Free Along Came a Husband by Helen Brenna

colorful scarf around her dreadlocks. “But let me get—”
    “Nope. I’m buying.” Technically, Missy couldn’t even afford to pay an assistant’s wages based on the sales the gift shop generated, let alone buy an employee lunches, but Missy did it anyway at every possible opportunity. “Save your money for school.”
    “Thanks, Missy.”
    Missy grabbed her purse, nothing more than a wallet on a leather strap, and followed Sarah outside. The moment the afternoon sunshine hit her face, she sighed. “Perfect timing. I needed this break.”
    “Ron told me you heard from the adoption agency this morning.” Sarah glanced at her expectantly.
    That was fast. She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d told Sarah anything else, like the fact that a man was staying at her house.
    “I’m so excited for you!”
    “Don’t hold your breath, Sarah. All kinds of things could go wrong.”
    “But this is the closest you’ve ever been.”
    “Which is why I’d prefer not talking about it,” Missy said.
    Sarah glanced sideways at Missy and opened her mouth.
    “I think it’s your pick today,” Missy said, butting in. “Where do you want to go?”
    “All right, fine. I’ll let it go.” Sarah shook her head. “But I want to be the first to hear about any new developments.”
    “Deal.”
    “Let’s go to the Bayside. We haven’t been there for a while.”
    Although Missy’s favorite restaurant on the island was Duffy’s Pub, given the variety of vegetarian options Erica Taylor had added to the menu, she could find something to eat anywhere. They’d taken no more than a few steps down the street when Missy blurted out, “What would you do if someone you care about had kept something from you?”
    Sarah glanced at her. “I guess that depends.”
    “On what?”
    “What she lied about.”
    “Keeping something from someone isn’t really a lie, is it?”
    “Sure it is. A lie of omission.”
    Exactly what Jonas had claimed. Missy looked away. No one understood.
    “What have you lied about?” Sarah asked.
    “Me? What? I…”
    “Missy, you’re about as transparent as that window over there.” Sarah pointed to the ferry office a short distance from the pier.
    Missy closed her hand over the protective crystals hanging from her leather-banded necklace. Before she could admit the truth about her family or her past, they’d reached the Bayside and Hannah Johnson, one of the island’s only elementary school teachers, joined them.
    “Hey,” Hannah said. “That was good timing.”
    “No kidding,” Sarah said. “You must be psychic.”
    Missy glanced at the two of them and grinned. “Oh, shut up.” Teasing her about her untraditional beliefs and lifestyle had become a favorite pastime for her friends. “Sarah, you called Hannah before you left your shop, didn’t you?”
    “Busted.” Hannah grinned.
    They were all laughing as they walked into the café. As Hannah moved ahead of them to take a table by the window, Sarah whispered to Missy, “We’ll talk later, okay?”
    Missy nodded. As they ordered and chatted, Missy began feeling nostalgic about her life on Mirabelle and how everything could change depending on what happened with Jonas. There were several locals having lunch who waved in greeting when they noticed her group.
    Police Chief Garrett Taylor and his deputy, Herman Stotz, sat at the counter. Shirley Gilbert, who ran a bed-and-breakfast, sat at a nearby table lunching with Mary Miller, the candy shop owner and Charlotte Day, the librarian. Doc Welinsky, retired now, sat with Dan Newman, the grocer. Carl Andersen, owner of the Rock Point Lodge, sat at another table with his parents, Jean and John, the island pastor. There were others, too, all of whom Missy knew by name.
    Some islanders had welcomed her more easily than others, but most had been friendly from the beginning. These were salt of the earth type people, from unassuming backgrounds, people who lived modestly. Used to be not much changed