Claire Turner took a sip of her dark roast coffee as she watched Maxi whip up a quick sketch of the front of Claire’s bakery and cafe on the white napkin she’d plucked from the center of the table. They were seated at one of the round tables nestled on the sidewalk outside. The sun was shining, and Claire could almost hear the ocean waves crashing on the beach at the end of the road.
“Jane is coming, isn’t she?” Maxi split her attention between the napkin and the front of the bakery before ducking her head again to add a potted plant near the door.
“I think so. She texted me earlier and told me she had to visit with Addie first.” Claire looked down the street to see if she could spot Jane. She usually walked up from Tides, as it was only a few blocks away. “You don’t think something’s wrong with Addie, do you?”
Maxi glanced up. “I hope not.” The breeze tugged at the strands of silvery blond hair that had slid over Maxi’s shoulder from her ponytail. Today she wore a loose pale-yellow skirt and flowing white blouse. Maxi was dressing more casual lately. Maybe her bank-president husband—whom Claire suspected influenced Maxi’s typically more formal appearance—was loosening up. It was about time.
“Her coffee must be cold by now.” Claire touched the cup, finding it lukewarm beneath her fingers. “I’ll go refresh this. I’m sure she’ll be here any minute.”
Claire brought the mug inside. The cafe was busy—customers sipping coffees, working on laptops, reading the papers. She waved to her regulars, Harry and Bert, who were seated at their usual table in the corner. And to think that just a few weeks ago the place had been flooded, and she’d feared she would be out of business.
Thankfully that didn’t happen. Rob Bradford, who had opened the bread store across the street, had saved the day. Ironic, too, because at first Claire had feared that Bradford Breads would put her out of business. But it had all worked out, and luckily Ralph Marchand had been able to replace all the pipes in her shop in record time. Though the free pastries she’d supplied him with every day might have helped with that.
Hailey, her assistant, gave Claire a perky smile and brushed away some of the hair haphazardly falling into her face. “We just got an order for a sandcastle cake to be delivered Saturday. I quoted the usual price.” Hailey referred to Claire’s signature confection—a cake built from hand-cut cake layers shaped like a sandcastle and frosted with sugar-coated fondant that resembled sand.
“Great. I’ll take a look at the order in a bit.” Claire passed the mug over the counter to Hailey. “Would you mind dumping this and refilling it? Jane’s late, and it got cold.”
“Of course.” Hailey took the mug cheerfully.
Hailey was really more than just an assistant. In fact, Claire didn’t know what she’d do without her. Claire was grateful the plumbing issue hadn’t affected Hailey. She was a single mother with a daughter to support. But that had been mostly due to Rob. He’d seen a way for Hailey to help them both out and earn more money at it too, though Claire knew the extra money Rob was paying her was due more to his generous heart than the extra work. But she was happy Hailey could make more. The girl deserved it.
Claire owed a lot to Rob. She snuck a peek across the street hoping to catch a glimpse of him inside his store and couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Though they’d started off with a business relationship, it had turned into much more. A pang of guilt shot through her as she thought about Jane and Maxi.
Was it wrong that her life seemed to have come together in an unexpected but wonderful way while her friends appeared to be having problems?
“Here’s Jane’s coffee, just the way she likes it.” Hailey held out the mug.
“Thanks.” Claire took the mug, looked toward Bradford Breads one more time, wiped the silly smile off her face, and then headed back outside.
She and Jane reached the table at the same time. “Brought you a fresh coffee. How’s your mom?”
“She’s doing great, actually.” Jane hugged Claire, then Maxi, and sat down, pulling the mug in front of her. “Sorry I’m late. Sandee came by the inn.”
Claire made a face.
“Yech,” Maxi said.
“I know. I had asked Dorian Wells to see how much Tides was worth—you know, just in case—and it turns out she’s sick so I got Sandee. I told her to take a hike, though. Turns out selling Tides isn’t going to help me out.”
“You didn’t want to sell anyway, did you?” Maxi asked.
Jane stared into her mug. “I promised my mother that I wouldn’t, but I’m not sure I’m cut out for running an inn. Besides, it’s expensive to keep Mom at Tall Pines, and now I’ve found out Medicaid won’t cover her stay.”
“Oh no.” Claire pushed the plate with the chocolate chip muffin on it toward Jane.
Her friend picked at the wrapper mechanically, peeling it away from the muffin beneath one side at a time.
A bit distracted by something behind Claire, Maxi tore the top from the blueberry muffin that had been sitting in front of her while she sketched. “What do you mean? I thought you said your mother has no retirement savings to speak of.”
“She doesn’t. Apparently, she’d taken out all their retirement savings over the years to put into the inn.”
