Page 28 of The Havenport Collection

Cecelia

“ O oh. I’m so glad you’re here. I hope you don’t mind I invited Emily. She was in the store yesterday asking about you, so I told her about our Monday breakfasts.”

Nora gestured to Emily who was standing at the counter.

She smiled and waved. “I just dropped my kids off at camp and I am dying for some adult time.” Emily looked casually beautiful in some kind of expensive looking sweatpants that may have actually been pajamas, a T-shirt that said “Wine Mom,” and a messy bun on the top of her head.

Regardless, she made slouchy mom chic work for her.

Since Nora worked crazy hours in her shop, and my schedule at the brewery tied me up during nights and weekends, we decided to make Monday morning breakfast at the diner our weekly catch-up time.

Nora’s store was closed on Mondays, as were most businesses in downtown Havenport, so it was a great time to get our fix of caffeine and girl talk.

We found a booth and flagged Jackie over. Jackie was a helmet-haired septuagenarian who took no shit and suffered no fools. She had owned Jackie’s Diner & Newsstand with her husband, Joe, since the 1970s, and knew everyone and everything that happened in Havenport.

She arrived wearing a frilly powder-blue apron and clutching a coffee pot. “Hello, girls. I am so happy to see you again. And Emily. You look lovely. When are you going to bring those beautiful kids here to see us?”

“Soon, Jackie. I promise.”

“Good. Nora, sweetie. That nice Thompson girl was in here yesterday with her mother. What’s her name?”

Jackie turned around and let out an ear-piercing scream. “Joe. Joe!”

“Yeah,” Joe answered from the kitchen.

“Joe, what’s the name of the Thompson girl who came in yesterday with Marie?”

Joe shouted from the counter. “The one who had the weird mole as a kid?”

“Oh, Jesus.” She turned to us. “I swear he’s senile.”

“No, Joe. The other one, the younger sister.”

Joe shrugged. “I don’t know.” And went back to his paper.

Emily hesitated. “Violet Thompson?”

“Yes, that’s the one.” Jackie slammed the coffee pot on the table for emphasis, and I was terrified it was going to shatter.

It looked like it was manufactured in the early eighties.

“Nice girl. Married a bad guy and had a couple of kids. She’s divorced and is feeling pretty sorry for herself.

I told her to come down to your store and you would get her some new duds to make her feel good. ”

Nora nodded, sipping her coffee.

“Keep an eye out for her, okay?”

“Of course, Jackie. I will give her the friends and family discount too.”

“Attagirl. Your grandma taught you right.” Jackie was the lifelong bestie of Nora’s grandmother, Nonna Rossi. They had been knitting, drinking gin, and gossiping together for many decades.

Jackie filled up our coffee mugs and went back to yelling at Joe behind the counter.

The place had changed a lot since I was a kid.

The newsstand area had shrunk to a corner, understandable with the death of print and all.

Gone were the racks and racks of international magazines and newspapers and a whole wall devoted to comic books.

Instead they had expanded the luncheonette into a full-fledged diner with tables and booths in addition to the counter.

Back in high school, Nora and I would come in here, read fashion magazines, and eat piles of grilled cheese while gossiping about boys.

It has always been our special place where we could just let go and be ourselves.

Jackie and Joe had known us since we were born, and I loved them like extra grandparents.

The menu had also changed to reflect the Havenport spirit. The old standbys were still there. But now you could also get avocado toast and tofu scramble with your corned beef hash or tuna melt.

The bells above the door jingled, but I didn’t look up from my menu.

“Don’t be mad, but I invited your sister.”

I popped my head up. “What? Maggie? Nora, you should have told me.”

“I’m telling you now. When your mom called me thinking you were dead, I texted her. Given your recent sex fest with the hot brewer, you need all the feminine wisdom you can get.”

Maggie strolled in, immaculately dressed in a blue sheath dress without a hair out of place. She warmly greeted Jackie and Joe and waved to some of her patients seated at the counter.

She plopped into the booth beside Emily, in a most un-Maggie-like manner.

She removed her sunglasses, and I could see dark circles under her eyes. “Would you judge me if I ordered a mimosa? I’m not on until one p.m.”

We all shook our heads and decided to join her. Monday breakfast was nothing if not a tolerant and open-minded event.

Nora put her menu down. “Now that we’re all here, it’s time to start talking, Ms. Cecelia. Did you have sex with Liam?”

“Nora, keep your voice down.”

“She totally did. Look at her face. Her skin is glowing,” Emily said, while stirring ten sugar packets into her coffee.

Maggie was massaging hand sanitizer into her palms. She always had several varieties in her designer purse. “We all knew it would happen. I’m surprised he didn’t drag you behind a brewing tank during Oktoberfest.” She raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow at me, and I shrank back into my seat.

They were all insane. “What? You guys are exaggerating.”

“Did you seriously not notice how that man looks at you? It is incredible.” Emily giggled into her coffee.

Nora jumped in, “I would kill for someone to look at me that way.”

Maggie looked strangely sad. Since coming home, I had noticed that she seemed off.

I had no idea what was going on, but I could see she was hurting, and I wanted to help her.

I wanted her to confide in me, trust me to help and support her.

But I also knew she would never say anything in front of Nora and Emily.

“Guys,” Nora said, “let’s focus. Skip the true love bullshit. Let’s talk about the fucking. How was his dick?”

“Nora!”

“What? I assume he’s packing. But I want all the deets.” She took a big swig of mimosa and gave me her best innocent face.

