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I realize I haven’t answered Lucy. “My friends went home to San Diego. So did I, but I realized …” Can I trust this woman? There’s something completely open and golden about her, and typically I’m a fairly good judge of character. Learning to read people well is Politics 101 and essential for survival in the royal family. But I’m going to need someone’s help if I want to succeed at my mission. Might as well be Lucy of The Green Robin.
Leaning back in my lime-colored chair, I twirl a piece of hair around my fingertip. “I realized that planning Shelby’s wedding was not enough. I’ve decided to plan another wedding here, and on extremely short notice.”
Lucy opens her mouth to say something else, but a beefy man who resembles the French chef from the cartoonLittle Mermaidmovie calls to her from the doorway that leads into the restaurant. “Lucy!” With his hairy arms, swooping mustache, and hulking stature—along with a scowl he’s wearing like an accessory—he looks comically out of place underneath the bright and happy yellow-and-white-striped awnings, surrounded on either side by pink walls. But his clearly annoyed voice grates against the peace of the patio.
I hope I haven’t gotten Lucy into trouble, but she just rolls her eyes with a smile. “Sounds like Tiny needs me.”
A very improper and unladylike snort leaves my nose. “Tiny?”
“Right?” Lucy’s eyes sparkle. “Okay, so you’re planning a wedding. Have you talked with Rhonda over at Something Blue yet?”
“We met with her last week to discuss Shelby’s wedding, but I wasn’t able to connect with her yesterday.” Which is when, in fact, I decided to drive the eight hours north from San Diego to Hallmark Beach. I’m not usually that spontaneous, but when you get a brilliant idea and you’re free of a bodyguard for the first time in a good while, you jump at the chance to execute said idea.
Even if it’s a bit of an outlandish one.
Lucy eases herself off the railing and holds a finger up to Tiny, who is now pacing in the doorway. The few patrons who are left on the patio eye him warily, but Lucy isn’t fazed. “Oh, that’s right. She’s out of town camping with her boyfriend and doesn’t have very good cell service.”
With wedding season quickly approaching? That feels all kinds of irresponsible—and unfortunate for me. Looks like I’m going to be dusting off my party-planning skills, then. “Is there any way I can get a list of vendors here in town, especially venues?”
“My friend Elisse might still have a key to Something Blue. She used to work there part-time before her parents hired her on at their winery. I can check for you.” Lucy frowns. “But to be honest, there aren’t a lot of vendors around here. We’ve got one bakery, one florist, one inn. We host our share of weddings, but most people just hold them on the beach or at the inn.”
Hmm. Topher wouldn’t want public exposure like that. He’d want something tucked away, private. But surely there’s a place around here that will suffice. I just have to find it. “I’ll take any list you might have. When can I meet you to get that?”
Lucy moves toward the doorway that Tiny has finally vacated. “Let me talk with Elisse and I’ll get word to you at the inn. But it might not be until tomorrow. I’m working all day here and then have a few things to help get ready for the festival this weekend.”
“Festival?”
“The March Madness Wine and Art Festival.” Lucy walks backward, her arms outstretched to match the smile on her face. “One of Hallmark Beach’s finest. Have you noticed it’s a bit busier than last week?”
“I thought it was due to spring break.”
“That too.” Lucy stops again, which earns her a growling “Luuuuucy!” from inside the restaurant. “The festival’s Saturday and Sunday, but people who come every year like to spend the whole week. I’m surprised you got a room at the Seashell at all, to be honest.”
Janinedidsay something about a cancellation when I arrived at the inn last night, but I was too tired to think much of it.
Another bellow echoes from inside.
Lucy turns. “I thought we talked about not growling in front of the customers, Tiny!” Then she pivots back to me and winks. “I’ll let you know right quick about the list, all right?”
“Much obliged.”
The woman ducks inside the restaurant again, leaving me to pay my bill and finish off my lemonade.
Yes, Hallmark Beach tastes of freedom, all right.
Freedom … and hope.
And after I talk with Topher, maybe it’ll taste of purpose too.
* * *
A quarter-hour later, I exit The Green Robin onto Main Street and breathe in another stitch of my independence. It smells like coconut sunscreen, like the earth after a rain. It’s the juxtaposition of the beach on one side of Main Street, a dense grove of trees on the other. From what I ascertained during my visit with Lauren and Shelby, Main Street is an oblong horseshoe. It begins at the highway and travels west until it veers north through the downtown area and then heads east again and up a hill where it becomes Hillside Drive. This is where the majority of people live, in the section of town overlooking downtown and the beach.
I love how this town isn’t just one thing. Yes, it’s beach but it’s also forest. And it’s adorable with its happy pastel buildings that have colored-inspired names like The Bluestocking Bookshop, The Pink Rose Florist Shop, and The Golden Highlight Hair Salon. But then, between The Blackberry Muffin and The White Mocha is Al’s Grocery—as if some old codger decided to buck the system.
Kind of like a princess who doesn’t want to accept the way the media paints her, who seizes the opportunity to run off without a bodyguard, even if it’s just for a day. I feel an affinity for this mysterious Al and want to promptly file into the grocery store to hug him.
But that would be strange—and decidedly improper—and though my mother was once a commoner and is the most grace-filled person alive, evenshemight think that was going too far.