“Can you pay for her to stay at Tall Pines?” Claire knew that business had been down at Tides. Jane had staff to pay, and if no one was staying there, how could she make enough?
“Well, that’s what I need your help for. I need to figure out how to bring in more money at Tides. The place is in disrepair, and I have no idea how to attract customers.” She stuffed another piece of muffin into her mouth, drowning out whatever else she had been about to say.
Maxi started clucking and cooing under her breath. With a frown, Claire twisted to look behind her. She spotted a shy tabby in the shadow of one of the potted plants, looking wary. Maxi waved a piece of her blueberry muffin, trying to entice the feline closer.
“Do cats even like blueberry muffins?” She might have better luck with a salmon muffin. Not that Claire thought she’d be able to sell one of those to anyone but a cat. And cats only paid in glares and disdainful flicks of their tails. At least that was what her own cat, Urchin, did.
“I guess we’ll find out.” Maxi wiggled the piece of muffin, but the cat continued to stare at her with uncertainty.
Jane swallowed the last of her chocolate chip muffin and chased it down with a sip of coffee. “This is really good, Claire. I missed these.”
“I have my own kitchen back now, so I can bake the way I’m used to. It was nice of Rob to let me use his, but things just didn’t seem to come out as good over there.”
Jane teased, “You mean you weren’t holding back out of fear that Rob would steal the recipe?”
“No, I’ve made them for Rob before.”
Her two friends ooohed like they were back in high school again. Maxi resumed waggling her fingers at the wary cat.
Claire willed the heat warming her cheeks away. She knew her friends were happy that she and Rob had connected, but the relationship still felt too new to talk about much. Claire steered away from the topic of her and Rob. “We were talking about Tides. What are you doing to get more customers?”
The teasing twinkle in Jane’s eye flattened beneath the weight of the situation. “Not much, if I’m honest. Mom never did anything. Tourists always seemed to flock to the inn on their own. I know it’s a bit run-down and that’s part of the problem, but I’ll have Sally do some fixes. The truth is I’m not sure what to do to get more people to stay there.”
Maxi broke off another piece of muffin and waved it under the table. Absently, she said, “Why don’t you do some of the things Claire was doing when she thought Bradford Breads was going to run her out of business?”
“I can text Tammi. She’s an expert.” As Claire spoke, she was already pulling her phone out of the pocket of her apron. “You probably can’t have a three-for-one sale like I did, but you could put out some newspaper ads or get in touch with the radio station for an ad there. Awareness is half the battle. Maybe you aren’t getting as many bookings because more people are using Airbnb. You have to do something to make Tides stand out.”
Hope sparked in Jane’s eyes. “It would be great if things picked up with ads. I mean, Tides is in a premium location on the beach. That would make it stand out, wouldn’t it?”
Claire nodded as she typed a quick message into her phone and hit Send. “There. Tammi is probably sleeping right now, but I’ll let you know what she says, and we can go from there.”
Maxi cooed and clucked her tongue. “That’s it, I’m not so scary.”
Claire glanced over her shoulder to see that the tabby had tentatively emerged from the shadow of the potted plant. She tucked away her phone and frowned as she tried to think. “From what I remembered from when I asked her, she told me ads were big in the paper, but you also want to do things online. Have you kept the inn’s website up to date?”
Jane opened her mouth then shut it again. She reached for the chocolate croissant on the plate in the center of the table. Her voice emerged as a squeak. “Website?”
“You must have a website,” Claire said. “I had to update mine. It only had one page with some pictures, but Tammi convinced me to have someone revamp it. It’s not that expensive, but she said it’s necessary.”
Jane frowned. “I guess we have an old one too. Honestly, I haven’t even looked at it in ages.”
Claire whipped out her phone again, this time texting Jane. “I’m passing along the names of three web designers I got for mine. I ended up using Rachel Sanders. She was booked a few months out, so you might not want to wait for her. The others seemed good too.”
“Great, thanks.” Jane was trying to sound in control but looked overwhelmed.
“Aha! There you are, you handsome fellow.” Triumphant, Maxi leaned down and scooped the cat into her lap. For a moment, it stood stiff and wary, but as she started to pet it, the cat settled into her and started to purr. Maxi smiled as she stroked the tabby’s fur.
Claire couldn’t help but smile too. “He knows how much you like cats.” Maxi was forever monopolizing Urchin’s attention whenever she came to visit Claire at her cottage, but Claire didn’t mind. Maxi was clearly a cat lover. “You should get one of your own.”
Although she continued to pander to the feline, Maxi made a face. “James didn’t seem too keen on that when I broached the subject before.”
Claire seemed to remember something about James not wanting to get animal hair on his expensive suits.
