A Single Thread (Cobbled Court) Read Online Free PDF Page A

so they closed. Then, too, I was very involved with my son, his school, and I volunteered for all kinds of community things.” I shrugged.
    “It’s no one’s fault but mine, but I eventually kind of gave up on my dream and, in a way, on myself. I don’t know when it happened, but it did. Now I find myself nearing fifty and newly single, and when I saw that empty storefront today, I knew…I just knew…” Wendy’s eyes were fixed on me as I spoke. Suddenly I felt very foolish, telling my life story to a stranger.
    “Well, you know what they say—‘Better late than never’!” I laughed, but this time Wendy didn’t join in. Instead, she leaned forward, making the springs on the desk chair squeak, and placed her hand on my knee.
    “Evelyn, believe me, I’m happy to make this deal, but you seem like a nice lady. You need to think this through. You’ve just gone through a divorce. Maybe this isn’t the time for you to be making such a big decision or moving to a town where you don’t know anyone. At a time like this, you need friends around, old friends who know you and what you’ve been through. People who can support you.
    “This is a huge change you’re contemplating, and an expensive one. I don’t know what your financial situation is, but if you’re like most recent divorcees, then this is the worst possible time for you to be taking a big financial risk. I know what I’m talking about. You think I’d be sitting in an office trying to sell real estate at six-thirty on a Thursday night if I didn’t? At my age, I should be sitting on a beach in Florida, calling my children and nagging them because they never come see me.” She snorted, but halfheartedly. Her eyes became serious again.
    “And even if you weren’t reeling from the effects of your divorce, be practical. New Bern isn’t big enough to support a quilt shop. You won’t last six months.”

3
Abigail Burgess Wynne
     
    P eople like me.
    I’m aware that some might consider this a less-than-humble statement, perhaps even arrogant. But really, humility is an overrated quality, don’t you think? Besides, in my case, it’s true. People do like me. They always have, and if I’d ever harbored any doubts on the subject (though I never really did), they were assuaged last night.
    Yesterday, March 14, was my sixty-second birthday. Franklin Spaulding, who has been my attorney for decades, hosted a party in my honor at the Grill on the Green. Positively everyone I knew attended, plus a few people I didn’t: the pastor and deacons of the Congregational Church (whose new fellowship hall I financed and whose services I attend on major holidays), the directors of the Wynne Memorial Library, the County Women’s Shelter, the New Bern Historic Preservation Society, the Nature Preserve Foundation, the Concert Association, and assorted other community organizations that count on me for advice and contributions, as well as the various board members of those organizations, not to mention the many merchants who own the antique shops, art galleries, design studios, clothing boutiques, jewelers, restaurants, and bookstores that I frequent, plus all the people I know through my memberships in the tennis, golf, and equestrian clubs, and, of course, the spouses, partners, and significant others of all the aforementioned.
    There were so many guests that the party completely took over the restaurant, which might have proved frustrating to other prospective diners, but I don’t think so. It’s still too chilly for tourists, especially on a Thursday before the weekenders are due, so the only people who would have been planning to eat at the Grill were locals, and, as I say, nearly all the locals were at the party.
    Of course, I’m aware that all the party guests I’ve listed had a vested interest, if not an obligation, in making an appearance at the celebration. I’m the wealthiest woman in New Bern, possibly the wealthiest woman in this part of the state,