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CHAPTERNINETEEN
Sandcastles was as busy as usual when the four met for coffee the next morning. The bright sun had chased away the worst of the morning chill, and Claire, Maxi, Jane, and Andie took a table outside, even though the weather was still a bit brisk. Inside, the chatter of customers wafted out the door whenever Hailey came out to refill their coffee mugs.
“Brrr…” Maxi pulled her white waffle sweater tighter around her.
“Won’t be long until there’s a layer of frost in the morning.” Andie shivered.
“Then the trees will start to turn. That’s always pretty and brings in leaf-peeping tourists,” Claire said.
“And then, after that, snow!” Jane sounded happy about that, and the others stared at her. “What? It’s pretty on the beach and makes the town look like a Hallmark movie.”
“I guess it does have its appeal.” Maxi picked a corn muffin off the tray of pastries that Claire had set in the middle of the table. She tried to feed a tiny piece to Cooper, who was sitting between her and Jane, when Jane stopped her.
“I think Cooper has been getting enough treats,” Jane said kindly. “Liz has been feeding him snacks at Tides. He needs to keep his trim figure.”
Maxi made a sympathetic face at the dog, who was looking up at her with eager brown eyes. “Sorry, buddy, looks like you’re on a diet.” She turned to Jane. “Speaking of Liz, how is your guest?”
“She’s great. She seems to have bonded with Cooper and said he reminded her of the dog she used to have.” Jane stirred cream into her coffee. “She does seem a bit lonely.”
Claire frowned. “Why is she staying at Tides? Her house is right in town. Seems more convenient to stay there.”
Jane shrugged. “Bad childhood memories.”
“Good thing we don’t have those, it would be hard to run the inn.” Andie smiled at Jane over the rim of her mug.
“Darn tootin’—your folks were salt of the earth. Addie still is.” Sally Littlefield had been up on a ladder, fixing part of the awning. She’d known their parents. Heck, she knew most of the people in town. She smiled down at them then zeroed in on Andie. “What’s with the scowl on your face?”
“Who, me?” Andie didn’t realize she’d been scowling. Truth was, though, her mind wasn’t totally on the conversation. Talk of Liz had gotten her excited about going to see her family treasures, but then that had reminded her of the Civil War soldier she’d had no luck in tracing. “Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Still no luck finding your Civil War guy?” Claire asked.
“Unfortunately, no.”
Sally came down from the ladder and stood beside the table, wiping her hands on a towel. “What’s this about a Civil War guy?”
Andie told her about the find from the estate.
“Did you look in the Civil War archives over in Arundel?”
Andie paused. “There’s a place that specializes in Civil War data?”
“Yep, got all kinds of information on the battles and soldiers. Names, dates, and descendants.” Sally started packing up her tools. “It’s all fixed, Claire. I’ll send you a bill at the end of the month.”
“Great. Thanks!”
“She’s a real gem.” Jane and Andie had hired Sally to do a lot of work at Tides. “If only I could find someone like Sally to run the inn.”
“Kristie’s cousin didn’t work out?” Claire asked.
Jane snorted. “She was a little… modern for my taste. And then someone emailed me from the classified ad I took out but then never showed for the interview.”
“Aww… Don’t worry, you’ll find someone.”
“Morning, ladies!” Bert and Henry stopped by the table, a look of sad longing in their eyes as they stooped to pet Cooper. The stooping came with some creaking and groaning. The two men had to be pushing eighty, but they were the sweetest men in town.
Bert glanced up at Maxi. “How’s the portrait going?”
Maxi’s stomach plummeted. She didn’t have the heart to disappoint them with the truth.