“Sometimes you have to think about what you want, Maxi. I used to think only about what Peter wanted, and look where it got me. A big fat divorce and an ex with a snarky younger wife! I’m much better off now.”
“Yes, but Peter never treated you right,” Maxi pointed out. “It isn’t the same with James at all. He’s thinking about his career, a career he has used to keep us comfortable enough so that I could stay home and raise the kids. Other parents both had to work.”
She had a point about the differences. James wasn’t a bad guy, but at some point, one had to live their dream, and she was certain Maxi wasn’t living hers.
Gently, she told Maxi, “Thinking about myself for a change has been what has gotten me to this point in my life. Look what I have now! I have something of my own, something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m living my dream life.” Claire was proud of the way her life had turned out. Proud of the way she had picked up the pieces after her divorce and been selfish, for once in her life.
She honestly thought that it was high time for Maxi to be a little selfish too.
Maxi nodded. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. But James is loosening up, and things take time. I’m working on him about a pet.”
“Speaking of pets,” Jane said. “I ran into this adorable golden retriever while I was at Tall Pines earlier. His name is Cooper, and he plowed me right over! I fell into a bush.” She laughed, the color rising in her cheeks the only indication that she was a little self-conscious in the retelling.
“He sounds charming,” Claire said, recognizing the twinkle in Jane’s eye, even though it had been a while since she’d seen it. When she spoke of the dog, she all but glowed. And why shouldn’t she? Dogs were in a perpetually good mood. Dogs followed their owners as though they were starved for attention, and they gave as much affection in return. Perhaps Maxi wasn’t the only one of them who needed a pet. Jane had been a widow for a long time, and now that she didn’t have her mother at home, a dog might be a great way to fill that hole.
Claire exchanged a glance with Maxi, who seemed to be thinking the same thing. It had been so long since Jane had allowed herself to care for someone else. From the time her son had died a decade ago, she’d been reluctant to let anyone new into her life in more than a superficial way. And now that her husband was gone, it must be lonely.
Rather than broach the subject just yet, Maxi asked, “Have you heard from Andrea?”
Jane’s expression turned dark, but she shrugged as if she didn’t care. “I’ve tried calling her to talk, but she hasn’t called me back. We’ve exchanged a few texts, but I think the situation is too involved to get into with text messages. Either she’ll call me to talk about it or she won’t hear the details.”
“Oh. Well, I hope she calls,” Claire said.
Jane nodded. “Either way, I’m not sure she’ll be much help. Speaking of which…” Jane picked her bag up from beside her chair and pushed up from the table. “I’d better get going. Lots to do.”
Claire stood too. “Wait. I packaged up a chocolate chip muffin for Addie. I know you, and you’ll be checking on her every night until you know she’s settled in.”
“Thanks, Claire. You’re a good friend. I really appreciate it.”
Claire hugged her tight, letting her know without words how much she was there to support Jane whenever she needed it. She ran in the cafe and grabbed the white bag with the Sandcastles logo. “Here. And give her my best when you see her.”
“I will.”
Still pinned in the chair beneath the stray cat, Maxi suggested, “Why don’t we meet up for drinks later this evening at Splash? Tammi will have texted back by then, don’t you think?”
Claire nodded. “I’m sure she’ll have something for me to send along by then. What do you say, Jane?”
“That sounds really nice, actually.”
“Then it’s settled,” Claire said with satisfaction. She hugged her friend one last time and whispered, “See you later.”
Maxi reluctantly put the tabby down. The cat was well groomed. Its fur was sleek and soft, and it appeared to be well fed. She—or he—probably belonged to somebody, and it wasn’t like Maxi could take it home anyway.
She helped Claire clean up the table and carried half the plates and cups back inside the bakery. She was happy that Claire had reopened, and not only because their weekly breakfasts together could now resume. The last month had been especially tough on Maxi for no good reason. After all, she wasn’t dealing with the stress of redoing the pipes in her business or of balancing a business she barely knew with caring for an ailing mother like her two friends were. No, Maxi had the freedom to do whatever she wanted.
Well, almost whatever she wanted. Her mind turned to the hoard of sketchbooks she kept in the bench at the end of her bed. She hadn’t mentioned to James that she’d kept those after giving up on sketching shortly after she’d had their first child. She sensed he didn’t approve of her taking up the hobby again, as if painting and sketching didn’t befit a bank president’s wife. Maxi loved James with all her heart, but sometimes she didn’t love the way he’d changed with all the responsibility of his position at the bank.
“Hey, Maxi, I’ll take those.” Hailey Robinson reached for the plates with a smile. Maxi had taken a liking to the young mother and she, Jane, and Claire thought of themselves as pseudo-grandmothers for Hailey’s twelve-year-old daughter, Jennifer.
“How’s Jennifer? Enjoying the summer, I hope.” Maxi handed the plates off.
