Chapter 14

"I'm home!" Paige pushed open the apartment door with her foot, her arms filled with grocery bags. The cozy apartment that she shared with Josie smelled fragrantly of lavender, so Paige knew that her sister must be home, burning one of her favorite scented candles.

"Hey, Paige!"

She turned and saw Josie sitting at the kitchen counter with Wesley Cliff, her boyfriend. Paige grinned when she saw him. She'd always liked Wesley—even when he was the social worker assigned to her case and was the one who drove her out to Blueberry Bay when she didn't want to go there. He was kind, and smart, and she really appreciated how much he cared about her sister. She hoped that he would become a part of their family eventually, but she usually kept those thoughts to herself—unless she was teasing Josie about getting engaged.

"Let us help you with those," he said, hopping off a stool and hurrying over to Paige. He took one of the grocery bags, and Josie took the other one a moment later. "What's in here? Baking supplies?"

"How did you know?" Paige laughed. "Yeah, the muffins and doughnuts I've been making for Tidal Wave Coffee have been really popular and I need to make more." She thought with a flutter of Rita Lawson, and what she had said about Flourish Baking School after tasting one of Paige's muffins, but she didn't say anything about it. "Michael said he's going to reimburse me for a lot of this stuff, since I'm baking for the coffee shop."

"That's great!" Josie was all smiles. "Look at you, already getting professionally commissioned for your baking! At this rate, you won't even need to go to college." She laughed, clearly joking, but Paige's heart twisted.

I wish she wasn't joking, she thought. That's exactly what I want. To get established as a really good baker so that I can start a bakery without having to go to college somewhere far away.

Paige smiled at her sister as they started to unload the groceries. "Thanks. It is really nice to have people come in and compliment my baking."

"I'm sure they're just as happy about it as you are," Wesley said. "I'm going to have to go to Tidal Wave Coffee even more often, now that I know I can buy stuff you made there."

Paige wrinkled her nose at him affectionately. "Thanks, you guys. You're both being really sweet."

"Not trying to be anything except honest," he said, winking.

They finished unloading the groceries together, and Paige was starting toward her room when her sister tugged on her sleeve.

"Hey, you got a minute? We've just been brainstorming for this party to celebrate your scholarship, and I want to talk ideas over with you."

Paige's heart sank, but she smiled. "Sure." She didn't want Josie to think she didn't appreciate her efforts—she did, very much. But she didn't even like to think about the scholarship that she'd gotten, let alone have an entire party about it.

I think it's because I don't want it to feel too hard to say no to it if that's what I end up deciding to do,she thought. I want this scholarship to seem like less of a big deal, so it would be easier to do that. A party makes it feel like a huge deal. But I guess it is.

They sat town at the counter together, and Josie pushed a notebook toward Paige. On it, she'd jotted down various ideas in her beautiful handwriting. Paige leaned over the notebook, reading what had been written. Josie had jotted down a guest list all along the far left of the page, and Paige's heart sank when she saw it. It was much longer than she would have wanted.

"I was thinking we could play games, and have a lot of food, obviously." Josie laughed, tapping the list with her finger. "What do you think?"

Paige swallowed. "Uh, thanks, Josie. It looks really great. That looks like a whole lot of people, though. Shouldn't we have a smaller party?"

Her sister shook her head emphatically. "Not a chance. You've accomplished something amazing, and the whole town is going to want to celebrate with you. Don't worry about the size of the party! We can absolutely afford it—besides, one of my ideas is to make it a potluck! Then people can bring whatever they want to show off their culinary skills, and we don't have to come up with all the food ourselves." She laughed, her eyes sparkling.

Paige swallowed when she saw how excited her sister was. She hated to disappoint her, and she didn't know what to say. But inside, she squirmed at the idea of having such a big party.

"Or—hey! We could have the party at The Crab." Josie tapped her fingers against the edge of the counter. "I know Willis has hosted private events there before. I should call him and see what he says."

Paige smiled and kissed her sister on her cheek. "Thanks for what you're doing. I'll leave you two to your date. I want to take a shower after work."

"Okay! We're making ravioli and meatballs for dinner. That'll be ready in about an hour."

"Oh gosh, amazing. I'll come back in a little while to help out."

