The Wells sisters were all born within a year of each other which made them Irish twins. Grace was the oldest. Viv had always looked up to Grace, who was a boss bitch. Up until about nine months ago, she’d been a high-powered attorney in Los Angeles. But one day she just handed in her resignation, put her condo on the market, and came to live in Hope Falls with no plan. Everything had worked out for her, though. She’d gone on a reality house-flipping show, was engaged to be married, and was working with her soon-to-be husband renovating houses and killing it as a real estate agent.
Ava was the second oldest. She was the nurturer of the group. She had a degree in psychology and had been set to marry her high school sweetheart, who was the biggest douche on the planet, last summer here in Hope Falls. Thankfully, on the day of the wedding he called it off. Her sister decided not to go back home. Instead, she stayed in Hope Falls. That decision set off a domino effect that ended with her walking down the aisle a few months ago. Not only did she score an amazing husband, she’d also gotten an amazing stepdaughter in the deal.
Audrey was the youngest. She was the quiet bookworm of the family. It had been Audrey’s idea to move to Hope Falls to open the coffee shop, and Viv had gone along with it to support her sister. After moving here, Audrey reconnected with the boy she’d had a crush on since she was four. It took eight years of friendship as adults but the couple was now engaged to be married.
Viv was third in the lineup and her dating history read like bad SNL skits. She’d always thought of herself as a Samantha, from Sex in the City. But it turned out, that after seeing her sisters fall in love, she had a lot more Charlotte in her. She wanted the white picket fence, two kids, and a dog.
“I’m so sorry, Viv,” Audrey apologized sincerely after her sister’s rant. Genuine concern shone through her eyes. “I didn’t…I just…I had no idea that you were that serious about finding someone.”
Viv couldn’t blame Audrey for thinking that. Up until last summer, she hadn’t wanted anything serious, and life was good. Smooth sailing. It was easy, breezy, beautiful Cover Girl. But now that she wanted more, it was a disaster.
In the past year, she’d sat on the sidelines while all three of her sisters had found their lobsters. The men that they were meant to be with and who Viv knew they would be with forever. That wasn’t strictly true. She hadn’t exactly sat on the sidelines of Audrey’s love story. She’d been an active participant in that one. She’d even named the operation to get her sister and Josh together Project Valentine.
Viv hadn’t been alone in her matchmaker mission. She’d had a partner in crime, or should she say partner in cupid in the form of Nonna, a ninety-one-year-old who was even more determined than Viv to get her grandson and Audrey together. When Viv moved to town and hadn’t known anyone, she and Nonna had initially bonded over bad reality TV and their mutual love of Taylor Swift and the rest was history.
They’d gone on mini-vacations together. Had a standing appointment to get their nails done each month. And watched hundreds of hours of trash television while consuming copious amounts of wine.
Over the years it had become clear to Nonna and Viv that Josh and Audrey were never going to remove their heads from their respective asses and tell each other how they felt. So, the unlikely duo had taken matters into their own hands.
And it had worked. Audrey and Josh were engaged and about to embark on a pre-wedding honeymoon in just a few minutes. The lovebirds decided to get married on the 4th of July, which is sentimental because it was the day they’d met when they were kids. But the date happened to fall smack dab in the middle of the busiest season in their small, mountain tourist town. And since they both owned businesses in Hope Falls, they decided to take their honeymoon two months early so they could enjoy it and not be stressed.
Which was why Viv made sure to sell it when she told her sister, “It’s fine. I’m just…tired.”
Viv didn’t want her sister worrying about her, or anything, when she was on her pre-wedding honeymoon.
She tapped on her watch. “Isn’t it time for you to skedaddle, Motorcycle Mama?”
Josh and Audrey were going to spend the next two weeks on his Harley riding up and down the coast. They were scheduled to leave in five minutes. Viv had seen Josh at across the street at his auto shop on her way into Brewed Awakenings. He looked packed up and ready to go.
“Oh, shoot.” Audrey checked the time then grabbed her purse from under the counter. “Carly will be here any minute. I scheduled Manny to open all this week and Carly in the afternoons.”
Carly and Manny both worked part-time at Brewed and were invaluable employees who brought their own unique personalities to the coffee shop.
Manny had been a world champion sumo wrestler who had been raised in Hawaii on a coffee plantation. The love of java was in his blood. After he stepped away from the sport he’d spent his career dominating, he moved to Hope Falls. When Audrey hired him, she’d told Viv he was the “barista equivalent of a master sommelier” and she was right. Every week he came up with a new blend of beans that had customers frothing, pun intended, at the mouth.
Carly had been Viv’s hire. Well, technically Audrey had done the hiring but Viv had put her stamp of approval on her before she even had her first interview. As soon as she’d laid eyes on the girl, she wanted her to be a part of the Brewed Awakenings family. Carly put the free in free spirit and could pull off face piercings like no other. She had eight including her lip, eyebrows, nose, and dimples. She expressed herself through her fashion and hair color, which changed often. The girl had rocked everything from neon pink, to purple, to the bold choice of bald and had looked like a rock star doing it. Viv loved the vibrancy she brought to the shop, and bonus, she was a really hard worker. Which Viv was sure was the attribute Audrey probably valued over her style, but that’s where the sisters differed.
“We’ll be fine, Aud.” Viv assured her sister.
This was the first time since they’d opened that Audrey had taken more than two days off in a row. Her sister lived and breathed this coffee shop. It was her dream, her baby, and Viv had been there to support her every step of the way, but it definitely wasn’t Viv’s passion. In fact, she didn’t even like coffee.
“And don’t forget,” Audrey continued, “on Saturdays you need to be at the library by ten and on Wednesdays you need to be at the shelter by five-thirty.”
In addition to holding down the fort at the coffee shop Viv had also agreed to take on all of Audrey’s weekly volunteering duties. “I won’t forget, but even if I did, I’m sure you’re going to remind me about a thousand times before then.”
“That’s true.” Audrey looked around the small café as if she was sure she was forgetting something.
“Go. Everything will be fine!” Viv shooed her sister toward the back door.
Audrey nodded and then turned to Viv. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes.” Viv nodded and put on her best, fake smile.
Her sister started to turn but then snapped her finger. “Oh, and you’ll check in on Nonna?”
“Of course I will.” Since Josh was Nonna’s only family in the area, he was worried about leaving her. As it stood, Viv saw her several times a week, but had told her sister and soon to be brother-in-law that she would check in on her daily. “I’m taking her by the house tonight to meet with the new owner.”
Nonna had moved into Golden Years Senior Living six months ago and decided to renovate her house and sell it. Viv knew tonight was going to be hard for Nonna, since she’d not only lived in the house for sixty years, but her late husband had actually built it with his own two hands. After Nonna handed over the keys, Viv planned to take her to JT’s Roadhouse, the only bar in town, for a drink. Or maybe two.