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Unraveling the Pieces

KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

My mother had been a firm believer that the past should remain in the past. Maybe she was right. Maybe not. But Rhonda Garfield kept the identity of my father a secret that she took to her grave three years ago.

I glanced at the black-and-white photo in my hand — my mother holding a baby in her arms, sitting beside a good-looking fellow on a beach, and the name Peter Maxwell written on the back — and I let out a sigh because I was no further ahead in figuring out whether perhaps this man was my father.

The name Peter Maxwell had never come up when I was a child. Whenever I questioned who and where my father was, the only answer my mother would give me was that he had died and that was the end of the conversation. After a while I simply stopped asking.

"Yoo hoo, Petra," I heard Mavis Anne call from downstairs. "Are you busy?"

I smiled as I stood up and replaced the photo in the box I had found after my mother passed away.

"No. I'll be right down," I said, heading to the staircase.

I had arrived at Koi House for an extended stay the day before. This gorgeous Victorian structure had been the childhood home of Mavis Anne Overby and her siblings, David and Emmalyn. Mavis Anne now resided next door with her brother and his partner, Clive. Emmalyn had passed away years ago in a tragic car accident at age twenty-eight, leaving behind a daughter, Yarrow.

The house had then stood empty until Chloe Radcliffe Wagner discovered it when she relocated from Cedar Key to Ormond Beach. When my best friend, Isabelle, was going through difficult times, Chloe was in the process of marrying Henry Wagner. She invited Isabelle and her daughter, Haley, to relocate from Atlanta and stay at the house while Isabelle attempted to start over. Call it fate, but my best friend ended up meeting the love of her life last year and was now married to Chadwick Price. So Koi House had once again become empty. I wasn't going through a crisis, nor did I need a place to stay. I owned my house in Jacksonville, had a well-paying job I could do from home, and although my social life was lacking, I could have stayed put. But I was lonely. I loved visiting Isabelle in Ormond Beach. During the past year I'd gotten to know Mavis Anne, Yarrow, and the women at the yarn shop. And when Mavis Anne and Isabelle suggested I stay at Koi House for an extended visit, I decided to accept the offer.

"Hey," I said, walking into the kitchen to find Mavis Anne removing dead leaves from the begonia plant on the table.

"How are you, sweetie?" she asked, and I found myself enveloped in a bear hug. "Did you sleep well your first night at Koi House?"

I smiled. "I did. Very well. I was just going through some of the boxes that I brought with me and getting settled in."

"Oh, good. Well, the reason I came by is because we're having leftover turkey this evening for dinner. David and Clive insist that you join us, especially since you missed Thanksgiving this year. Yarrow will be with us and Isabelle, Chadwick, and Haley are coming too."

I had been busy packing and getting things ready at my house in Jacksonville so I could leave my home in the capable hands of a property manager; having a turkey dinner two days before hadn't been important.

"That sounds great," I said. "And I'll enjoy that turkey so much more sharing it with all of you. So yes, I'll be there. What time?"

"Come over around five-thirty. Cocktails on the patio first, of course."

Lotte must have realized we had company and came running into the kitchen.

Mavis Anne smiled as she bent down to scoop my Yorkie into her arms and place a kiss on the dog's forehead.

"And of course Lotte is invited," she said. "She's such a sweet, well-mannered girl."

I laughed. "Thanks. Lotte accepts your invitation. We'll be there."

"Okay." She placed Lotte on the floor. "I have to get going. Louise is picking me up shortly. She has to drop off towels at the animal shelter and then we're going out for lunch. Oh, would you like to join us?"

"Thanks, but no. I have some more chores to finish around here, but why is Louise dropping off towels at a shelter?"

Mavis Anne waved a hand in the air. "Oh, you know Louise. Always getting involved in something. About a month ago she began volunteering at the local shelter. They can always use towels for the animals, so she cleaned out her closet to donate her older towels."

"What a nice thing to do," I said.

Mavis Anne nodded. "Okay. I'll see you later today."

I was heading back upstairs when my phone rang. I answered to hear Isabelle's voice.

"Hey, my BFF, all settled in?" she said.

"Not quite, but I'm getting there. I didn't bring that much with me, so I'm mostly sorting clothes in the closet and bureau. What's up?"

"I just wanted to be sure that Mavis Anne contacted you about dinner this evening."

"She just left and I accepted. I'm looking forward to seeing the three of you."

"Same here. Great. Then I'll see you at Mavis Anne's later. Love you."

"Love you too," I said before hanging up.

I walked into my bedroom and smiled. I had a lovely home in Jacksonville, but Koi House was special. Picturesque and filled with vintage charm. My room here had a turret that jutted out to overlook the front driveway and French doors that led outside to a small balcony. According to both Chloe and Isabelle, who had also stayed in this bedroom, the spirit of Emmalyn Overby still lingered in this room. I had to admit that the temperature was always a few degrees cooler than the rest of the house, but I had no belief in ghosts. Even though Mavis Anne insisted that Koi House had a soul and was at its happiest when inhabited by people.

