“Well…I…I’ve been taking online classes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t know if I’d do very well in them. And it’s been a long time since I dropped out of college when I got pregnant with Emily.”
“But you’re doing well?”
She gave her cousin a sheepish grin.“I’m kind of acing it. Now that I’m studying something I want to learn, I’m finding I’m pretty good at it.”
Heather laughed.“I’m not surprised. What are you studying?”
“Business. A smattering of marketing, accounting, and general business.”
“Good for you, Liv.”
“I finished up my associate’s degree that I started all those years ago, and I’m going to continue until I get my full bachelor’s degree.”
Heather leaned back, her eyes wide.“Bravo. Of course, you can do that. I’m so proud of you.”
She shrugged.“But…what am I going to use it for? I could never leave Parker’s. Never leave Mom to run it by herself. Not after all she’s done for Em and me.”
“Aunt Donna would want you to do whatever you want. Be whatever you want.”
“Maybe. But I still couldn’t leave Parker’s. I’m just hoping some of my knowledge can eventually be used to help run the store. At least I can use it for that.”
Heather reached out and covered her hand.“Or, you could fly, my Liv. You could fly. You could do or be anything you want.”
Chapter 5
Heather said goodbye to Livy and watched her hurry off to work at Parker’s. She frowned as she watched her disappear. All that studying. All that education. And why couldn’t she leave Parker’s? Her cousin deserved to get out on her own if that’s what she wanted. Or at least do something to make her mark.
Though, knowing Liv, she’d never leave Parker’s. She’d be too afraid of disappointing her mother, of letting her down. And in all honesty, Aunt Donna had been there for Liv and Emily every step of the way. Always supported them even when Liv and Brett decided not to get married when Liv got pregnant. They’d realized they weren’t a good fit. And they weren’t. Heather was glad Livy hadn’t ended up with Brett. She’d never been a fan of his. But Brett popped into town every so often, and Liv said he called Emily fairly regularly.
But…she still wished Liv could have a chance to follow her dreams.Everyoneshould have a chance to follow their dreams. Hadn’t she, herself, when she left Moonbeam and concentrated on her art and her illustrations? Okay, that might have been more of a running away thing than a chasing thing. But, still.
Heather strolled along the shops on the wharf, popping into a few of them to see if much had changed. There was a new store with a fabulous selection of teas and coffees. The same old t-shirt and beach decor shops that had always been there—even if a few of them had new names. A few of the shops carried prints of some of her work with signs proclaiming they were from a local artist.
Heather Parker. After she moved out and started illustrating, she hadn’t wanted to use her real last name, Carlson, on her art. Whether it was that her father had been so against hersilly, childish, foolishart or what, she wasn’t sure. But she took Parker as her name for her work. Eventually, she legally changed her name…not that she’d told anyone here in Moonbeam that part. Especially her mother. But the Parker name suited her. She’d come from a long line of strong women starting with Grace Parker, who’d helped her husband open up Parker’s General Store. She felt like it was some kind of homage to Grace’s strength and perseverance. Besides, most of the town referred to her and Liv, as well as their moms, as the Parker women.
She stood in front of a framed print of her work, a steaming mug of coffee with a cute coffee-themed saying the company had come up with. A local artist sticker hung from the frame. She might have been born and raised in Moonbeam, but she didn’t really consider herself local anymore. More of an occasional visitor. Even if she did still keep the condo and claimed it as her permanent residence. Not that anything about her life was permanent. But it was nice to see some of her work hanging here in the shops.
Hanginganywhere.
As far as she knew, her parents didn’t have even one print of her work in their house. It didn’t fit into the modern style in their home. They’d hired a fancy interior designer who planned every piece of furniture, every rug, every piece of home decor accessory. But still, it stung just a tiny bit. But mostly she ignored it. Or tried to. She knew that both Aunt Donna and Livy had some of her work displayed in their homes.
“Heather, dear.”Jackie and Jillian Jenkins interrupted her thoughts.“You’re back in town. So good to see you.”
She glanced around quickly and realized she couldn’t avoid the two town busybodies. Sisters. Spinsters, if that was still even a term. Neither had married, they lived together in the house they were raised in, and they knew everything about everyone…and weren’t afraid to spread any tiny tidbit of news or scandal. To top that off they were twins, and for the life of her she wasn’t sure who was who.
“Hi.”She pasted on a smile.
“You haven’t been home in a while,”Jackie said.
Or at least shethoughtit was Jackie. She bet they knew how long she’d been gone down to the day.“It has been a while.”
“You know, Jackie and I were just talking about you.”
Ha, the other twin spoke so she’d been right to guess the first one was Jackie.“Oh?”
