Page 53 of Finding Wonderland

“So, what brings you back to Maine?” Isla didn’t feel like beating around the bush.

“Well, I wanted to tell you in person that Cliff and I are going to sell the bar.”

Isla felt her stomach hit the floor as the room began to spin ever so slightly. Sell the bar? They couldn’t. It was her second home; her favorite place to work and to hang out with her family and friends. Maureen and Cliff couldn’t sell it. Whoever bought it wouldn’t care about it as much as Isla did.

“What… what? When? Why?”

“The bar hasn’t been ours for quite some time. You made us both obsolete.”

Isla started to say that wasn’t true, but they both knew it was. Maureen waved her off before continuing.

“Our health isn’t as good as it once was, so we’re trying to get everything in order. None of our kids want the bar, and we didn’t want to leave it in the will for whomever to purchase it. Which is why I want to know if you’d like the bar.”

She had to hear Maureen wrong. There was no way she just asked if Isla wanted to buy the bar. Isla’s mind immediately began to frantically wonder if their finances were in a good enough place they could afford to buy it. With the IVF treatments, money had been tight recently. Even if they were using their friend Cameron’s brother’s sperm to save on an anonymous donor.

And there was no way Isla wasn’t telling Vera she wanted to use what little money they still had saved for the treatments to go toward the bar. Her family came first, even if the idea of losing the bar crushed her soul.

“Actually,” there was a slight twinkle in Maureen’s eyes, “we want to give you the bar.”

“Excuse me?” Isla had to have heard her wrong. “Are you serious? You can’t be serious.”

“I am serious. Cliff and I paid off the place years ago and thanks to you it’s been turning a major profit every year for the last eight years. We’re not looking for money; what are we going to use it for at our age, you know? But we know how much you love the bar and we want it to stay in your hands, if you want it.”

“You’re serious,” Isla flatly stated, still in shock.

“I am. This is your place now anyway.” She motioned around the office where more photos than Isla could count lined the walls. Family photos mixed in with the families of former and current employees. Old menus were tacked up alongside napkins and receipts from special events. It was a memorial to Isla’s last ten years at the bar.

Reaching into her purse that had been dangling off her arm, Maureen pulled out a manila envelope and handed it to her.

“These are the papers our lawyers had drawn up. Feel free to look them over with Vera and a lawyer, if you want. The places to sign are highlighted and the address to send the papers back to us is on the first page.”

Isla stared at her name scribbled in Maureen’s handwriting on the front of the envelope. “Maureen, I… I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything now.” Standing, Maureen smiled down at her. “We don’t need an answer today. The papers are good for sixty days, but you can let us know if you need longer.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Isla stood as well, dropping the envelope on her desk as she hugged Maureen once more. The two old friends chatted a few more minutes before Isla gave her a tour of the place and introduced her to her staff. Maureen left less than an hour later, leaving Isla alone in her office once again.

Picking up her phone, she called Vera at home. It was after six, so Isla only hoped she hadn’t worked late. Vera answered on the third ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey, what are you doing right now?”

“Trying to decide if I want to make something for dinner or order a pizza.”

“My vote’s on pizza,” Mason called out on the other end of the line.

“Of course it is,” she and Vera responded in unison. “Why don’t you and Mason come here?”

“To the bar?”

“Yeah, I have some exciting news I want to tell you two.”

“Oh, tell me now. I love exciting news.”

“No,” Isla shook her head, “it has to be in person. Please? Forget about cooking and pizza and get your asses down here. I’ll have burgers waiting.”

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