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Brooke grinned. “I’m better than either of you at bargain hunting. I can help Charlie with decorating.”
“Great,” said Charlotte with genuine enthusiasm. “All the public areas need to be taken apart and put back together again with a fresh look. Maybe even changing things from one room to another. There’s lots of acceptable stuff to work with, and we can use any bargains you can find.”
“Okay,” said Brooke. “As the financial manager of this project, I say no expenditure will take place without the three of us agreeing. Before that can happen, we need to price out all equipment and other things and prepare a detailed capital budget so we can track expenditures. Agreed?”
Charlotte nodded alongside Livy, pleased to see Brooke take on that role. Brooke was the youngest and the past had allowed them to boss her around. This summer would be interesting with a rotating change of power because they each had enough of Gran within them to want to be in charge.
“I’m going up for a shower,” said Livy. “I’m a mess after cleaning some of the kitchen.”
“See you later,” said Charlotte. “I’m going to take a walk on the beach. Let’s meet up later for margaritas.”
After they all agreed, Charlotte headed outdoors and onto the beach. It would be natural to get in touch with Shane while she was in Miami, wouldn’t it? She shook her head and gazed out at the Gulf waters. She was fascinated by him, but this was a time to be away from all that social pressure.
“Hey, Charlie!”
Charlotte turned at the sound of the voice. Dylan Hendrix, Grace’s brother, headed toward her, smiling.
“Hi, Dylan,” Charlotte said cheerfully. Dylan was a nice guy, a little off-beat, and a successful artist who’d been lucky enough to have sold one of his early works to a movie star who featured it in a photo shoot of his house. With that, Dylan’s career took off in a hurry.
“We didn’t get a chance to talk at the party. What’s going on with you?” Dylan asked her.
Charlotte filled him in on the plans to spend the summer helping Gran and John get the Inn back on track. “How about you?”
“Mimi asked me to spend some time here, and I thought it would be interesting to use this location for some interesting new projects. She’s given me the use of her garage to make it happen.”
“The colors here are so gorgeous,” said Charlotte. “I can already imagine how beautiful your paintings will be.” Dylan created large, bold abstracts, not like Jackson Pollock, but with the same free expression. She loved his work.
They continued talking about their lives. Dylan lived in Santa Fe and had a studio there. When he asked her about New York, Charlotte shook her head.
“It’s such an empty existence for me. Sure, I’m social and like fashion, but not as everything in my life. That’s how a part of society in the city lives. I’m just glad to be away.”
“No men in your life?”
“Nope, and none in the foreseeable future,” said Charlotte. ‘I’m here to help Gran and to take a break from all that.”
He gave her a knowing look and smiled. As he did, his blue eyes lit, changing his craggy features into a decidedly handsome face. His brown hair, highlighted from the sun, was pulled back into a ponytail and gave him an interesting appearance.
She chuckled. “How about you? Any girlfriends?”
“I broke up with a woman I’d been dating for a while. We wanted different things.” He raised a hand to stop her. “No, it wasn’t what you think. I want a family, and she didn’t. Weird, huh?”
“Yeah, but I understand. Some women don’t want kids.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Like you?”
Charlotte shook her head and sighed. “Just haven’t met the right person yet. My mother wanted me to marry a man I’ve known all my life. Only problem is, he’s gay and has carefully hidden it.”
“It’s better for him if he comes out. Grace was a mess until she did, but we knew all along,” said Dylan. “My parents, Mimi, and I are okay with it.”
“Livy talked to Grace about her restaurant. She may do some work for her.”
“Nice. Funny how we’re all here. It was a great idea to get us together.” He gave her a wave. “Gotta go. I promised to pick up my cousin, Adam, and his little girl at the airport.”
He trotted away, and Charlotte remembered that Adam Atkins was a single father with a four-year-old girl. The poor child’s mother had ditched them both. She thought back to times growing up when Adam, a big, athletic kid, had been the leader of most of the sports activities all the kids in the cove played together before everyone went their separate ways. Brendan, his brother, wasn’t going to come to the cove until later. His wife just had a baby boy.
Still lost in thought about the people she’d known growing up, Charlotte stopped in surprise when she came face to face with Shane. Her heart skipped a beat. “What are you doing here? I thought you went back to Miami.”
“Granny Liz asked me to return for dinner. She wants all of us to be together for this reunion as much as possible.”
