Andie Miller hoped she hadn’t made a huge mistake.
She sighed as she pinched a small piece from her corn muffin and subtly reached down to feed it to her sister’s golden retriever, Cooper. Cooper wagged his tail enthusiastically, remaining silent as if to keep this secret treat from Jane, who was seated across the table. Cooper had gained a few pounds since coming to live at their family inn, Tides, and Jane was being outright militant about restricting his treats.
They were seated at one of the scrolly wrought-iron tables outside Sandcastles Cafe. Andie should have been blissfully content. She’d uprooted herself after a lifelong career in New York City and moved back to her small seaside hometown of Lobster Bay just to experience leisurely mornings like this, not to mention the other benefits of coming home.
For one, she’d reconnected with Jane. Decades of living far from each other had eroded their once-close relationship, but since she’d come back they’d reconnected. And she’d made new friends, too, something she’d never had time for in the city. She was flattered to be included in the weekly breakfast ritual with those friends, Claire and Maxi, as well as Jane.
The atmosphere was a lot more pleasant here too. No one could argue that the scent of the salty sea and the cawing of gulls held more appeal than the exhaust fumes and honking horns of the city.
But still… something was missing from her new life.
“Thanks for helping out at Tides this morning.” Jane frowned as her gaze switched from Cooper, who was still licking his chops, to Andie’s muffin.
“My pleasure.” Andie knew Jane hated dealing with customers at their family inn, so Andie had offered to work there part time checking in new guests while Jane took care of the day-to-day running of the business.
“How are things going at Tides?” Claire asked. “The wedding went off perfectly, so I hope that brought in more bookings.”
“It did, bookings are way up.” Jane beamed, pushing a lock of her silvery hair behind her ears. She was still self-conscious about the pixie haircut, but Andie thought it looked cute. Andie pulled the strands of her ponytail over her shoulder. Unlike her sister, she still wore her dark hair long, though now it had gotten a bit too long at halfway to her waist. She needed a trim but wasn’t as gutsy as Jane to just get it all chopped off.
Thinking of Tides gave Andie a surge of pride. When she’d come back to town to visit her ailing mother, she’d never imagined she would get involved in renovating the beach-side inn. But it had gotten run-down with their mother’s declining health, and they needed the increase in business in order to pay for the care necessary for Addie’s failing memory. They’d put a lot of work into sprucing Tides up, and Jane had been a whiz at instituting new promotions and venues for them to bring in more business. It had worked wonders, and now business was on a definite uptick.
“What about your new shop, Andie?” Claire looked over the plate loaded with pastries that sat in the middle of the table. She angled her knife over a chocolate croissant and cut it in half. Gooey chocolate oozed out as she picked up one half and put it on the smaller plate in front of her. “I heard you’re finally paying fair prices.”
Andie blushed. When visiting her mother at Tall Pines, the assisted living facility just outside of town, she’d discovered that an unscrupulous antiques dealer, Damien Carruthers, had been ripping off little old ladies that wanted to sell their family heirlooms. That was one of the reasons she’d bought the old antiques store in town. She wanted to make sure they got a fair price, though she had to admit she had a soft spot for the old ladies and sometimes paid so much that she’d be hard-pressed to make a profit.
“Great. I’ve inventoried most of it and rearranged the shop. Everything is organized the way I want it. The apartment is another story, though.” The store she’d purchased had come with inventory and an apartment above. Andie had moved right in but had spent all her time on the inventory, and her apartment was bare bones.
Maxi piped up. “Maybe I can help with the apartment.” She’d been quiet up until now, but the dreamy look on her face told Andie it wasn’t because she was upset about anything. More likely she was thinking about her husband, James, who she’d recently reconciled with.
“That would be fantastic, ” Andie said. Maxi had a great eye for design, and Andie had liked working with her on some of the projects at Tides.
“Actually, we could help each other because I’m looking for some vintage items to decorate the cottage with, and I thought you might have something in the shop.” Maxi had just rented a small cottage on the beach to use as an art studio. She had a huge house on the cliff, but she said there was something about being right on the beach that spoke to her inner artist. “How about I stop by tonight and bring some takeout?”
“That would be great.” Andie was a big fan of takeout. She hated cooking for one and was much too busy.
“How are things at the cottage, Maxi?” Jane wiggled her eyebrows, indicating that she was really asking how things were with James.
“Perfect.” Maxi settled back, smiling over the rim of her mug. “James and I are getting along better than we have in years.”
“And the kittens?” Claire asked.
Maxi had recently adopted two kittens, one black and one white. “They’re adorable. Playing up a storm. Of course they did ruin the drapes, but those can be replaced. But the best part of it all is that I’m painting consistently now, and my paintings are slowly getting recognition. Some businesses have even asked if they can display them. It’s like I’ve found a renewed sense of purpose.”
That was it! A sense of purpose! Andie bit into the corn muffin. Maxi was happier than ever. She’d found her purpose by taking up painting again. That was exactly what Andie needed... she needed to find her own purpose.
She used to have that as an antiques appraiser—her purpose was looking for that one big, important historical discovery. It was what she loved. But how in the world could she get something like that in her small town of Lobster Bay?