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“Cut it out,” Logan said. “You’ve never been a good actress. Or a giggler.”
“Hey, Jinx, I thought you left with—”
Hearing a gasp, Logan turned to see the woman who’d been hanging out with Jinx earlier. Her eyes going wide, she gaped at him, then looked from Jinx to Logan and back.
“I changed my mind,” Jinx said to her friend. She lifted a hand, gesturing to Logan. “Anthia, this is Logan Bennett. Um, an old friend of my big brother’s. Logan, this is my friend and roommate, Anthia King.”
Logan reached out and shook the woman’s hand. Seeing how nervous she was and the blush coming to her face, he offered a warm smile and said, “Hey, Anthia, I recognize you. Didn’t you serve me a mushroom omelet at the inn this morning?”
Anthia laughed and nodded. “Yeah, that was me. I usually do breakfast and lunch, so if you’re at the inn’s dining room tomorrow morning, I’ll be there too.”
“Well, I look forward to seeing you. In the meantime, I want to make sure Jinx gets home all right, since she’s had a bit too much to drink.”
Anthia smirked at Jinx. “My thoughts exactly, and luckily we came in my car.”
“Then you will get her home?”
“Absolutely.”
Jinx pursed her delicious lips, lifted her chin, and strutted off with her friend. Without giving him another word or so much as a backward glance.
Just as he had done to her seven years ago.
2
Jinx loved the sunny weather that revved up the resort town of Greenport as the summer months came in. Since the North Fork was only a skinny strip of land with the bays on one side and Long Island Sound on the other, both leading out to the Atlantic Ocean, boating and water sports brought tourists to the area, including the big yachts that docked at the marinas in Greenport, which had been an old whaling port in centuries past. Now it was one of the prettiest towns on the Fork, and the place where Jinx and her friend Bailey had decided to open their shop two and a half years ago.
Its name was a combination of Bailey and Jinx—Bajinx.
Even though they had another full-time salesperson and had hired one more for the busy summer season, Bailey and Jinx also worked in the store today because it was one of those special Sundays when Greenport had events going on in nearby Mitchell Park as well as at three of the marinas. Business had been bustling all day, but by five, things were slowing down. It also looked like it was going to rain, so Jinx sent Neela, the new hire, home for the day.
“Do you want to leave too, Bailey?” Jinx asked her. “I know you were worried about little Rosie being fussy this morning.” Rosie was Bailey and Devyn’s seven-month-old baby, who was named after Bailey’s late mother.
“Would you mind, Jinx? I know we were going to stay open until seven and—”
“Hey, I respect what a dedicated mom you are.” She gave Bailey a hug. “And you were away from Rosie for so long yesterday at Lexi’s wedding. Where you made a beautiful matron of honor, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Bailey said, and closed up the file she had been working on for one of her lotion products. “Speaking of Lexi’s wedding, why didn’t you take part when she tossed her bouquet? I mean, Lexi caught mine at the last wedding and look what happened.”
Jinx shrugged. “Why bother? I’m never going to marry. It’s not in the cards for me.”
Bailey tsked. “I used to think the same thing, but look how wrong I was.”
Handing Bailey her shoulder bag, Jinx said, “No time to talk about it now. Rosie is waiting.”
Her friend took the bag and headed for the door, saying, “Okay, but this discussion is not over.”
“Give Rosie a kiss for me.”
Jinx turned and strolled across the polished wooden floor of the shop, checking the displays and rearranging some. The store always smelled great thanks to Bailey’s handmade scented soaps and lotions and candles. When the two women had first decided to mix Bailey’s handcrafted products with Jinx’s jewelry in the same store, they were not sure if it would work. But somehow it had. They’d even started taking on some additional merchandise crafted by local artisans.
A light summer rain had begun and the people strolling the town sidewalks to browse the shops had gone home or back to their docked yachts, so it was definitely a good time to start setting up her latest line of nautical-inspired jewelry. Perfect for the summer boating crowd. Earrings, studs, rings, pins, bracelets, necklaces, and a couple tie tacks since they were coming back in style. Some pieces had anchors, some fish, some were shaped like sailboats or motorboats. One broach was a water-skier; another was a more abstract mix of waves. These were all cast in silver, her favorite metal, some with gems, some plain.
Pouring herself a coffee and setting it on a nearby counter, Jinx played with her display, looking at different ways to design it, enjoying every minute. Even though she and Bailey also sold their inventory online, Jinx was a tactile person who preferred the physical world, loved holding objects in her hands and, even better, creating something new with her hands, which was no doubt one reason she had become a jewelry maker.
When Jinx finished the display, she went back to their POS area where she also kept a calendar for the pickup dates of commissions, her special pieces of jewelry made to order. The bells over the shop door jingled and she looked up.
No. Not two days in a row.