“I’m not sharing anything.”

“Come on. Use your hands and just show us.”

“No. This is embarrassing. Jackie and Joe can hear you!”

Of course Jackie chose that exact moment to walk up to take our order. Pen poised on her pad, she was completely nonplussed. “Nothing I haven’t heard before, sweetie. You get some. You deserve it after the way that bastard ex of yours treated you, what with the dick pics and all.”

“How does everyone know my business?”

“Because this is Havenport,” everyone chanted together.

We turned our attention to placing orders with Jackie. Maggie ordered a second mimosa, which was extremely strange. Maggie almost never drank, and she certainly never day drank. I needed to get her alone and find out what was going on with her.

Jackie took our menus. “Do you need a coffee warm-up? Of course you do. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

Silence descended over the table. I wasn’t going to speak first. I prayed Emily would bust out some charming anecdote about her wild kids.

But I should have known better. Nora was like a dog with a bone. “So how was the sex?”

“Don’t mind me, girls,” Jackie said, pouring coffee.

I sat and stewed in my humiliation for a moment. I loved everyone here, but I forgot how nothing was ever private in this damn town. For the first time in weeks, I missed my anonymous New York life.

“And,” Jackie said, still pouring, “it’s an important question, Cecelia. You are all young and beautiful. Don’t waste your lives with men who can’t deliver in the sack.” She had raised her voice and was on the verge of shouting. I looked around and didn’t recognize anyone here, thank God.

“I’ll drink to that!” Nora said, raising her glass. Emily toasted her and giggled.

“Trust me. Joe might be a moron, but he knows how to treat his lady right in the bedroom, which is why we’ve been married forty-nine years.

” We all laughed uncomfortably, but it wasn’t surprising.

Jackie and Joe screamed at each other for twenty-three hours a day, but everyone in town had a story about how much they secretly loved each other.

After she walked away with the coffee pot, Nora whispered, “My brother Dominic worked here in high school. Said he used to catch Jackie and Joe making out in the back office all the time. Said they would scream at each other and then go at it like teenagers.”

Maggie sighed audibly and looked like she was going to burst into tears. I needed to intercept her second mimosa. She was a lightweight and a very dramatic drunk, if memory served.

“Orgasm count?”

“Stop, you are embarrassing me.”

“Oh, so it was bad?” Nora took a sip of mimosa and gave me a pitying look. Emily held my hand, as if offering moral support.

“Oh my God, you guys, it was amazing, okay? Incredible. He is a sex god and I might be obsessed with him. Are you happy now?”

Nora and Emily held up their hands for high-fives. I reluctantly returned them. Maggie just sat there looking miserable.

“So, like, two then?” Nora pushed.

“Derek’s record is three. If you beat that I will pretty much hate you forever,” Emily said smugly.

“In one round? Damn, Derek. After three kids he can still throw down? I’m impressed.” Nora reached out to offer Emily a high-five.

Emily blushed and beamed. If she wasn’t such a beautiful, kind person I would punch her.

I needed to end this conversation. “Let’s just say that it was a respectable amount and leave it at that.”

“You are no fun.”

Emily made a pouty face. I hadn’t pegged her for a pervy girl like Nora, but hey, people surprise you. “Anyway…so are you guys together now? I thought you weren’t staying.”

“I’m not. I’m going back to New York in January. We’re just having fun. Seeing where things go. He doesn’t want anything serious because of the brewery, and I just got out of a long-term relationship.”

“So you are friends with benefits?”

“No. I don’t think so. I hate that term. We just decided to keep it casual.”

“You need to have an RDT—relationship defining talk.” Nora nodded sagely.

“First of all, we are not in high school anymore. And second of all, no. I had fun, I am having fun. I have spent years of my life having no fun. So I am not going to stop the fun or change the fun. I just want sexy fun.” I sounded like a spoiled toddler, but after years of hard work and disappointment, it was nice to have something special, even if it was just temporary.

I certainly wasn’t going to jeopardize this.

It went against my very nature as a cautious planner, but I loved the idea of just having fun with Liam.

“Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that.” I took a swig of Maggie’s second mimosa to try and distract from this conversation.

Maggie sat quietly stirring her coffee. “I think you’re going to marry this guy.” She didn’t look up, just sat and stared into the mug. I had not expected that from her.

“Maggie, stop. That’s not going to happen.”

“I think you will. He seems obsessed with you. And he is exactly the type of guy you need.”

I stared at her.

“Look at you—starting a new job and totally crushing it. You got up in that German outfit and danced with the brass band. I have never seen you like this. You are so confident and positive and full of life. Liam Quinn is good for you. This job is good for you. And this town is good for you.” She finished her monologue and went back to idly stirring her coffee.

Nora looked at me with eyes the size of saucers. “Damn, Mags, you are permanently invited to Monday breakfast.”

Maggie laughed. I could tell she was finally enjoying herself a bit. My sister did not loosen up often, but I could see it happening slowly.

I would not have guessed that this combination of women would work, but what did I know?

Maggie and Nora knew each other well, but I didn’t get the sense they had ever hung out in my absence.

I assumed Maggie forgot that Nora shared everything with everyone and generally held nothing back.

Emily wasn’t batting an eyelash, so there must be a lot going on beneath that sunny preschool teacher exterior. But she was fitting in and having fun.

I was suddenly overcome with gratitude for these pervy, snarky women. I felt a lot less alone knowing they had my back.