The first edition of The Westport Whisper

🗩️ BREAKING: The Westport Whisper has arrived — and it’s already talking.

Dear Reader, Westport is a town that cannot keep a secret to save its life. Fortunately for us all, that is precisely what makes it so entertaining. Your humble correspondent has been listening at all the right doors. This week, the doors had a great deal to say.

🔹 LIZZIE FULLER — the house, the handyman, and the shoulder

It has come to this correspondent’s attention that Lizzie Fuller, having decided at thirty-one that she owned nothing of significance — and apparently ruling out an affair as “too expensive” — purchased a house. A haunted one. With a sticky front door she attempted to open with her shoulder on the very first day, bouncing off it and landing on her backside on the porch in front of her sister.

The renovation, we are told, is ongoing. The handyman — tall, unnecessarily attractive, answers to Riley — has been seen at the property with suspicious frequency. Whether this is a structural matter or an emotional one, this correspondent declines to speculate. We simply note that Lizzie has not, to date, put up a For Sale sign. Make of that what you will.

🔹 GRANDMA MABEL — a matter of competitive cycling

Westport’s most magnificently uncontainable senior citizen was spotted this week at the new cycle shop on Ivory Lane, accompanied by her granddaughter Molly and her walker. Mabel has developed romantic competition with a neighbour over a gentleman friend and has concluded that cycling attire — specifically a purple zip-up shirt — will give her the competitive edge.

She does not own a bicycle. She does not intend to ride one. When the young shop assistant gently confirmed she wasn’t actually planning to cycle, Mabel reportedly said: “Oh. I hadn’t considered that. Maybe I should buy a bike.” She then became distracted by the pink sparkly drink bottles. We are told Molly paid for those.

🔹 MOLLY FULLER — the secret that is not as secret as she thinks

Sources close to the Fuller family confirm that Molly announced something significant in what she herself described as “not the best moment.” The announcement involved Matt, the television reporter with the sandy curls and the endearing clumsiness, who apparently took the news considerably better than Molly’s panic attack had suggested.

Grandma Mabel has already bought a hat. She has not been invited to buy a hat. She bought one anyway. It has a feather.

🔹 CHLOE McDERMOTT — the dog she was definitely not keeping

Chloe McDermott drove to the animal shelter last Tuesday with one very small dog named Theo who, according to all parties, she was absolutely dropping off and not keeping under any circumstances.

Theo looked at her. Just looked at her. Brown eyes. Ears back. The full performance.

Chloe now has a dog. Theo has a home. He is ten inches tall, believes himself to be The Rock, and has already intimidated two neighbours and a postman. Chloe reportedly said, “that’s a whole other story.” It is, in fact, several more stories. They are wonderful.

🔹 ALEXANDRA — told the emergency operator she was in Australia

Alexandra rang emergency services this week after discovering her apartment had been broken into while she slept on the couch. She was, by her own account, not going to cry. This was not accurate. She also informed the emergency operator that she was located in Westport, Australia — adding the country, she later noted, unnecessarily.

The officer on the phone sounded, she felt, attractive. She acknowledged this was not relevant information. It has been included here anyway, because Westport is a small town and we notice these things. A man named Sam — Chloe’s brother, same blue eyes, same dimple — has since appeared in Alexandra’s orbit. We find it rather lovely.

🔹 GRACIE SAUNDERS — the dress in the attic

The Ivory Veil Bridal Boutique has a new situation, and Gracie Saunders is right in the middle of it. A wedding dress has been discovered in the attic — old, beautiful, and entirely unexplained. Gracie, who has spent her career matching the right dress to the right person, finds herself unable to explain this one at all.

The new ownership situation has introduced a complication of the human variety — tall, difficult, and apparently impossible to ignore. We shall say no more. The Westport Whisper is warm, not wicked. We are, however, watching.

Until next week, dear reader, your ever-watchful, entirely reliable correspondent at The Westport Whisper 🕯️ (Reliability not guaranteed. Westport is a complicated town.)

Want more of Westport? You can find all of Beth's books at bethprenticebooks.com