moving into the apartment this afternoon, if that’s okay? My dad took the day off, so he’s back at the house packing up my stuff. I think he’s just happy to get rid of me and Homer.”
“Not a problem. Everyone, this is our newest Coffee, Books, and More staff member. Evie Marshall. She’s also going to be renting the apartment upstairs.” She turned to me. “Evie, this is my niece, Jill.”
“I’ve heard so much about you.” Evie reached over and shook my hand. “So excited to be part of the team.”
“I haven’t heard anything about you. Are you Jay’s neighbor’s daughter?”
Toby kicked my chair. “No, she’s not Jay’s neighbor’s daughter. I can’t believe you don’t see the resemblance. Nice to see you again, Evie.”
I considered the woman as she said good morning to Deek and Toby. She was strikingly beautiful. Her dark skin highlighted her green eyes. And her braids were loose today. She used beads in her hair like Deek used color on his blond dreadlocks. She did look like someone, but who? Then it came to me. Olivia. She looked like a grown-up version of Olivia. “You’re related to Sasha?”
The woman laughed. “She’s my cousin. She always ranted on and on about what a great place this was to live and work, so when my divorce was final, South Cove was the first place I thought of to regroup.”
“And Homer is your son? How old is he?” I wondered what it would be like having a kid running around upstairs. I hoped he liked to read.
“Fourteen, but he acts like he’s two.” She laughed and poured herself some coffee. “I’m looking forward to being so close to the beach. He loves the waves.”
“She has a Pomeranian.” My aunt looked at me. “I told her it was okay to bring him along.”
“Oh, Homer is a dog.” Okay, so I am more of a Captain Obvious than my aunt.
“Now that the introductions are done, I wanted to talk about Evie’s training. She’ll be taking over the midday shift while Harrold and I are on our cruise next month. Deek, you’ll be closing. Will that interfere with your classes?”
“Only one. I can’t close on Wednesdays.” He looked at me, but Toby spoke up.
“I can close for you those days. Just put me on the schedule.”
And that’s how the meeting went. Everyone was thoughtful and supportive. Even though I knew it wouldn’t last, I kind of liked this gentler version of our staff meetings. Aunt Jackie didn’t do her typical minitraining of things they already knew. But she did read the reversion letter of the increased dues out loud to the group. And Bill had put in an apology from the Council to our store and our employees.
“I heard that Alice Carroll resigned her position,” Aunt Jackie said after folding the letter back into the envelope.
“Yeah, but she said it was because she was moving her real estate business. I think having a DUI in the town where you need to sell houses puts a question mark on your character,” Deek added his bit of gossip.
“And I was the one who caught her,” Toby crowed. “You’re all welcome. ‘Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead.’”
“I’m just glad the shop’s not being attacked. I was expecting a swarm of locusts next.” I leaned back in my chair and sent up a silent thank you to Bill for his assistance.
After they’d left, I pulled out the box that had been under the counter. Aunt Jackie’s first wedding memory book, a dried flower, a picture of me from my first wedding. And, as I opened the jewelry box, a set of worn wedding rings in gold. Uncle Ted’s was a plain wide band. My aunt’s rings were a matched set, with a small diamond and three even smaller stones on the wedding ring.
“We were going to replace the stone for our twentieth anniversary,” my aunt said from behind me. She leaned on my shoulder and reached around to touch the rings. “But he didn’t make it. I know some people let the rings go with them, but your Uncle Ted wasn’t in that casket.”
I looked at her sharply. “He wasn’t?”
She shook her head. “Once his spirit was gone, I barely recognized the body at the funeral. Don’t look at me that way. I know it was your uncle’s body. But his spirit, it had moved on.”
“Are you sure you don’t want these?” I held up the ring box.
She stepped away and looked down at the ring