“She’s great. She loved that kite you gave her. Uses it all the time. Why don’t you come down to the beach sometime and help her fly it?”
“I might just do that,” Maxi said. At least it would give her something to do, and James might even approve. Hailey disappeared into the kitchen, and Maxi turned to Claire. “Can I have an almond scone to go?”
“Still hungry?” Claire eyed her as she opened the pastry case. “You ate two muffins.”
Maxi laughed. “It’s for later. I was thinking about taking a sketchbook up to the Marginal Way and doing a pencil sketch of the ocean.”
“Really? That’s great! You haven’t done that since we were kids. I’m glad you’re progressing from napkin sketches,” Claire joked as she plucked a bakery tissue out of a box and reached into the case.
“Well, it’s just a way to pass the time. I found an old sketchbook and figured I’d fill out the pages. Just for fun.”
“You are a talented artist. You could make something out of it if you wanted. When we were kids, you always said you wanted to be an artist when you grew up.”
Maxi remembered that desire well. It was like a rope of regret tugging at her even now. “Well, that wasn’t a very practical ambition, and I’m not really that good.”
Claire slipped the scone into a white bag and folded the top shut. “I’m sure you’re better than you think. Your napkin sketches are lovely, and we’re all our own worst critic, aren’t we?”
Maxi mustered a faint smile. She reached into her purse to pay for the scone. Although Claire would have given it to her for free, it was important to Maxi to support her friend financially by buying the pastries she took home with her.
Claire handed the bag over the counter but kept hold of one end when Maxi grabbed for it. Gently, she said, “It might be good for you to take art up more seriously now that you’ve become an empty nester. How are you adjusting to that now?”
Maxi had shared her feelings with Claire and Jane when her youngest had gone off to college last year. After years of taking kids to sports events, doing laundry, and making sure the kitchen was supplied with snacks and meals, it was a bit of an adjustment. “It’s a change, but I guess I’m getting used to it.”
“It is a big change. Especially for the couples involved. How’s James taking it?”
Maxi shrugged. “He seems okay. He works a lot, but that is usual, so we’re doing fine.”
She kept on a cheerful face for Claire, but there were times when she wondered if the kids had provided a bond for her and James that was no longer there. Things between them were different now. Of course, there were times when he was sweet and considerate just like he had been when they’d first been married. But then there were times when he worked such late hours that he came home only to eat and sleep.
Maxi paid for the scone, then tucked the bag with the scone into her large, striped tote bag for safekeeping. Not wanting to burden her friend with her problems, she changed the subject. “Did you see the way Jane’s face lit up when she was talking about that dog?”
She and Claire moved to the side as another customer approached the cash register. Hailey took over to serve the customer, leaving Claire free to continue their chat.
“I did,” Claire answered. “If you ask me, what Jane needs is a pet.”
“It might help her during this transition time with her mom and the inn.”
“You would do well with a pet too,” Claire added. “But for different reasons. Jane is…” Her expression grew somber. “Jane is hurt. She needs to ease her way into opening up.”
Maxi nodded. “I know. I can’t imagine losing a child and a husband, and I know it still hurts her.”
“If she only had a cat or a dog to open her heart to, I think she’d be much closer to healing. I’m afraid she’s shutting too many doors and missing out on life.”
Maxi adjusted the straps of her tote bag higher on her shoulder. “You think she should find a new boyfriend?”
“Not necessarily. Just because I did doesn’t mean it’s for everybody. But if Jane decides to remain single, I think it should be because her life is full without a romantic partner, not because she’s afraid of losing someone again.”
“It would also help if her sister came back. I remember that Jane idolized her once, but I don’t think they’ve been close since Andie left for college. Do you know why she hardly ever visits?”
Looking weary, Claire shook her head. “Not really. I got the impression that Lobster Bay was just too small for her. I guess her dreams were too big to fit in the town. It’s too bad.”
Maxi noticed her friend’s gaze drift toward the front window of the bakery, which overlooked Bradford Breads across the street.
Dreamily, Claire added, “This town is the perfect size for me. It always has been.”
“Especially now,” Maxi teased.
Claire didn’t seem to notice, still staring across the street. Maxi smiled. Claire was smitten. And judging by the look on Rob’s face every time Maxi had seen him and Claire together, the feeling was mutual. It was so warming to see, especially after everything Claire had been through.
“You’re right. Lobster Bay has always been perfect for me too. I never even thought of leaving, except maybe to go to college.” But Maxi’s dreams had included art school in Paris, not a math degree from Massachusetts. In the end, she hadn’t even used the degree, but she had a beautiful home and three wonderful children. She couldn’t complain about any of that. “Well, I better run. I’ll see you tonight.”