Gloria

“I’ll do it.”

Almost a month later, Gloria was settling in nicely.

Sadie insisted that the provisions of Great Aunt Patti’s will didn’t go into effect until the next calendar year. Gloria totally understood. But she also understood that staying at the cabin wasn’t costing her a dime and by being moved in completely by the end of November, she saved herself a whole month’s rent for her apartment. Add that to Great Aunt Patti’s generous allowance and she was already halfway to saving for her first commercial ice cream maker.

Thank goodness her apartment lease was month-to-month. Her landlord was disappointed that such a model tenant was leaving, but wished her well when Gloria turned in her key. He offered to rent to her again in the future and she thanked him. It was good to keep her options open. Once she ca

me into the rest of her inheritance, she’d figure out where she’d live after she found the perfect location for her ice cream parlor.

For now, she focused on taking Great Aunt Patti’s cabin and turning it into her new home.

It was going well. Considering she had a year to live there, she decided she would wait until the warmer weather in the spring to start renovations on the outside. In Hamlet, it seemed as if winter hit hard in November. Or maybe that was because she lived higher in the mountains.

Didn’t matter. It was cold, the ground was already frosted over, and she preferred to stay inside while she unpacked her boxes. She liked seeing her things mingled with Great Aunt Patti’s, giving the old family cabin a touch of Gloria.

She was super psyched to discover that the eighty-year-old cabin not only had electricity, but it also had heat. It was snug and cozy and warm through the whole mountain cabin despite the chill outside.

Two bedrooms took up the second floor, her front room coupled as a dining room and an intimate family area with the overstuffed sofa, and she loved the look of the fireplace, even though Gloria was absolutely positive that she was never going to light it.

Still, it was pretty.

And, once she put the rest of her decorations out, it felt way more like home.

A year?

She could totally do this.

4

Agreeing to stay at her great aunt’s cabin was one thing. Learning to live in Hamlet—with its… unusual quirks—was something different.

Something she learned very quickly? That while the population in town was super tiny, that just meant that it was the type of small town where everyone knew your name and your business. She’d been surprised when Sally, the little girl in the coffeehouse, knew her name. It didn’t take long before she found out that everyone knew.

Having grown up in the city, Gloria was used to people coming and going. Not in Hamlet. Most people were born there, spent their lives there, and died there. They never left. Her grandmother had been a huge exception, leaving Hamlet behind to start a family of her own.

Which, it seemed to Gloria, was the precise reason why Nana and Great Aunt Patti had their falling out in the first place.

Because Hamlet was so remote, so hidden, it was almost impossible to find by accident. You were either a former resident or a local gave you directions. That was it. Very few people stumbled upon the exit, traveled the narrow strait that led into town, and made it past the gulley that acted as a natural border.

Gloria found out that she was the first person to move into Hamlet for the last couple of years. To say that her taking over Patricia Hammond’s cabin caused a flurry of excitement might be a bit of an understatement. She was still in the middle of moving in when she got her first guest. It seemed as if everyone in town wanted to greet Gloria and, well, welcome her to Hamlet.

Except for her next door neighbor, that was.

Her first week in Hamlet, Gloria went over twice, bringing with her containers of whatever flavor she’d made that afternoon. No one was ever home during the day. A few times, after it got dark, she would see a big, blue pick-up truck parked in front of the cabin. Lights would be on—so she knew someone was in there—but it seemed rude to go over so late. She promised herself she’d catch her mysterious neighbor in the morning, only that never happened.

The man was like a ghost. Up with the sun, gone before Gloria was awake, only coming back after suppertime.

She knew it was a man, too. One night, when she let her curiosity get the better of her, she stood out on her porch, peering over at the other cabin. His silhouette appeared in his window, lit up from behind. It was impossible to make out any details, and she scurried inside so that he didn’t catch her peeking, but no doubt that was a man.

He just wasn’t the friendly sort.

That was fine. The others in Hamlet more than made up for it.

It was one thing to be approached when she was out exploring Hamlet, trying to figure out what she can get in town and what she’d have to out for. She expected that after her first few trips into the heart of Hamlet.

What she wasn’t expecting?

Curious locals taking the mountain path up to her cabin just to say hi. Even for Gloria, who wasn’t anti-social by any means, it was kind of a surprise.