28 Confessions and Sorrows

29 Tuesday

30 The Mysterious Package

31 Advertising

32 Searching for Serena

33 The Braddock Gift

34 The Envelope

35 Serena

36 Saving the Harborside

37 The New Beginning

1 Harborhaven

This was her last option.

Katherine straightened the folds of her “interview skirt” and tugged at the hem of her slightly uncomfortable but businesslike blue jacket. Her heart fluttered anxiously as she stood on the sidewalk looking up at the entrance to the Harborhaven Historical Society. She set down the small, old-fashioned suitcase she had been holding and flexed her stiff fingers.

She stood there for a long while, till her aching feet felt almost rooted to the pavement. Finally, she took a deep breath and climbed the steps. Her hand grasped the ornate door handle, only to find the door locked. Stepping back, she peered at a notice taped onto one of the tall narrow windows next to the door:

Harborhaven Historical Society Offices and Museums: open the first Saturday of the month, or by appointment.

A light breeze blowing in off the harbor played with the ends of her long dark hair as she leaned closer to read a smaller notice, one she had half-expected, but half-dreaded to find there.

Volunteers needed

Katherine sighed deeply as she turned and walked slowly down the steps to the sidewalk. She looked down the street, out of ideas. She had started the day full of hope and expectations, and now all of that had disappeared like the mist the sun dispelled from the harbor waters as it rose higher in the summer sky.

Across the street, she could see the owner of the ice cream shop watching her narrowly from the window. When she walked into the shop that morning, she had expected to find there the jolly old man with twinkling eyes who had been so kind to her as a child. He would certainly have given her a job, or else helped her to find one. Instead, she had encountered a surly new owner who was not at all kindly, questioned her suspiciously, and responded to her inquiry about job openings with a sneer and a tone of utter contempt.

As she began to follow the sidewalk through downtown Harborhaven, her blue eyes blurred with tears of disappointment. She blinked them back and looked up at the two towering rows of ornate Victorian façades. How stern they seemed, frowning and suspicious, like the owner of the ice cream shop.

Harborhaven had been her home once, years before; and in the happy dimness of her childhood memories all had been bright and welcoming. But now—Katherine kicked a stone back into the bed of pebbles in front of a shop window and sighed again. She walked on, bewildered and friendless.

When she neared the end of the downtown blocks, she suddenly noticed the most delicious smell wafting towards her from a nearby building. As she approached the building, she looked up. It was tall and narrow, with large, lace-curtained windows. The Victorian brick had been painted white, so it stood out from its surroundings; yet somehow, Katherine thought it still seemed to belong there, different though it was from the massive red hulk of the old warehouse next to it.

The windows and door were framed in bright yellow trim, and a small sign hung in the window of the shop’s door. As she neared the door, she read the words inscribed on the sign in elegant script:

“Do come in”

Katherine scanned through her childhood memories but couldn’t remember having seen this shop before. Glancing above the door, she read:

Miss Harriet’s Tea Shop.

The delicious smells and the cheerfulness of the place seemed to call to her, and Katherine decided to go in, just for a while. After all, she did need to eat. She pushed open the door and was struck by the brightness and elegance of the place.

A willowy, middle-aged lady stepped out from behind the dark wood counter, holding a plate of baked goods she had just finished filling from several tiered trays on top of the counter.

“Welcome!” she said warmly in a British accent. She    gestured to a small table by a lace-enshrouded window at the side of the room. “That table’s open, if it suits you.”

“Thank you.” Katherine said, smiling for the first time since she had arrived in Harborhaven that morning. There was something in the gentle way this tall, graceful woman spoke to her that made her feel as if things were not so bleak, after all.

Weaving her way between the small groups of people seated throughout the room, Katherine set her suitcase down near the window and looked across at the daintily written chalkboard menu behind the counter. She was relieved to find the prices affordable.

Still, she thought, it’s probably best just to order something simple. She wasn’t sure how long her savings would last, and the morning’s efforts proved that it would be much more difficult to find a job than she had expected.

She tried to push aside the aching mix of old memories and present troubles that welled up inside her, but to no avail. Her mind raced restlessly from one to the other until, lost in thought, she felt a gentle touch on her arm. She hadn’t noticed the tall woman standing near her table.

“Hello, again.” The woman said cheerfully, leaning down to catch Katherine’s gaze.

Katherine looked up quickly with an embarrassed blush. “Hello.”

“My apologies for not seating you personally when you came in.” The woman said graciously, setting a small silver tray on the table. Taking a dainty china teacup and saucer from the tray, she set it in front of Katherine, explaining, “Friday noon is always a rush, you see.” She smiled. “Tea?”

Katherine nodded. “And a scone, please,” she added as the woman deftly poured out a cup of amber liquid from the small teapot on the tray.

“Coming right up. I’m Miss Harriet, by the way.”

“I’m Katherine. And I wasn’t offended.” Katherine smiled in spite of the emotional turmoil from which she had just surfaced. “Is this your shop?”

“Yes, it is. It’s my pride and joy… and my livelihood.”

“Sounds like a pretty good deal.”

“It is. I consider myself very blessed indeed. Now, what brings you to our lovely little harbor hamlet today?”

“I grew up here, actually.” Katherine replied, trying to sound cheerful. “We moved away when I was nine, but nowhere else ever seemed quite like home. When I graduated from college yesterday, it seemed right to come back here.” She shifted in her chair, a little embarrassed. She hadn’t meant to spill out her life’s story before a stranger like that, but something about Miss Harriet invited confidence.

“Well, congratulations! And welcome home,” Miss Harriet said heartily.

“Thanks.”

“So then, you’ve finished school and are looking for a new beginning?”

Katherine smiled ruefully at how cliché her plan sounded when boiled down to its essentials. “Yes, something like that. I grew up here, and came back expecting, well… expecting a lot of things to be the same, that have evidently changed.” Katherine’s deep disappointment clouded her face as she spoke. “I thought the owner of the ice cream shop might remember me and be able to find a job for me there, but I guess he sold the shop to someone else after the mill closed and the new owner made it very clear they weren’t hiring.”

A strange look passed over Miss Harriet’s face when Katherine mentioned the ice cream shop, as if she were pondering something. But as she opened her lips to speak, a boisterous woman in a large hat called Miss Harriet’s name from across the room and she had to excuse herself to see what the woman needed.

Katherine watched Miss Harriet glide gracefully away, then took a sip of her tea. She had never really tried tea before. Her parents and friends had always been coffee drinkers. She noticed it had layers of flavor. It tasted delicate and light, but strong at the same time, if just a bit bitter. She decided there was something comforting about this tea, calming, even. Taking another sip, she looked around her. As Miss Harriet had pointed out, it was lunch time, and customers filled nearly every seat in the place.

Seeing Miss Harriet fly about from table to table, darting gracefully in and out of the kitchen, Katherine suddenly felt a curious sort of longing and wished, rather than hoped, to one day have the sort of peaceful joy which radiated from this elegant middle-aged lady.