Page 29 of Coastal Reflections

“Um, sure,” said the clerk. “That’s… fine.”

Elaine hardly waited for him to finish his sentence. She beamed at him, leaving the cart in the empty lane next to his open register and darted out the front door of the grocery store. Townsend’s was only a short walk from Fresh Picks Grocery, but by the time she arrived at the bakery, she was out of breath.

She never stopped to ask herself why she needed to talk to Shep about the review. She could have called Michelle or Audrey, or one of her friends. She never even considered those options. She simply raced toward Shep as if she was dutifully following a script that had already been written for her.

The bakery was bustling with customers, but she pushed her way through the line and rushed past a bewildered Iris, straight for the kitchen. She hardly stopped to think about the fact that it was a forbidden zone that Shep probably didn’t want her to intrude on, no matter how much he liked her. She simply knew that she felt an urgent need to show him what was making her so happy.

“Shep!” she said, her face lighting up when she saw him. He was in the middle of making bread, and there was flour all over the counter, as well as on his hands and his apron. There was even a little smudge of flour on the end of his nose.

“Elaine!” He froze and stared at her, but he didn’t look upset. As a matter of fact, if Elaine had been a little less distracted she might have noticed that he looked a little starstruck.

“We got another review!” she blurted, bouncing up and down like an excited child. “Another magazine wrote an article about The Birchwood House, and it’s every bit as glowing as the last one was!”

“What?” Shep made a motion as if he wanted to take her by the shoulders and keep her still. “Elaine, I can’t understand what you’re saying.” He reached for her again, a bit less tentatively, and then he pulled his hands back because they were covered in flour.

Elaine didn’t care at all about the flour. She took his hands in hers and began to dance with him around the kitchen, laughing as she twirled around. Shep looked dazed for a few moments, and he lumbered along with her like a bear trying to walk on two legs for the first time, but then he started to relax into it. He spun around with her to the rhythm of an imaginary song, giving her a bemused smile.

“One more time,” he said a bit breathlessly once they finally stopped dancing. “What did you say? Something good happened—I gathered that much.”

“We got another review,” Elaine gasped, speaking much more slowly because she was out of breath herself. “A really good one. And this magazine is even bigger than the last one was.”

“That’s wonderful news.” Satisfaction glinted in Shep’s eyes. “I knew you could do it. I’m sure there will be many more stellar reviews after this.”

“Soon we’re going to be booked up for months,” Elaine said, shaking her head in wonderment as a little burst of gratitude exploded in her chest. “We’ve got all sorts of bookings going into November, and people have already sent emails about coming and staying at the hotel during Christmas.”

“Wonderful.” Shep’s grin was real and encouraging. Elaine could hardly believe he was capable of making such a joyful expression.

She squealed and threw her arms around him, upsetting the bowl of dry ingredients with her hand. It flung a cloud of flour into the air, and the white powder swirled around them, dusting their shoulders and hair like a light frosting of snow.

During the first second of the hug, Shep stayed rigid, clearly startled by the embrace. Elaine, undaunted by his hesitation, just hugged him harder.

He’s my best friend, she realized, and the revelation was so shocking and so delightful that she started to laugh.

Shep started to laugh too, and he hugged her back. They stood in the middle of Shep’s kitchen, hugging for a long time, covered in flour and laughing.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“Come on, Audrey, it’ll be fun. We could both use a little retail therapy right now. Or a lot—who knows? Common Thread does tend to have really awesome deals.”

Audrey smiled at Penelope, who was walking beside her. The two friends had arranged to go shopping at Common Thread together, one of Coral Sands’ clothing boutiques. Audrey had mentioned to Penelope that she needed more sweaters, especially as winter was approaching, and Penelope had insisted that they go shopping together. Although Audrey was feeling grateful for her friend and she was looking forward to picking out new clothes, she felt bogged down emotionally because of Clark. The text he’d sent her about pursuing legal action if she didn’t hand over the grandfather clock had rattled her badly. She wanted to be fun and make sure that Penelope had a good time, but she was having trouble staying cheery under the circumstances.

“Thanks, Penelope. I’m sure it’ll be great. I’m just tired.”

“You’re not tired, you’re tired of thinking about your ex. As you should be—he’s not worth wasting brain space on. Come on, let’s have a great time and forget all men for a while—and yes, that includes Evan.”

Audrey laughed. She didn’t think she wanted to forget all about Evan, since he had been the one thing in her life lately that allowed her to feel totally relaxed. Even spending time with Elaine and Michelle wasn’t quite the same. Evan made her feel safe and at ease. She did, however, want to forget all about Clark.

“Taking a break from thinking about men is fine with me,” she said. “Although I want to get your opinion on how I look in the color emerald green, since it might be a certain person’s favorite color.”

“Mm, I’ll let that slide even though I’m pretty sure you just broke the rules,” Penelope said with a wink. “Sure.”

“I’m sorry I’m such a blob lately,” Audrey said with a sigh. “I was down when we got dinner with Harper and I still am.”

Penelope shook her head emphatically. “You have every right to be a blob right now—or a spikey little hedgehog or whatever else you feel like you need to be. You’re dealing with a lot. Not everyone can repress their emotions and act like everything is totally fine when it totally isn’t the way I can.”

Audrey laughed and hugged her friend. “You can’t ever fool me. I know you’re still struggling with your situation too. And I’m sorry. Has it gotten any better?”

Penelope shook her head with a sigh. “Not really—Robert is still refusing to sign the divorce papers. Although I haven’t brought it up with him that many times because he’s also still avoiding me. But overall, I feel better. Now that I’ve actually made the decision on my end, I feel lighter. It still makes me sad, but that dilemma was weighing me down and causing me a lot of sleepless nights. Now I don’t have to worry about it anymore, at least not in the same way. I just have to worry about how to convince my husband to become my ex-husband.”