Page 78 of Skipping Stones

Linney looked around the booth. There were several other KnitWorkers there. “Sure,” she told Derek, and she took off her apron. “I’ll be back soon,” she called over her shoulder.

Ivy slipped her little hand into Linney’s and Derek chased Leo as they headed down to the lake’s edge. Derek opened a package of kettle corn he’d bought and they shared it as they watched the children play. Linney wandered down to the shore and picked up a flat stone. She flicked her wrist, expecting the stone to skip nicely on the flat lake surface, but it hit the water awkwardly and sank. She tried again. Same result.

“You’ve lost your touch,” Derek joked, coming up behind her. He sent a stone skittering across the lake.

Linney tried again. Kerplunk. “I think it’s my eye,” she said and Derek suddenly felt guilty. “I can’t get the angle right. Just one more thing to relearn.” She was more matter-of-fact and less angry about it now. Therapy was helping, she realized.

* * *

Red, gold, and orange leaves were tumbling down in the wind when Derek saw Kirsten drop Linney at her house the following week. The two women hugged. But instead of going into her house, Linney started walking over to his. She had something in her hand and a huge grin on her face. He met her at the front door.

Linney waved the paper in front of him excitedly. “I got it! I borrowed Kirsten’s car. I can drive again!”

“Why didn’t you ask me? I would have taken you.”

“A girl has to have a few secrets,” she said slyly. “My field of vision tests came back last week and my ophthalmologist signed off.” Linney hadn’t banged into anything recently either and she knew her brain was finally adapting. “Kirsten and Anna have been letting me practise on their cars. But, if I didn’t pass, I didn’t want you to know it.”

“Still,” he said, “I’d have liked to have taken you.”

“You can still help. How would you like to take me car shopping?”

* * *

Linney bought an SUV. It was a bit bigger than she needed, but it was high off the ground, which made it easy to get into. An upgrade package gave her both front and back cameras that would alert her if she got too close to something. It was a small price to pay to help compensate for her vision.

But a new driver’s license wasn’t the only secret Linney was keeping from Derek. She’d had several more discussions with the owners of Page Turners and she thought she knew where they’d gone wrong. She was convinced she could make the bookstore a thriving part of the community again. What surprised her was how much she wanted to do it.

“Would it be weird if I talked with your parents?” she asked Kirsten as she sat on her friend’s couch one evening. Tuesday dinner and drinks had become a regular occurrence for the two single women and this time it was upstairs from the bookstore. Kirsten poured wine into their glasses, chosen to accompany the charcuterie board she’d put together. “I think I can do this, but I’d love to have their input. They made Page Turners so special and I’m sure they’d have good advice.”

“They’d be thrilled! But are you sure you want to take this on? I thought you’d probably be in Toronto by summertime and just come and visit us on weekends.”

Linney took a long sip of wine. “I think I do. I have loads of ideas, and I’m comfortable here. Even when I was home last summer, it was hard to leave.”

Kirsten put down her glass and gave Linney a hug. “Welcome home.”

“Don’t celebrate too soon—there’s still a lot to sort out and it might fall apart. But I’m really excited. I want to bring in better stock, have a children’s room, do author readings, and hold other events. I think with the right combination I can bring traffic from Bridgeport and maybe beyond. I have some great ideas about partnering with our old school and?—”

“Stop!” Kirsten laughed. “You’re making me dizzy with all these ideas.”

“Sorry, I just get excited when I think about it.” Linney popped a cherry tomato into her mouth. “But I would like to talk to your folks. Maybe they’ll temper my enthusiasm.”

But that wasn’t the case and with their encouragement, Linney was even more excited than ever. She crunched all the numbers with the help of the local accountant. It was a big decision—not just financially, but also in how it would tie her to Silver Lake—so she talked it over with Dr. Aslan as well, but she was convinced this was the right decision. She was almost ready to make an offer. All she needed now was a lawyer!

* * *

The lawyer next door had his own secret. A new stenographer in Bridgegrove had caught Derek’s eye when he’d been in court recently. They’d spoken several times outside the courthouse and he learned Sharon was a single parent of two, like him. They shared a few stories, and he surprised himself one day by asking her to join him for a cup of coffee, and when that went well, for a dinner date.

Nervously, he pulled a blazer on over a button-down shirt and jeans. “Be good for Gabby, okay,” he told the children. Danny had dropped his daughter off to babysit a few minutes earlier.

Conversation with Sharon was harder than Derek expected. It had been so easy at the courthouse and he thought they might have a lot in common. But tonight, he was having to work hard at it. Sharon spent most of their appetizers and main course complaining about her ex-husband. Derek thought her ex sounded like a real jerk, but it wasn’t the conversation he was hoping to have with her. When their dessert arrived, he tried to change the subject. “So what do you do for fun in Bridgegrove?” he asked.

“Well, I haven’t been able to do much since my ex left,” Sharon started. And then she was off again complaining about child support and visitation. Derek found his mind wandering, and he was more than happy to pay the cheque and walk Sharon to her car, thanking her for a lovely evening. He made no promise to call. He was beginning to think he’d never get to a third date with a woman. As he drove home, his mind drifted to his next-door neighbour. Leo had extracted a promise from her to come for pancakes tomorrow. At least that would be easy.

* * *

Easy might have been an overstatement. Derek watched Linney dodge the raindrops as she made her way over for the promised breakfast while he tried to supervise the chaos. Leo stood on a stool in front of the stove with a spatula in his hands, his nervous father by his side. Ivy was perched on a matching stool, enthusiastically stirring frozen orange juice concentrate and water with a wooden spoon. There was pancake batter on the counter next to empty egg shells and Ivy was dangerously close to splashing sticky orange juice out of the pitcher. Derek hovered over Leo, making sure he didn’t burn the pancakes—or himself.

“Good morning everyone!” Linney called out as she let herself in. She surveyed the chaos. “Now, Ivy, I think that juice is done. How would you like to help me set the table?” She took the pitcher and wiped the outside before putting it in the fridge and then handing placemats to the five-year-old.