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RADICAL LOVE

Evie: Taking care of yourself?

Jon: I had pie for breakfast.

Evie: I call that a victory.

Jon: Everybody in this town bakes!

Jon: I saved you a slice.

Evie: …

Evie: I’ll think about it.

The lifeline had been cast. Evie only had to grab hold.

Last night, I lay in bed, staring at the hideous wallpaper in Mimi’s house.

The faded floral print reminded me of a dress Evie wore to her first dance in middle school.

As I tried falling asleep, I could hear Mom telling me to stand with my sister.

Me in overalls and her in a dress—the photo hung on the stairs of their house until we sold it.

I stopped on the sidewalk, letting out a deep sigh.

Evie’s comment about me wandering through life hadn’t been wrong, and that stung.

I loved my job… sometimes. Designing book covers scratched my artistic itch, but it wasn’t as fulfilling as I first thought.

Now, I thought of it as a way to afford food and stream the Romance Channel.

I paused in front of Twice-Told Tales, studying Firefly’s downtown.

Along the side, they had converted a mill into storefronts.

Jason’s comic shop occupied the first spot, and somewhere inside, Amanda gave him grief about who knows what.

Almost directly across the green stood Simon’s bistro.

It seemed oddly fitting that they could almost see each other from their windows.

The green down the middle of the town had every component to make it the perfect setting for a movie.

That might be why Chris petitioned to use Firefly for the adaptation of Amanda’s comic.

“Quaint,” I said. Not good, nor bad—just quaint.

Everybody talked about the magic of Firefly.

Once the town got its hooks into them, they couldn’t imagine leaving.

I could see its charm, but calling it home?

I just didn’t understand the allure. The city had options, people, and things to do when sitting inside turned tedious.

Firefly? It didn’t have much of anything.

The bell rang as I pushed my way inside the vintage store; much like Tyler’s library, the space smelled old. Going through the boxes was taking me forever, and I decided I needed to enlist help.

“Gladys, I know you’re hiding,” I called.

“Jonny!” From this angle, it almost looked as if she stepped out of an armoire. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of her oversized wardrobes led to Narnia. It’d fit right into the quirks of Firefly.

She rushed across the room, the floorboards creaking as her arms spread wide. I prepared for the impending hug in 3… 2… “Oomph.” Her vise-like grip and the frizz of her white hair tickled my nose.

“I’m so sorry to hear about Hazel.” It always took a moment for me to connect the dots. To us, she’d always be Mimi, but my grandmother had a life outside of her grandkids.

“Remind me to send over a casserole.”

No point in arguing or explaining; I already had three. At this rate, I wouldn’t need to stop at the grocery store for weeks. Gladys leaned back, studying my face. I might not know the folks in Firefly, but because of the stories Mimi told, they knew me.

“You have her cheeks.” She pinched them to emphasize her point. Boundaries? What were those? Gladys’s lips thinned as she smiled. I had to remind myself I served as a conduit to a woman she once called a friend.

“I wondered if you could give me some help.”

Her eyebrow arched. She drifted around the counter, pulling her cardigan tight before resting on her elbows. “I’m listening.” The sweet little old lady transitioned into a coy businesswoman without effort.

“Mimi’s house is filled with ju?—”

“Watch it!”

I searched for the right word. “Treasures.”

“Better.”

“I was going to get them ready to sell, but I thought it might be easier if somebody with your discerning eye?—”

“Keep sweet talking,” she said with a smirk.

“Would you like first dibs? Tell me what you want, and I can get Bobby to help me bring it over.”

She tried to maintain a poker face, but the gleam in her eye said she was already picking through my grandmother’s house. The thought of cleaning it out didn’t bother me, but throwing it away? I hoped Mimi’s belongings could have a second life, even better if it went to somebody in Firefly.

“Does she still have the grandfather clock she bought in London?”

“London?” The beast of a clock stood in her hallway, the chimes making enough noise to raise the dead. I think she bought it between my freshman and sophomore years. One visit, it was an empty space, and on the next, a massive clock that woke me every morning.

“She insisted on seeing the Crown Jewels. Her obsession started after the royal wedding.”

“My grandmother went to London?” My brain couldn’t make sense of the statement. Mimi didn’t like leaving her house if she could help it. “Are we talking about the same Hazel Olsen?”