Paige slipped out of the kitchen, listening to Josie continue to talk excitedly to Wesley about her plans for the party. She reminded herself that her sister had no idea that she didn't really want the party, and she was doing it purely from a place of love.

I'm not ungrateful,she thought. It's so sweet. But I just feel… I don't know. Kind of helpless.

She sighed as she rummaged in her dresser for what she wanted to change into after her shower. She grabbed a soft hoodie and a pair of leggings.

"And socks," she murmured, grabbing a pair of squishy socks out of her top drawer. Once she had everything she needed, she made her way to the bathroom and turned on the shower.

She needed to do some serious thinking, and she frowned in concentration as she stepped under the warm stream of water. Her shower gel was mango-scented, and it filled the air with a sweet, fruity aroma. She took a few deep breaths, trying to relax. She wanted to be in a calm place while she considered what to do.

She didn't want to disappoint her sister, and she also felt that it would be foolish to turn down a full-ride scholarship. She knew she was very lucky to have gotten it. But she hadn't been able to stop thinking about Flourish Baking School. She loved the idea of going to a school where she got to study baking for all of her classes, and she loved the idea of going to school somewhere that was only an hour away from Blueberry Bay. That would make it easy for her to visit every weekend, and she wouldn't really feel like she was leaving her newly found hometown.

Her mind filled with rosy imaginings for her future. She imagined herself going to Flourish Baking School and coming back to Blueberry Bay at least once a week. She imagined herself starting a bakery there in town as soon as she was done with school.

Maybe I can take some business courses in Providence as well, she thought. Then I would be totally equipped to start my own bakery.

She bit her lip, worried that if she made that choice, everyone would be disappointed. She would be giving up her scholarship, and a degree. She felt sure that a lot of people—especially Josie—would urge her to reconsider her choice.

She finished her shower, feeling conflicted and no closer to her decision than she had been before.

* * *

Hannah eagerly turned a page in her book and took a sip of her iced latte. She was spending her afternoon in Tidal Wave Coffee, enjoying some quiet time reading while drinking one of her favorite beverages.

Ah, nobody makes coffee like they do here,she thought contentedly, pausing in her reading to take another sip.

Her eyes returned to the words on the page in front of her and she was soon swept up in the plot of the novel. Yellow sunlight streamed in through the window, lighting up her hands and causing the blue sparkling nail polish on her fingernails to shimmer. The longer she read, the more absorbed she became in her book. Even though the coffee shop around her was bustling with customers and conversations, she was so engaged that she was able to focus completely on her reading.

She was so focused that she didn't notice someone approaching her until that person laid a hand on the edge of the table and said, "Excuse me."

Hannah looked up, startled. "Oh, hi!" She smiled up at a young woman who she didn't recognize. The girl was tall, had sparkling eyes and curly brown hair that was pulled back into a messy ponytail. She was wearing a yellow t-shirt tucked into jean shorts. Hannah decided that she looked like a nice, fun, down-to-earth person. "Can I help you?"

"Well, maybe." The woman grinned. "Are you Hannah?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Amazing! Do you mind if I sit down for a minute?"

"Go right ahead." Hannah smiled readily at the young woman, even though she was feeling confused. Who was this girl and why was she looking for her?

"You've never met me before," the girl said. "My name is Olivia Dunlap."

"Dunlap?" Hannah gasped, instantly excited. "Are you related to Marsha Dunlap?"

"Yes!"

The two women exchanged a moment of enthusiasm, making warm eye contact. "I'm Marsha's niece," Olivia said. "I live with her in Whale Harbor."

"Nice to meet you, Olivia." Hannah held her hand out across the table and Olivia shook it. "Really nice to meet you."

"You too. I wanted to find you and talk to you," Olivia said. "I hope you don't mind. My aunt told me what you look like, and I asked around town today to try to find you."

"Wow. That sounds dedicated. Why did you want to find me?"

"My aunt told me about your visit and why you were there. I—well, I wanted to talk to you about your idea of having my aunt and your dad meet each other. Is that okay?"

"Of course." Hannah's heart was beating excitedly. She had a strong feeling that things were about to get interesting. "What did you want to talk about exactly?"

