old plantation. Lovers were still coming and going.

Rebecca was the only one of the three of them who’d wanted out of Vallantine. Not because she’d been unhappy, but because all the news and stories were elsewhere. Action was not within these city limits. Unless one counted rumors. She’d achieved two of her three goals, and should be proud of herself. Yet, all she could feel was failure. She’d done nothing of consequence, per her own high standards.

“You’re so wise.” Rebecca batted her eyelashes, shoving disappointment back into its hidey hole.

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