Chapter 32

She should feel tired. Exhausted even. Jackie had shown up at the back door to Ruth’s Place at six on the dot and had begun mixing her first batch of muffins three minutes later. Over the weekend, she’d practiced until her neighbours pled for mercy, but she learned the secret was to prepare all the dry ingredients the day before, so she all she had to do was dump them into a mixing bowl.

By the time the Tuesday morning seven-o’clockers arrived when the doors opened, they had the choice of blueberry or raisin bran muffins. When Jackie left at nine, the diner also had enough cornbread to last for the next couple days, as well as extra muffins for the next morning. Jackie had a feeling her three-days-a-week agreement with the St. Jameses was going to grow into something more, but she was happy with it for now. One benefit to counteract the early start was the fact she had time to catch a nap before she headed to Virden to sign the paperwork so she could start her new position in a couple weeks.

She was glad work kept her busy. It didn’t give her any time to dwell on her fight with Doug.

Doug, the liar who was planning to ditch her—and the rest of the town, she generously added to his list of transgressions—the whole time they’d been going out. She wouldn’t have minded if he’d been upfront about his intentions.

No, that wasn’t fair. She still would be upset about him leaving because she liked him. But she could have prepared for it. She could have stopped herself from falling so hard. Because she’d definitely fallen, and the landing hurt.

She’d missed Patricia at every turn over the weekend. They were working opposite shifts. But her roommate was home when she returned that evening, and she’d brought backup. Patricia and Scarlett had covered the coffee table in the living room with wine glasses, a platter of French bread rounds and a bowl of spinach dip, a plate with both red and green grapes, and a loaf of banana bread for dessert.

She had the best friends in the world.

They each gave her a hug when she walked through the door. Then they let her get changed into sweat shorts and a T-shirt and settled her on the sofa before the questions started.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Scarlett asked.

“Of course, she wants to talk about it. That’s why we’re here,” Patricia scoffed.

“Maybe she doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Those two could bicker all night. “I don’t mind talking about it, but I don’t know what to say,” Jackie muttered.

“Is it true Doug is planning to leave Hopewell?” Scarlett asked.

“Yes, it’s true. And not in a couple years. As soon as he can. He was never planning to stay. He’s been trying to get out of his contract since Day One. Which means I—all of us—have been nothing more than a distraction. Time killers. Fill-ins until he got his real life back.”

Scarlett refilled her glass. “I don’t think he thinks of you as a distraction, Jackie. I’ve seen the two of you together.”

“You’re sweet, Scarlett. But he admitted as much. As long as I stay in Hopewell, I’m disposable.”

Patricia leaned in for a handful of grapes. “What do you mean, as long as you stay in Hopewell? Did he ask you to go to Winnipeg with him when he leaves?”

“Twice. But I was upfront with him. I don’t want to move to the city. He thinks he can make me happy there, but he won’t even consider the fact I could make him happy here.” A glass of wine had helped her find her words.

The girls winced in sympathy. “Are you sure you don’t want to try city living again?”

Jackie had been thinking about that all day. She really liked Doug. She’d even begun imagining a future with him. But it had been in their hometown, not hours away.

“No,” she finally said. She had a million different reasons, but they all tracked back to the same idea. She wouldn’t be able to be herself in Winnipeg. “What would I have there? No awesome roommate. No friends to celebrate or commiserate with. No job.”

Which reminded her. She hadn’t shared her other news with them. They’d been there through thick and thin during her career as a radiologist, and it had mostly been the thin. Now she had something good to share. “Speaking of jobs, you don’t know, Scarlett. The hospital let me go.”

Scarlett didn’t look shocked.

“I see that news has already made the rounds.”

“I’m so sorry, Jackie. It’s a small town.”

Jackie nodded in understanding. “I shouldn’t have been surprised. Victor Lang and the rest of the hospital have been squeezing my hours since I started.” It was one of the reasons she was so excited about starting in Virden. For the first time in ages, she’d woken up looking forward to work. The feeling had been a pleasant surprise.

“That man is a moron,” Scarlett agreed.

“If Victor Lang ever wants me back, he’s going to pay dearly for the privilege of having me grace the hospital with my presence.”

“But you’re okay now, right?” Patricia asked. “You said you were. I don’t want to have to find a new roommate.”

“It’s all good. I’m not going anywhere,” Jackie assured her. “I was terrified, but my call to Virden went better than I’d hoped. I’m getting more hours there than I was here. Plus, today I started baking for Ruth’s Place, and I have a plan to expand that. I can’t leave Hopewell now. I’m finally starting to get some momentum.”

Scarlett offered a smile at her report. “There is definitely opportunity for your muffins in town. Mom says the diner was cleaned out by lunchtime today.”

Jackie beamed. Hopewell couldn’t handle two restaurants but if she teamed up with Ruth’s Place, they could both make a lot of money. “See? I can make it here. If I leave, I’m back to being broke and unemployed. Doug has a job here. I don’t understand why he thinks it’ll be easier for him in Winnipeg. He never gave Hopewell a chance.”

Patricia set down her wine glass. “That’s the thing, isn’t it? We all want him to stay, some of us more than others, but nobody in town wants him to go.”

“He can go if he doesn’t apologize,” Jackie muttered.

“Fair enough,” Patricia agreed.

“After he apologizes, how can we show him he belongs here?” Scarlett asked.

“I can’t do it. It has to be you and the town. I can’t be a factor.” That was Jackie’s sole stipulation. She thought it was fair. She couldn’t be his only reason to stay, the same way he couldn’t be her only reason to go.

The three women sat in silence.

“Oh!” Jackie said suddenly exclaimed. “Remember what we did for Mayor Wisher?”

When Miranda Wisher first arrived in Hopewell, she’d been hired to audit the town council’s books after some irregularities appeared. The citizens had been so enamoured by the competence of the brilliant woman, they worked together to convince her to not just move to Hopewell, but to move there with her family and run for mayor that same year. It had worked. She and her husband had moved to town and never looked back.

“What are you thinking? Operation Welcome Wagon 2.0?” Scarlett asked.

“Exactly like that.”

They all fell silent. “We could make it work,” Patricia said. “It wouldn’t be hard to get some others on board. All we’d need you to do would be to get him to certain places. Once he’s there, we could handle the rest.”

“Subtly, you two,” Jackie said. She loved her roomie dearly, and she was great at dropping truth bombs and offering support, but when Patricia wanted something, she went at it no holds barred. Scarlett was almost as bad.

“I’ll subtle like I’ve never subtle-d before. We just got our friend back. We want to keep him. Almost as much as you do,” Scarlett added.

“First things first. I’m getting my apology. You two get to work.”