“Oh shoot,” Linda exclaimed. “Maggie, we have to go. We need to fetch the kids and then pick up Isabel and Emma.”
She paused. She felt the small involuntary stiffening in her shoulders as she remembered who else would be coming.
Penny. Darius’s partner.
Linda gave herself a sharp talking-to as she opened the car door. It was none of her business who Darius’s partner was. Good grief, she had only met the man twice. What was wrong with her? She shook the thought off, slid into the driver’s seat, and turned the key.
Half an hour later, Linda pulled into the reserved parking spot near the festival grounds at the marina. Because there were so many of them, Linda had taken Isabel and Penny in her car, while Maggie had taken all four children in hers. The arrangement had worked beautifully. The kids had been a small joyful tornado in Maggie’s back seat, and Linda had gotten to spend a quiet thirty minutes getting to know her two passengers.
Isabel was warm and a little shy. The grief beneath the surface was visible but never imposing. She’d told Linda quietly duringthe drive that she’d been a widow for two years, that she’d lost her son and daughter-in-law three years ago, and that she was raising Emma. The way Isabel said Emma’s name had stopped Linda’s heart for a moment. Her heart squeezed for Isabel, and she made a mental note to get Maggie to talk to her, as she’d also lost her son and daughter-in-law, which is why she was raising her grandson, Toby. Linda’s jaw clenched when she thought about Maggie’s other loss. Her good-for-nothing husband, who was hanging onto her, was trying to get half of her friends’ business.
She took a soft breath to calm herself after thinking about Maggie’s ex and glanced in the mirror at Penny.
Penny was sharper and funnier, even if she was a great deal more guarded than Isabel. She had warmed up by the end of the drive, though. By the time Linda had parked, she had decided she actually liked both of these women. They were lovely, the pair of them.
The festival grounds were already humming. Stalls lined both sides of the small marina boardwalk. The smell of fried dough and grilled corn drifted in the warm air. A bluegrass band was setting up on the small wooden stage at the far end of the boardwalk, the fiddler tuning up in slow, lazy passes. Children chased each other between the stalls. Sweet Blossom Bay had come out to play.
“This is gorgeous,” Isabel breathed, looking around. “Just gorgeous.”
“It only gets better,” Linda promised. “Wait until tonight when the lights come on.”
The four children spotted the funnel cake stand at the same instant and made a beeline for it. Maggie shouted after them about manners and money, and was largely ignored. Linda laughed and reached into her bag for her wallet.
They wove through the stalls slowly. Linda and Maggie introduced Isabel and Penny to half the town within the first thirty minutes. The Carluccis from Sweet Bay Pizza. Mrs. Devereaux, with her cardigan and her enormous straw bag. The Petersens. Old Mr. Carmichael, who’d been running the marina forever. The bluegrass band’s fiddler waved at Maggie as they passed the stage, and Maggie waved back with easy familiarity.
As they neared a booth Linda saw another familiar face. Dr. Owen Reed was making his way through the crowd toward them with his easy, long-legged gait. He was carrying a small white paper bag in one hand and a cardboard tray of coffee in the other.
“Owen,” Linda greeted warmly. “Hello.”
“Hello, Linda. I heard about George,” Owen replied, his face softening with concern. “How is he doing?”
“He’s recovering well, thank you. He should be home in a week or so,” Linda told him.
“That’s wonderful news. Send him my best. Tell him I’ll come by the hotel as soon as he’s up to visitors.” Owen smiled, and his eyes moved past her to Maggie, whom he greeted with a big smile, and then turned to the newcomer.
“Owen, this is Isabel, and this is Penny. They are visiting from Miami for the summer. Isabel, Penny, this is Dr. Owen Reed. Owen runs the Sweet Blossom Bay Marina and Historical Society, and he has just recently bought the Bay Café.”
“Pleasure to meet you both,” Owen said warmly, shaking their hands.
“How long have you owned the Bay Café?” Isabel asked. “I remember that place has been in this town for years.”
“Just over a month,” Owen answered with a small rueful laugh. “And I am not going to lie to you. It is busier than I had bargained for. I bought it because I love that little place, and I couldn’t bear to see it go to someone who didn’t. But I’m running the Marina and the Society on top of it. Three jobs are at least one too many.”
“Have you got help?” Maggie asked.
“That’s the trouble,” Owen sighed. “I’ve been looking for a manager for three weeks. Someone reliable who can run the floor, handle the staff, and let me step away when I need to. I haven’t found the right person yet. The two I’ve interviewed so far were either looking for something they’d already done a hundred times or weren’t quite the right fit for the café’s feel.”
“What experience would the person need?” Isabel asked.
Owen turned to look at her properly. Linda noticed the small, steady attention in his eyes when he did.
“Honestly?” Owen answered. “I’m looking for a needle in a haystack at this point. I need someone I can trust. Someone with a good head for business, who can manage the staff and the floor. Right now, I don’t even mind if they’ve never worked in a café before, so long as they have the business sense and the temperament for it.”
“That’s quite specific,” Isabel commented thoughtfully.
“It is,” Owen agreed. “And I have not found the person yet.”
There was a small pause, just long enough for Linda to notice the way Isabel’s eyes had stayed on Owen’s face a half second longer than they needed to before Owen’s phone rang in his pocket.