I shook my head and smiled before I resumed getting my room in order.

* * *

Carrying Lotte across the lawn to the gate that separated the two houses, I could hear voices coming from the back patio of David and Clive's home.

"Hey," Isabelle said, jumping up to hug me. "You're here. Oh, Petra, I'm so happy you're going to be living close by."

I laughed and returned her hug. "For a while anyway."

"For a very long while," I heard Mavis Anne say as Chadwick and Haley came to embrace me.

"Right," Haley said, as she took Lotte from my arms. "You can't leave us, Petra. Ginger would miss Lotte."

I laughed as I watched Lotte reacquaint herself with Haley's small dog.

"See," Haley said. "They're BFFs."

I marveled at how fast my best friend's daughter was growing up. Having recently turned fifteen, she'd had a couple of difficult years with the death of her grandfather, the divorce of her parents, and bullying at her school in Atlanta. But Haley had managed to come through all of it more self-assured and even more mature than before. She was a daughter to be proud of.

"Here we go," I heard Clive say and looked up to see him walk onto the patio carrying a tray of champagne glasses. "We need to toast Petra and welcome her to Ormond Beach."

When everybody had a flute, David raised his and said, "Here's to Petra. May you be so happy here that you'll never want to leave."

All of us laughed, and I felt moisture sting my eyes. Growing up an only child with a single parent had been lonely. Isabelle always said that I was her rock, when in truth she had been mine. Always there for me since we first met in kindergarten, through high school and then college. And because of her, I had acquired this group of people who made me feel welcome.

"Thanks," I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. I took a sip of champagne and looked around. "Where's Chloe and Henry?"

"Oh, they took the dogs and rented a place in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. They'll be back tomorrow," Isabelle said.

"Yeah, isn't that romantic?" Haley nudged my arm. "They retreated to the mountains."

I laughed. "It is," I agreed.

We sat around the table and conversation flowed. Isabelle and Mavis Anne caught me up on the news at the yarn shop.

Just then Yarrow came through the house onto the patio. She was out of breath and her cheeks were red.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. The traffic coming over the bridge was horrible," she explained.

She bent to kiss Mavis Anne and accepted the glass of champagne that Clive extended in her direction.

"Thanks. Cheers," she said, lifting the flute. "What have I missed?"

We laughed as Mavis Anne said, "We were just welcoming Petra to Koi House."

Yarrow shot me a smile and nodded. "It's so nice that you decided to come here. Let me know if I can do anything to help you settle in."

"Have you heard from your mother?" Yarrow asked Isabelle.

"That's right," I said. "Wasn't she going to Key West for a few days?"

Isabelle nodded. "Yes. She's with her friend, Charlotte, and two other women. They rented a condo there over Thanksgiving weekend. They'll be back on Monday. I spoke with her yesterday and it sounds like she's having a great time."

I smiled. Iris Brunell was another problem my best friend had had to sort out the previous year. Iris had left home when Isabelle was fifteen, and after a thirty-year separation, they had been able to reconcile after Isabelle moved to Ormond Beach. They now shared a close mother-daughter relationship.

Following dinner, we sat around the dining room table, enjoying coffee and pumpkin pie.

Coming to Ormond Beach had been the right decision for Chloe and Isabelle. Each of them had found her direction and in the process had even met a man she planned to spend the rest of her life with. Not that I was looking for a special relationship, but staying at Koi House made me feel that I was in my element.

Yes, Petra Garfield, I thought. You are precisely where you're supposed to be.

Rhonda Garfield January 1969

The bus made its way along I-95, heading south. With each mile we left behind us, I felt the coal dust from my small western Pennsylvania home town drifting away. I glanced beside me and smiled as Cynthia quietly snored, preferring sleep rather than looking out the window to watch the landscape flash by.

If not for my best friend, Cynthia, I wouldn't be on this bus heading to Amelia Island in Florida, where a new job and a new life await me.

It was Cynthia who had seen the ad in the classified section of the Pittsburgh newspaper. We were finishing up our waitress shift at the only eating establishment in town that served more than hot dogs or burgers. It also offered better tips.

"Look," she had said, pointing to a square at the top of the page. "This swanky hotel in Florida is looking for winter help."

I leaned over her shoulder and saw the name, Broadglen's. The Broadglen family was well known in the Pittsburgh area. Originally their wealth came from the coal mining industry but over the years family members had branched out to own various enterprises. Charles Broadglen was the owner of the hotel catering to winter residents from the north and prestigious Amelia Island families.

"What's that have to do with us?" I asked.

"We could apply for a position. We could be spending the winter in Florida making money. Away from this godforsaken town. Mr. Broadglen is known for hiring staff from this area. He likes to give people a chance. Why shouldn't it be you and me?"

