The Inn At Seagrove - Rachel Hanna Page 0,40

way one other time in my life. Honestly, I never thought an old bird like me would find love again, but then there it was."

Janine smiled. "Nobody deserves it as much as you do, Dixie."

"Well, thank you, honey," Dixie said, squeezing both of their hands. "But there's more."

"More? Are you getting married?" Julie asked, a hopeful smile on her face.

"Oh, no! I said there would only be one man I would ever marry, and I meant that. But, Harry and I have made a decision."

"What kind of decision?"

"Well, neither one of us is getting any younger, and we both have Parkinson's, so we would like to do some traveling before this silly disease slows us down. Harry owns a really nice motorhome, so we're going to be taking a long road trip after the first of the year."

"Dixie, that sounds so exciting!" Janine said.

"I'm worried about the bookstore. Julie, you can't run it all by yourself."

Julie smiled. "Don't worry. We will work it out in plenty of time."

"I don't know what I would do without you ladies. Having you here has given me so much motivation to live my life. For years, I just existed, thinking there was no second act for me, but then I saw that maybe it was possible. I saw you come here to a totally new town, Julie, and build a life for yourself. And then I saw you build a whole business for yourself, Janine. This world is full of second chances, and I've decided that I deserve one of my own."

Julie and Janine stood up simultaneously, each of them walking to Dixie’s side. They leaned in and gave her a big group hug.

"Before you leave town with this guy, you know we need to meet him, right?" Julie asked.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Dixie said, laughing.

"So, let me get this straight. You're not going to be coming to meetings anymore?" Meg asked. They’d been attending them together for the past week.

Darcy, who was decked out in a pair of ripped blue jeans, high heel boots and a black oversized sweater, leaned against the wall of the bakery.

"Those meetings just weren't for me. I'm so glad they're helping you, though. But, we made a big decision at our house."

"Oh yeah? What kind of decision?"

"Well, my husband is going to become a stay at home dad so that I can go back to work."

"But I thought he came here for a job transfer?"

They moved closer to the counter, where they were planning to order strawberry cupcakes today. She would give her grandmother one thing, she could bake like a professional.

"He did. But he hates it. So, he's decided to go back to what he loves which is web design. He can work from home doing that, and he's already got a couple of clients ready to sign up. So, now I'm going to be on the hunt for a part-time job. That will get me out of the house and make me feel more human again, I think."

"You don't like staying home with the baby?"

Meg couldn't imagine that. She wanted to be with Vivi all the time, especially now that her hormones were much more balanced.

"It's not that I don't want to be there with Hatcher. I adore him. But, I watched my mother lose her identity when she stayed at home with us. She had hopes and dreams and career aspirations that she just gave up. And then when we all left to go to college and got married, she was left there trying to figure out who she was. It was really hard for her. I don't want that to be me one day."

Meg wondered if she should worry about that, but she had watched her mother do both. Although she had been a stay at home mother, she had built a successful online boutique when the girls got older that she eventually let go when she moved to Seagrove.

"I'm happy for you. And I hope you find the perfect part-time job," Meg said with a smile as they walked up to the counter.

Her grandmother wiped a stray hair off of her forehead, blowing up toward it to get it off of her face. She looked haggard and tired.

"Grandma, are you okay?”

"No. I am most certainly not okay. Trying to run this place by myself is going to put me in an early grave," she said. "Maybe I bit off more than I can chew."

Meg started to worry. Her grandmother never admitted defeat.

"Are