It crossed her mind that Olivia might be there to tell her to please mind her own business, or to complain that she had tried to meddle in her aunt's life—but judging by Olivia's excited energy, Hannah suspected that the other girl was just as interested in reuniting the former lovebirds as she was.

"Well, my Aunt Marsha said that Willis isn't married anymore, is that true?"

Hannah nodded, a smile forming on her face as her suspicions were confirmed. "He's not. He hasn't been married since I was a kid."

"Huh." Olivia stared into space for a moment, biting her lip.

"I was sad that Marsha didn't want to meet my dad," Hannah said. "But he said the same thing: that he wants to leave the past in the past."

"Yeah, but—" Olivia turned to her, pressing her lips together. "Don't you get the impression that they still have feelings for each other and they're scared to death of seeing each other again? And least that's what I think is happening on my Aunt Marsha's side."

"Yes!" She found herself grinning. "I get that same feeling from my dad. Like, he's saying no, but he's really torn about it. I mean, there was clearly something there once. And circumstances separated them, it's not like they were separated by choice."

"Exactly! So what if some circumstances brought them back together again?"

The women grinned at each other.

"I love that idea," Hannah said, tapping her fingers against the edge of the table eagerly. "But what could we do to bring them back together?"

"I think it will have to look like an accidental meeting," Olivia said. "Because if we ask them about meeting up, they're still going to say no. And this way, if they see each other but one or both of them still doesn't want to say hello, they don't have to."

"Agreed." Hannah nodded. "But we can arrange for them to cross paths—and then I feel sure they're going to want to talk."

"I agree. But what can we do?"

"Tell you what. I'll go grab you a coffee for you to drink while you're here. My treat. I have a feeling we're both going to need to be caffeinated for a brainstorming session like this."

Olivia laughed. "Thanks a million, I'd love that."

"What's your poison?"

"Mmm, how about a latte with a shot of raspberry syrup?"

"Oh, excellent choice. You got it. I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, the two women were sitting close together, sipping their beverages and staring at a small notebook that Olivia had brought along. On the page in front of them Olivia had written down a short list of the ideas they'd had so far.

"The problem is, my Aunt Marsha doesn't really go to Blueberry Bay. She just stays in Whale Harbor. There would need to be something important happening here for her to go to, you know? If I say, ‘Hey, let's go take a stroll through Blueberry Bay' she's going to know what's up."

"She might get a little suspicious no matter what we do." Hannah laughed. "But hopefully we can figure out something that interests her enough that she'll come here anyway."

Olivia nodded. "I guess we could just wait until the Summer Smash, and try to convince her to come to that, but I'd love to try to reunite them before that."

"I agree," Hannah said. She drummed her fingers on the edge of the table for a moment, and then all at once her face lit up with a grin. "I have an idea!"

"What?" Olivia set down her coffee cup in a hurry.

"My friend Caitlin owns a dinner cruise here in Blueberry Bay—Beyond the Sea Dinner Cruise. She just started it last year, so it's still very much a novelty. Do you think we could convince your Aunt Marsha to come to that?"

"I think so!" The other woman grinned. "She appreciates good food, and she loves boats. And since that wouldn't technically be in Blueberry Bay, it might be easier to convince her to go to it."

Hannah laughed. "Sounds good to me! And then we can arrange for my dad to be there as well. And then once we're all there together—the rest of us get a different table and we leave them alone." She grinned.

"Assuming they want to talk to each other." Olivia winked.

"I can feel it in my bones, they will." Hannah grinned. "I'm so excited! What day are you thinking? Soon?"

"How about Friday night?"

"Yes! My dad does run a restaurant where people eat a lot of fish," Hannah laughed, "but he's got a couple of people now who can do the cooking for him. I'll be able to convince him to take a night off. He listens to me."

Olivia winked. "Perfect. My Aunt Marsha doesn't usually go out much, so I'm sure she'll be free."

"So. Friday. We tell them both they deserve a night out, and we take them on the dinner cruise."

"And then they meet."

"And then they meet."

The two girls grinned at each other, their eyes sparkling.

"I'm so glad you found me," Hannah told her newfound friend. "It makes it feel like this whole thing is meant to be."

Olivia beamed at her. "Who knows? Maybe it is."