Gladys laughed. “What do you think she did between your visits?” She shook her head, smiling the entire time. “Hazel had wanderlust. I always envied her. She got an idea in her head, and somehow, she made it happen. Someday, I’ll tell you about when she tried her hand at deep-sea fishing.”

No. She confused my sweet, mitten-knitting, hot cocoa enthusiast, cookie-baking grandmother with somebody else. Mimi on a boat? The thought of her in bright yellow slickers was a hard pill to swallow.

“Say what you want…” Gladys reached across the counter, poking me in the chest. I flinched, more from surprise than anything else. I glanced down at her finger with a raised brow. Boundaries? Those didn’t exist in Firefly. “I see a little of her in you.”

My biggest adventure involved getting lost and winding up in New Hampshire. Hopping on a plane and traveling to another country? Setting foot on a fishing boat? I could never.

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?” I asked.

“I’ll stop by. I’m sure she still has her blue tea kettle. We can trade stories.”

“I’d like that.”

Knowing Mimi’s spirit remained in the fabric of Firefly warmed my heart. It was one thing to know her belongings would have another lease on life, but knowing Firefly remembered her fondly, I had to fight back the tears.

“My number is on the yellow notepad in her kitchen.” From tears to cracking up, I had to accept that this level of familiarity would be a thing while I was here. Gladys probably knew my grandmother’s house better than me.

“So, what’s going on with you and Tyler?”

I stiffened. “What about him?”

“There are no secrets in Firefly.” Her words were both ominous and accurate. “Seems there might be a little romance between the stacks?”

Gladys had set the trap, fluttering her eyelashes as she feigned innocence.

If I acknowledged the accusation, she’d send out the carrier pigeons, alerting the town to activate the romance brigade.

They’d come rushing, determined to make a love connection.

If I said no, they’d… well, they’d still call out their band of meddling do-gooders.

I watched enough romance movies to know how this went.

“I’ll give a non-committal maybe.” Not a lie, at least not entirely. A fling would make for a fun distraction, but if feelings got involved, it'd only make for a rough goodbye.

Her hand moved down the counter, inching toward her cell phone. Dammit. The moment I left, the whole town would get text messages with the latest gossip.

“Don’t do it, Gladys.”

“Do what?”

I eyed her phone.

“Just checking my… invoices.”

I shook my head as I turned and headed for the door. Could I get to my car before the florist insisted she had an extra bouquet and suggested I give it to somebody special? Or maybe the baker would accidentally have an order that needed delivering to the library?

I barely got outside when my phone buzzed.

“Wow, she is fast.”

Evie: This is your fault.

Photo received. I couldn’t stop laughing at the image of her dressed in business attire, arm protecting a wedge of pie on a plate.

Blueberries stained her lip as she narrowed her eyes, glaring through the phone at me.

Her cheeks bulged as she chewed, the golden glow of kitchen lights casting soft shadows across Evie’s face.

A single photo built a bridge that had long ago fallen away.

The deep blue stain of blueberry juice on her lip meant it had been tasty.

Our parents’ deaths had driven a wedge between us, and over time, it was easier to ignore than engage.

I had friends I considered family. Jason and Amanda were like siblings, and I loved them.

They weren’t Evie. I remained hopeful. One tragedy separated us, but maybe another would bring us together? It’s what Mimi would have wanted.

The thought left me smiling.

Jon: Pie theft?

Tyler: No… maybe next time.

Jon: Cow tipping?

Tyler: You’ll never guess.

Jon: You’re killing me.

Jon: Wait…

Tyler: Not murder!

Jon: That’s what a killer would say!

The grandfather clock chimed nine.

“Why are you so loud?” I stopped in the hallway, watching the swinging pendulum. I didn’t dare stop it. Every hour, on the hour, I jumped. Despite my frazzled nerves, it fit perfectly into Mimi’s eclectic style.

Leaning in, I noticed the tiny letters beneath the black metal hands. “London Time Keepers.” In all the years I visited, I never noticed that detail. Even if I had, I’d have assumed she bought it from Gladys. To think Mimi went on an expedition to see the Queen’s jewels made me smile.

“What other secrets do you have?”

I glanced toward the arch leading into the living room.

Did the couch come from Egypt? Had she traveled to Asia for the oriental rug?

I still couldn’t get over the image of her with a fishing pole battling stormy seas.

It defied everything I knew about her. Or had I underestimated her zeal for life?