At the time I had doubted Cynthia's optimism. We were nineteen, out of high school one year. Leaving western Pennsylvania wasn't something I thought we would ever do. But we had.

We had mailed the applications along with two letters of recommendation; three months ago we had been notified that we were scheduled for an interview in Pittsburgh. Within a week following the interview, we each received a large packet in the mail, informing us we had been hired. If we agreed to the employee regulations included in the envelope, we were to get a doctor's letter stating we were in good health and had no physical limitations.

I smiled as I recalled Cynthia's excitement. She had flown into my house waving the envelope in the air, jumping up and down.

She pulled me into a bear hug before grabbing both my hands to include me in her jumping. "This is it," she had said. "We are finally going to get out of this town and do something with our lives."

My mother had walked into the living room and joined our excitement. I knew she would miss me, but she encouraged me to leave because she didn't want to see her daughter stuck in a small town the way she was. With only a high school diploma and no money, a good position wasn't easy to find.

My plan was to work at Broadglen's until I had saved enough money to attend a secretarial college, which would, I hoped, secure me a decent job with a good company.

I felt Cynthia stir beside me. She sat up in her seat, rubbing her eyes, and yawned.

"Are we there yet?" she asked.

I laughed. "Not yet. But we just came over the Georgia border."

She yawned again. "A few more hours and we'll be in the Sunshine State."

I looked down at our winter attire. We had left Pittsburgh at seven the previous morning and it had been thirty-eight degrees. Each of us wore a turtleneck sweater with slacks, a winter coat, knitted hat and mittens when we arrived at the bus terminal. I was looking forward to shedding our clothes for the warmth of Florida temperatures.

Cynthia shifted in her seat to look toward the back of the bus.

"Sally and Carol are still sleeping," she said.

We had met the two sisters at the bus terminal and discovered they had also been hired to work at Broadglen's. Like Cynthia and me, they would be sharing a cabin provided by the hotel.

"They seemed nice," I said, and smiled as I recalled how excited Sally had been about our new jobs. She marveled that the hotel had provided our bus tickets and would pick us up in Jacksonville in a van to take us to Amelia Island. Her sister, Carol, had been quieter, and I wondered if perhaps she had been coerced into accompanying Sally.

"They did seem nice," Cynthia agreed. "Maybe we can hang out with them when we're not working."

She removed a compact from her handbag. Flipping it open, she assessed her face in the mirror. "Look at me," she wailed. "I look like a ghost. I plan to soak up every bit of that sun on the beach and get a nice tan."

Looks had always been important to Cynthia. I laughed. "Right. You better work fast. We're going to be working six days a week."

Cynthia groaned. "I know. That's really going to cut into my fun time. With my luck, it'll probably rain every day we have off."

I shook my head and smiled as I leaned my head back on the seat. Cynthia pulled out from her tote bag the Danielle Steel novel that she had begun reading hours before.

The movement of the bus along the highway made me drowsy, and I must have dozed off. I awoke to Cynthia nudging my arm.

"Look, look," she said, pointing out the window. "We just passed into Florida!"

I glanced out the window to see the bare trees of the north replaced by palm trees. Sunshine streamed through the window, and I smiled. Within a short time we would be arriving at the Jacksonville bus station — where my new life would begin.

I had made plans to have lunch with Isabelle on Monday but decided to call her in the morning just to double-check on the time. Since her marriage to Chadwick, she had left her coffee and muffin delivery job with Yarrow to work in Chadwick's real estate office.

"Hey," Isabelle said when she answered. "What's up?"

"I'm just calling to confirm lunch at twelve. We're meeting at Frappes?" There was a pause on the line and then Isabelle moaned. "Oh, no. Was that today?"

"Yeah, it was. Why? What's going on?"

"Oh, gee ... well ... I forgot and told Chadwick I'd have lunch with him. He booked a table for us at Café Margot in Cocoa Beach."

I felt disappointed but managed to say, "Well, that's okay. Isn't the office open today? You're driving down to Cocoa Beach?"

"Things are slow around the holidays. We're here at the office now but leaving shortly to take the rest of the day off."

"Okay. Well ... enjoy your lunch and your time together. Give me a call when you get a chance."

"Will do," was all she said, and the line disconnected.

I sat at my kitchen counter sipping the rest of my cold coffee. That was odd. Not even I'm sorry from her. I understood that she was newly married, but it was the first time I could recall Isabelle canceling a lunch date with me.

I heard Lotte whining at my feet and smiled. "Have to go out, girl?" I asked her and opened the French doors to let her outside. I stood watching her sniff the shrubbery before she squatted to pee and ran back into the kitchen.

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Excerpted from Unraveling the Pieces by TERRI DuLONG. Copyright © 2016 Terri DuLong. Excerpted by permission of KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP..
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