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“I think you’re right. That might be the thing to get them to finally sell this place to Rosey.”
The bell above the door rang again, and I glanced up to see Sutton enter. When she spied us, she raced over.
“Have you seen it?” she asked.
My stomach dropped when I saw the newspaper in her hand.
“Seen what?” Brax asked.
Sutton put the paper down on the counter, took off her coat, then sat down. “I’ll take a hot tea, please.”
I stared at her. “Do you really think I’m going to go get you something when you slap the paper down on the counter and tease me like that? The only reason you’d ask us if we’ve ‘seen it’ is if a special edition of the stupid column came out.”
She nodded. “Fair enough. I’ll get my own tea.”
“Christ,” Brax mumbled as he opened the paper and found the column.
“What does it say?” I demanded while he narrowed his eyes and read. When he didn’t say anything, I asked again, “What does it say?!”
He looked up, sighed, then slid it over to me. I snatched it up and read.
* * *
THE SEASIDE CHRONICLE
December 27, 2022
CREATING A WAKE – SPECIAL EDITION
Seasiders,
It was a busy holiday for some folks in the area. I had a hard time trying to figure out what to report in this special edition. Both pieces of news will be causing a bit of a wake, there’s no doubt about it. So I’ll get right to it.
At a Christmas party his parents put on, Deacon Parker was overheard saying that he intends to open a fishing charter business come spring. Now, as we all know, Seaside already has a successful fishing charter that Mr. Braxton Bradley owns and runs. A little seagull planted in my ear that Mr. Parker stated he could do a better job at it than Mr. Bradley. Now, I, like you, enjoy a good piece of gossip, but this is downright wrong as everyone knows Mr. Parker couldn’t catch a fish if someone put it on his line. Consider this a heads up to Seaside’s very own Catch of the Season to watch his back.
I also heard out on the docks that our town doctor might have had a blast from the past pay him a visit. Dr. Zaddy…er…Dr. Bryan was seen the day after Christmas in the Seaside Grill having a heated conversation with a beautiful brunette with striking blue eyes. I’m told someone overheard a bit of the conversation, and it led them to believe that the mystery woman—who, I might add, is still in Seaside—is none other than the doc’s ex-wife. Yikes, did we just discover another love triangle in our small little town?
Stay tuned as I keep my ear to the docks.
Fair winds and following seas!
Ms. Seaside
* * *
I nearly let out a scream as I looked up at my brother. Sutton leaned over to Brax and said, “I ordered your usual breakfast for you.”
Brax gave her a head nod. “Thanks, sis.”
“Love triangle? Love. Triangle?” I ground out between clenched teeth.
Sutton nodded. “I thought that part was interesting too. At least she didn’t mention you spent Christmas with Mason and his family.”
I slowly shook my head. “She didn’t mention it because no one knows except you guys and Harlee.” Focusing back on Brax, I nearly reached across the counter and slapped him. “Why are you smiling?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t know I was.”
“Well, you were.”
Sutton giggled. “Maybe it’s because for the first time, Ms. Seaside took his side.”
He turned to Sutton. “She did, didn’t she?”
After taking a sip of her tea, she put it down and replied, “She sure did. I found that interesting as well. Seems to me, Ms. Seaside doesn’t care for Deacon. Or at least, she likes you better than him.”
I narrowed my eyes at them. “Okay, but can we get back to the fact that she knows Ashley is Mason’s ex? Why would she write that? And why does she have to bring stupid Deacon in on all of this? ”
My two siblings both shrugged before Brax said, “Because it’s gossip and that’s what she writes, Palmer. Are you okay?”
“Yes! No! I…I don’t know.”
They both stared at me like I’d grown two heads. I exhaled. “I’m worried about Charlie. I don’t want people to start gossiping about him and his family when he’s trying to get settled in.”
Sutton raised one brow. “Is it just Charlie you’re worried about?”
“Of course it is,” I snapped back a little too quickly. Deciding to change the way the conversation was going, I looked at Brax. “We need to find out who this is.”
“Agreed.”
The bell rang, indicating an order was up. “I’ll be right back,” I said, then dashed to pick up the food and drop it off at a table. After refilling a few cups of coffee, getting orange juice cleaned up that a five-year-old spilled, and trying to explain to Mrs. Parsons that I already knew her grandson, Blake, was single and handsome, I finally made my way back to Sutton and Brax. Their breakfasts were in front of them, and they were both eating.
