Page 19 of Finding Home

“Tiny coconuts,” Willa interrupted.

“Exactly! Although, that one is valid. Elle, have the cake or don’t. Just be open to cake.”

Should I?It had been so long since Elle had cake. The metaphor stirred hunger pains in her belly and a clenching in her lady bits.

EIGHT

“Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.”

~Jane Austen,Pride and Prejudice

Elle’s sling back sandals clacked against the pavement as she walked toward the front door of the Wine Down, the town’s only wine bar. The red brick building the bar now occupied had sat unused throughout much of Elle’s childhood. Just like many of the buildings along Main Street. After the textile mill, which had once employed most of the town’s residents, moved its operations elsewhere, many people moved to find work and the mom-and-pop shops that had inhabited downtown disappeared.

In the last eight years, revitalization pushed into the village with new businesses opened by Elle’s fellow Perry High School alumni. All spearheaded by the town’s mayor. Perry may not be home, but she was impressed with its scrappiness. The renovated and thriving downtown spoke of a feisty will to succeed.

As Elle walked through the bar’s wood framed glass door, a tall spiky red-haired man with a name tag proclaiming himToddgreeted her. With little ceremony, he presented her with asingle-page glossy menu and motioned around the mostly empty bar.

“Good luck finding a seat,” he snarked.

It was seven on a Tuesday in Perry. There’d be none of the hustle and bustle of Long Beach. Despite the town’s rebirth, most businesses buttoned up by eight during the week.

Elle perused the menu. Everything originated in the area. She, of course, ordered the rosé from a small winery in the Finger Lakes.

“Rosé the night away,” Todd said, lips raised in a wry grin as he deposited the glass on the oval-shaped table Elle sat at. Like everything in Perry, there was something both familiar and new about him.

Elle sipped the sweet rosé and scanned the bar. The space was lit by a single chandelier and the evening sun streaming in from oversized windows. Todd stood flipping through a book at the mahogany bar. Silver framed pictures of Perry-ites toasting wineglasses in various locations around the village dotted the violet walls.

“Ms. Lucas!” Carmen’s musical voice waltzed into the quiet bar.

“Ms. Bennet!” Elle replied, using their old nicknames.

In high school, her two best friends, Carmen Herrera and Beth Lake, formed the Jane Austen Sisterhood. Their deep love of everything Ms. Austen led each to adopt the name of the character that best fit their personality. Carmen was the Jane Bennet to Beth’s Lizzie and Elle’s Charlotte. Jane Austen had both brought and kept them together. Anything Austen or Austen-adjacent facilitated a text, call, or email.

“I can’t believe you are here.” Carmen squeezed hard, swaying in a dancing hug, her floral scent twining around them.

“Ditto.”

Elle pulled away, examining Carmen. Dark curls tumbled over her slim shoulders and her brown skin glowed against a sunshine-yellow sundress. Carmen had always been gorgeous, even when nobody else saw it. She was also brilliant, skipping one grade in school and completing four years of college in three.

“I see you ordered the rosé. It’s very popular,”Carmen said, taking the chair across from Elle.

“It’s great. This place is adorable. So many new businesses in town. I haven’t explored much, but I saw a bookstore/coffeeshop and some boutiques when I drove in. You’ve done well, Madam Mayor.” She raised her glass in salute.

After earning her MBA, Carmen moved back to Perry and worked with businesses across the region. She worked her magic with local businesses and the entire community, organizing events and fundraisers. Eight years ago she was elected as Perry’s mayor, a role she’d maintained unopposed since.

“I am loving these photos.” Elle pointed to one of Janet taken at the Village Rose.

“Mathew took them.” Carmen’s eyes grew starry at the mention of her husband.

It still seemed unreal that the sweet and studious Carmen married the clownish Mathew Fischer, the same boy who had once run through a pep rally dressed in wings and bumble bee boxers over a black unitard. Like chocolate covered bacon they were an odd pairing, but they worked. Despite keeping Herrera as her surname, she burst with pride to be married to Mathew Fischer.

“Can I get you something, Madam Mayor?” Todd shouted from the bar.

“Rosé and the cheese board for the table. Thank you, Todd.” She turned back to Elle. “The cheese board is so good. All local cheeses and meats.”

“Remember how we’d drink Welch’s grape juice out of your mom’s fancy glasses with cheddar cheese, Ritz crackers, and Doritos? We thought we were so classy.”

“We were very classy teenagers. We watched PBS.” Carmen preened a bit, until interrupted by Todd bringing her wine to the table.

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