The Moonglow Sisters - Lori Wilde Page 0,1
must figure things out for themselves. I can’t spoon-feed them. If I could fix what went wrong, I would have done it already.”
Darynda held up the letter. “You think a letter is enough to change minds?”
“I’m hoping.” Helen crossed her fingers.
“Those girls can be stubborn.”
“I know. It’s why I’m doing things this way.”
“They’d want to be with you during the surgery. They’ll feel guilty that they weren’t there.”
“Maybe a little guilt is what they need to shake them awake. I hate to resort to manipulation, but I’ve stayed out of it for too long. It seems they can’t or won’t fix this unless I give them a push.”
“What if”—Darynda paused, gulped, lowered her voice—“you don’t come out of surgery?”
Helen smiled gently at the woman she’d known for fifty years. “At the very least they must deal with one another to handle my estate.”
“And if you make it?”
“Then perhaps the four of us can finish the quilt together.”
Darynda was full-on crying now, tears slipping down her face in a steady stream. “I hate cancer.”
“C’mon.” Helen patted her arm. “Don’t cry. You’ll stain the letter.”
Darynda heaved a heavy sigh. “Oh you, practical as always.”
Helen leaned over the quilt to hug her friend, the effort taking all her strength. “Call them when I go into surgery. Not a minute before.”
“They’ll be so mad at me.”
“Tell them it’s my wishes.”
They’d been going around and around about this since her family physician had given Helen the bad news. Darynda had wanted to call the girls immediately, but Helen knew her granddaughters.
“What if Madison doesn’t come?” Darynda fretted.
“She will.”
“What if we can’t find Shelley?”
“You will.”
“Are you sure?”
Helen met Darynda’s eyes. “You’ve never let me down. Not once.”
“I wish I had your faith.”
“Those girls are all so different, but they have one thing in common.”
“What’s that?”
“Chapman blood runs through their veins and Moonglow Cove is home. They’ll return.”
Darynda looked dubious, but said, “I’ve chosen to believe that you’ll pull through and assume you’ll be here to whip them into shape.”
“I like your optimism.” Helen cupped her friend’s cheek. “But just in case it all goes south, you know what to do.”
Then she sank back against the Adirondack chair, pulled the quilt to her chin, closed her eyes to the sound of the ocean, and dreamed of three little girls building sandcastles on the beach.
Chapter Two
Gia
STRAIGHT GRAIN: In quilting, the threads running parallel to the selvage in a woven fabric. Straight grain is the most stable with the least amount of stretch.
TOWNSFOLK CALLED THEM the Moonglow sisters. In part because they’d come to live at the Moonglow Inn, in Moonglow Cove, Texas, at the end of Moonglow Boulevard when Madison was nine; Shelley, six; and little Gia, just three years old.
But there was more to the nickname than locale.
They bore the noble heritage of the town’s founding family, Chapman by blood, if not by label. Descending from the town’s original forbearers lent them prestige, heft, and mythological clout.
And they were orphans, having lost both mother and father, banding together in a tight little unit, watching after and taking up for one another. Despite the six-year age difference between oldest and youngest, they went everywhere together.
Climbing on that odd bicycle built for three Grammy Chapman bought for them, they pedaled up and down the seawall for hours. Blond hair blew in the Gulf breezes as their legs pumped in unison. They’d stop for frozen Italian ices at Mario’s, waving and smiling to tourists, and feed the seagulls who snatched bread tidbits from their hands and followed them, cawing for more.
They linked arms and skipped along the beach. Shelley, the more adventuresome sister, was always nearest the ocean. Gia, the smallest, stayed in the middle, and Madison, the fierce protector, on the outer side. They fished off Paradise Pier, legs dangling, humming tunes of the day, and bringing their catch home to Grammy, who cooked it up for guests at the old Victorian manor. They flew kites, in three unique colors and designs, swooping and diving, soaring and dancing against the prevailing wind rolling off the Gulf of Mexico.
When they got older, they took beach jobs. Madison, responsible and bossy, was a lifeguard. Gia, easygoing and generous, taught kiteflying lessons. Shelley, fun-loving and harum-scarum, bounced from waitress to souvenir vendor to tour guide at the Seafaring Museum. All three helped at the Moonglow Inn, serving in the B&B as housekeepers, bellhops, and concierges.
They looked like moonglow—shimmering, golden-haired, luminous. There was magic to them. A softness. A shining. A warm, gentle