The Guest Book by Marybeth Whalen Read Free Book Online Page B

about
him
.”
    Avis wouldn’t say Chase’s name, but she could say the pronouns referring to him with enough venom that they sounded like curse words. She remembered all too well those early days after he’d left, the days Macy moved through a fog trying to balance a baby and a new job. Sometimes Macy thought Avis considered it her job to remember for her, standing sentry at the door to Macy’s heart. And Avis had been none too happy when Chase showed back up. None too pleased when she realized he’d basically moved back in, despite Macy’s continued justification that he was still relegated to the couch.
    “Will you promise me something?” Avis asked.
    Macy rolled her eyes at her friend. “Wow, if that’s not a loaded question.”
    “This one’s an easy one.”
    Macy shook her head and grinned.
Avis
and
easy
were never synonymous, but she went along with it. “Shoot.”
    “Will you try to be open to whatever comes along whileyou’re there? Take a risk, let someone in? You know —easy stuff like that.”
    Macy laughed. “I knew it wouldn’t be simple coming from you.”
    “No, I’m serious. I have a feeling — and you know me and my feelings. They’re usually right on. These two weeks are going to be about change for you. Good change. Necessary change. But you’re going to have to open yourself up to it. And I know that’s not your style.”
    Macy shook her head. “I open myself up every day. To you and my mom and Max and Emma. And now Chase. I mean, talk about taking a risk.”
    “You’re not risking with Chase. You’re biding your time.”
    Macy started to argue but Avis held up her hand. “Stop. Just stop. You can argue ‘til you’re blue in the face, but I know better. You’re waiting for the right one to come along, and you’re keeping Chase on reserve just in case he doesn’t. You can’t fool me.” She eyed her. “True love is rarely found on the path of least resistance.”
    Avis leaned against a table displaying all-natural cleansing products, and Macy knew her hip was bothering her. A lifetime of standing at a cash register had taken its toll.
    “But to find the right one, you’ve got to open yourself up to whoever he is,” Avis added.
    “I’m not sure I can do that,” Macy admitted, her voice softening. She turned back to her painting so she didn’t have to look Avis in the eye. She thought about the parts of her pastthat waited for her at the house called Time in a Bottle. She thought about how part of who she used to be still waited there for her. The innocent part of her that used to throw her heart’s door open to people, that didn’t know people could take parts of you and walk away forever.
    What Avis was asking was a tall order indeed. But if there was anywhere to attempt it, Macy had a feeling that Sunset Beach was just the place. She looked up at the clock again, willing the hands to go faster around the circle, like the wheels that would carry her to Sunset Beach tomorrow. She pushed down the anxious feelings and let only happy ones bubble up, believing that Avis was right and that something wonderful waited for her in the days ahead.

seven
    M acy paused before walking out the door. Bright light shone through the windows, yet inside, the house felt gloomy, as if it were raining. The feeling made her want to run outside and feel the sun on her skin. And yet Chase’s gaze held her in place.
    “What?” she asked him.
    He crossed his arms over his chest, his look changing from angry to merely sad, the fight sucked right out of him. “I wish you weren’t going.”
    She lifted one corner of her mouth. “I think the timing’s good. I think we can both use this time to figure out what’s happening, to figure out if this is even what we want.”
    “I don’t think it’s what
you
want.” He turned to the faucet and flipped the water on and off, on and off, passing his otherhand under the stream and staring at it in idle curiosity, water down the drain.
    Macy