Where Your Heart Is (Lilac Bay Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

and locals. It made me sad any time I thought about it, knowing the restaurant was just sitting there, unused. I could still remember the taste of my grandfather’s coq au vin—
    “Iris?” Posey asked. She had stopped in the doorway, waiting for me. I realized that I had slowed down, lost in my thoughts.
    “I was just thinking about Pops’s coq au vin,” I admitted, and her face broke into a grin.
    “Please let that slip when he comes home,” she said. “I know he’ll make it for you. It’s been ages since we’ve had it.”
    I followed her through the hallway to the manager’s office and collapsed into the chair opposite her desk. As she got to work on the stacks of papers left scattered on the desk, I asked, “When, uh, do we think that might be? Him coming home, I mean.”
    She shot me a worried little frown. “Mimi thinks next month, but…” She shrugged and my stomach clenched.
    “He’s not doing as well as they’d like, is he?”
    She didn’t say anything; she didn’t have to. Our grandfather had suffered a second heart attack six months ago, followed by a stroke three months later. He had been in a long-term care facility on the mainland ever since, relearning how to use the left side of his body. In all of our conversations, my grandmother had been positive about his outlook but even from miles away, I could hear the strain in her voice.
    “I’ll go see him next week,” I said, trying not to think about having to get back on the ferry. Posey nodded, looking sad.
    “I’ll come with you.”
    We were quiet for a moment as she worked. I tried not to think about what would happen if my grandfather didn’t come back to the island soon. It was a strain on my grandmother, I knew, running the café without him. Probably the reason Posey had started taking afternoon shifts after school. I felt a flash of shame. They could always count on her. Me, on the other hand…
    “Are they doing a big dinner tonight?” I asked to change the subject.
    “How’d you guess?” Posey asked, rolling her eyes. “Greg and Sage are even coming.”
    Greg was Posey’s brother, Sage his wife. They had three little kids and lived in a nice little bungalow in Traverse City, the nearest decent-sized city on the mainland. I was torn between excitement at seeing my other cousins and a nagging little stab of unease. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the prospect of them all present for my arrival in town, tail between my legs.
    “Aunt Minny, too.” Her voice was just a touch too casual, and I felt my spine stiffen involuntarily. When I didn’t say anything, she looked up at me, eyes wide and worried. “Is that…okay?”
    “Of course.” I forced a smile onto my face. “I was well aware that my mother lived on the island when I decided to come, Pose. I assumed I would see her sooner than later.”
    “Have you…talked to her?”
    I shrugged. “When I decided to visit.” I busied myself with a stack of recipe books on the counter, wishing she would drop it. I didn’t really want to talk about my mother. It wasn’t like we were estranged, or something dramatic like that. We just…weren’t that close. It wasn’t a big deal. Lots of people aren’t close to their parents.
    And I wished my cousin would stop looking at me like that.
    Before she could say anything else on the topic, there was a knock on the door. A moment later, the door cracked open, and an all too familiar head of dark blond hair filled the space.
    “Posey,” David said, nodding at her. I noticed that he wasn’t smiling, but his expression was far from the scowl he had worn when he saved me on the dock. “I have that order. Can you sign for it?”
    “Oh, sure. Thanks, David.” She jumped up from her chair as he opened the door the rest of the way, handing a clipboard full of papers to her.
    “Both pages,” he instructed.
    Posey scrawled her name, flipped the paper, and scrawled again before handing the clipboard back. “There you