Suzanna isn’t sure about much these days, but one thing she is sure about is that she needs a space that is entirely her own. Not her family’s, not her husband’s, but hers. Since moving back to her parents’ estate from London, despite living in a cottage separate from them, she feels she can hardly breathe. But in her shop, her Peacock Emporium, she can be herself, she can make it her own. Unfortunately, she finds that folks seeking coffee are often seeking conversation as well, and is not exactly up to this task. Lucky for her, one of her first customers, a pretty young mother who is as chatty as they come, foists herself upon Suzanna, making it apparent that Suzanna needs Jessie as much as Jessie needs this job. In some ways, they open up each other’s worlds, and in some ways, they both resist change. And when tragedy ensues, Suzanna sees how one can get stuck in that resistance.
This is a sweet story that, again, shows how we can get mired in our past and be blinded to what is in front of us. We stay in relationships that are toxic because it’s too hard to make a change. We wallow in past wrongs, don’t forgive, and only hurt ourselves. And we allow our past to haunt us rather than living in the moment or pivoting toward our the future. But what we might learn from this story is how to hope. Although sadness, anger, and dreadful situations cannot always be avoided, love pushes through and this can give us hope.
And yes, this is corny – and is reflective of the story itself. But we must give in on occasion to the slightly predictable, the slightly mushy, just because corny and mushy and loving may be just what we might need sometimes.
Is this not exactly one of those times?
kindread spirits 