Sherryl Woods - Driftwood Cottage

H eather Donovan propped open the front door and stood just inside the brightly lit storefront in Chesapeake Shores so she could inhale the scent of sea air from the bay across Shore Road. Turning slowly, she studied the stacks of colorful fabric bolts that had to be sorted and displayed, the unopened boxes of quilting supplies and the quilt racks that still required assembly. Her pride and joy, the carefully crafted shelving units, had been built to her specifications by her sons grandfather, famed architect Mick OBrien, for whom her son, little Mick, was named.

Seeing it all coming together was a little overwhelming. Not just opening a business, but all of itmoving to this quaint town, deciding to raise her son on her own, giving up on a future with Connor OBrienthese were all huge steps. Her mind still reeled when she thought about the recent changes in her life. She might embrace the changes, but that didnt mean she wasnt scared to death.

If anyone had told her a few months ago that she would leave the man she loved more than anything, that she would take their son and move from Baltimore to a small seaside town and embark on a whole new career, Heather would have laughed at the absurdity of the predictions. Even though Connor stubbornly had refused to consider marriage, shed thought they had a good life, that they were committed to one another. Shed believed that so strongly that shed ignored her parentsactually it had been mostly her motherswarnings about the mistake she was making by having a child with Connor without a ring on her finger.

But, in fact, theyshe, Connor and their sonmight have gone on exactly like that for years if she hadnt seen how Connors career as a divorce lawyer was chipping away at their relationship, how his anger at his parents was corrupting their day-to-day lives. She didnt like the embittered man shed seen him becoming, and he seemed to have no desire to change.

It wasnt as if shed made her decision to break up lightly. Shed gone away for several weeks, leaving their son with Connors family while shed pondered what was best for her future and for her childs. She hadnt been happy about the conclusion shed reached, that she needed to start a new life on her own, but shed made peace with it. And, in time, she knew shed find the fulfillment that had eluded her with Connor.

Not that she could envision a day when shed stop loving him, she thought even now, months after making the decision. She sighed at how difficult it sometimes was to reconcile emotions with common sense and facing reality, especially with a precious little boy as a constant reminder of what shed given up.

A bell over the shops front door tinkled merrily, interrupting her thoughts. Megan OBrien stepped inside, carrying her grandson who beamed at the sight of Heather.

Mama! he cried, holding out his chubby little arms. Just over a year old now, he was the joy of Heathers life.

He was missing you, Megan explained, then gave her a commiserating look. And I thought you might be needing a glimpse of him about now. I know youre still not over all those weeks the two of you spent apart.

Thank you, Heather said, reaching for her son.

Feeling overwhelmed? Megan asked with the kind of insight that Heather had come to treasure.

So many times in the past few months shed regretted that Megan wouldnt be her mother-in-law. In many ways Heather felt closer to Connors mother than she did to her own mother back in Ohio. A wonderful salt-of-the-earth woman who went to church on Sundays, volunteered at a homeless shelter and in a childrens hospital, Bridget Donovan had an endless store of compassion for everyone except her own daughter. She flatly refused to accept that any daughter of hers would willingly choose not to marry the father of her child.

Heather sighed. As if marriage to Connor had ever been an option, no matter how desperately she might have hoped for it.

Heather bounced baby Mick in her arms as she nodded in response to Megans question. Youre right about feeling overwhelmed, she said, gesturing around the store. I have no idea where to start. What if opening a shop, especially here, is a huge mistake? I dont know anything about running a business. And being here, in this town, surrounded by OBriens, what was I thinking? Why on earth did I let you talk me into this?