When Andie returned to her shop, there was a yellow sticky note on the door from Mary, the woman who owned Curlz, the hair salon across the street. The two had struck up a friendship in the three weeks Andie had owned the antiques store, and Mary often took in packages for her if Andie wasn’t around when they were delivered.
Andie turned and headed over. She could see Mary through the glass windows, sweeping up a mound of auburn hair. Jules, Mary’s great-niece, had a client in one of the three salon chairs, the woman’s hair loaded with tinfoil strips. Jules’s own dark curls were perfectly styled in an updo that cascaded in corkscrews from the top of her head.
Jules caught Andie’s eye and nodded toward Andie’s hair. “About time for a trim, don’t you think?”
Andie grabbed at her hair. “I do. I’ll schedule one before I leave.”
There were no customers waiting, which was great. It meant Andie could chat with Mary. She looked forward to their chats.
Mary finished her sweeping and picked up a medium-sized box. “This was on your doorstep. Wouldn’t want anyone to steal it.”
“Thanks. It’s a diamond tester I ordered online. You never know when someone might come in with what they think is junk jewelry and it turns out to be diamonds.”
“Really? I can’t imagine not knowing I had a diamond.” Mary turned toward the little beverage station they had in the back. “Coffee?”
“Tea?” Andie was coffee-ed out after two cups at Sandcastles. “Some people inherit jewelry and don’t realize. It happens more often than you’d think.”
“That’s crazy. Lemon zinger?” Mary looked at Andie for confirmation. She knew that was her favorite.
Mugs in hand, they settled into the two chairs in the back room. The decor was just as nice as out front, with a chic black-and-white theme. The chairs were comfortable, soft music played, and the smell of hair products swirled around them.
Mary was in her mid- to late seventies with long, thick gray hair. Her hair didn’t look witchy though, as it did on some older women. It looked classy and youthful. Her face was kind and welcoming, and Andie always felt comfortable unburdening herself to her. She valued Mary’s advice too. It was like getting advice from her own mother, something she could rarely do now with Addie’s memory problems.
“Do you have a lot of people trying to sell jewelry? It seems like that would be a last resort.” Mary’s expression showed her concern for anyone who would have to sell jewelry as a last resort.
“Sometimes people have too much and just want the money to go on a cruise or whatever. I just want to be prepared to give them a fair price.” Andie tapped the box. “And this is the best way to do it.”
“That’s nice. I guess I would probably be selling some of my jewelry if I had a lot.” Mary glanced out at the main room. “Though I’ll probably leave it to Jules.”
Andie remained quiet. She knew that Mary had a daughter from whom she was estranged. Mary didn’t have any grandchildren and just the one daughter. Jules was her grand-niece, and the two of them were close.
Mary sighed. “Anyway, what are you up to today?”
Good question. It would be more of the same, cataloguing and looking through the auction fliers for any good estate sales. Andie liked doing those things, but it felt a bit hollow. Andie looked out at the street, her mind going back to Maxi’s words about finding her purpose. “Nothing much.”
“Yeah, me too. Slow day for haircuts.” Mary sipped her tea, and after a few seconds Andie realized Mary was studying her.
“What?” Andie asked.
“Seemed like you were deep in thought. I didn’t want to interrupt. Is something on your mind?”
In the few weeks Andie had known Mary, she’d discovered the woman was very perceptive. She had a way of sensing when people needed to talk things out and seemed to genuinely want to help. She probably should have been a therapist. Maybe she got to do some of that therapy while cutting hair.
Andie felt silly talking about how she was unfulfilled. She had a great life, was doing well financially, and was in good health. Who was she to complain? But somehow the words spilled out. “I don’t know. It feels like I have no purpose. Yes, I have my shop, and I do love selling antiques and helping out at Tides, but it feels like there should be more. I know, it’s selfish for me to complain.”
Mary shook her head. “Not at all. Everyone should have a purpose. Many people don’t find theirs and continue with their humdrum routines. What kind of life is that?” Mary glanced out into the shop. Andie could have sworn she was looking directly at Jules… no, she was probably just checking to make sure her next customer hadn’t arrived yet.
“Do you have one?” Andie asked.
“Of course!” Mary gestured toward the salon. “I love styling hair. Ever since I was a little girl, this is what I wanted to do.” She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. “Did you ever dream about something as a little girl?”
Andie nodded. “I did. I always dreamed of making a big discovery. When I was a kid, I think it stemmed from all those pirate books my dad used to read me. I always wanted to dig a treasure chest up on the beach.”
Mary laughed. “Who doesn’t?”
“I know, right? I was a little obsessive, went through a lot of shovels digging. But as I got older, I became interested in antiques. Tides is full of things from my great-grandparents and grandparents, and I loved all that old stuff. That’s why I became an appraiser. I’d always hoped to find some item that was historically significant.”
“You must have come across a lot of valuable things in your career.”
“Yes, but nothing earth shattering. You know, like an undiscovered Rembrandt or the missing jewels of a royal family.” Andie played with the tea bag, dunking it in her tea. She sighed. “I guess that’s not going to happen now that I live here.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. Lobster Bay might be small, but it’s rich with history. Take the Thompson house. Surely you’ve heard the rumors about its importance.”
The Thompson house was the oldest house in Lobster Bay. It sat on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was rumored that the pirate Blackbeard had lived there and also rumored that it was part of the Underground Railroad. These two very different rumors made Andie skeptical. People loved to make up stories about old houses.
“Yes, but those are just rumors. Probably no truth to them. And besides, Sadie Thompson’s daughter hates me, and Sadie and my mom don’t get along, so even if there was some historical significance there, it’s not anything I could be a part of.”
Mary laughed. “I forgot about your mom and Sadie. I wish those two would make up. But my point is that there is a lot of history here in town. You never know what you might find. And you never know what your purpose is. You might think it is one thing, and it could be something else. So don’t give up on realizing your purpose here in Lobster Bay.”
Andie sipped her tea and mulled that over. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Mary stood. “Don’t lose hope. And don’t lose hope about Shane either.”
“What about Shane?” Andie tried to act casual. Her burning cheeks probably gave her away.
Shane Flannery, her high school sweetheart, was Mary’s nephew. He’d actually asked Andie to marry him thirty years ago, but she’d fled town instead. She’d been afraid of being stuck in small-town obscurity her entire life and not wanting to wait for Shane to get back from his stint in the navy. It might have been a big mistake, and now she was embarrassed to face him over the way she’d treated him back then.
Mary laughed. “I know you know that he comes to visit me a lot, and I see you looking out your shop window.”
“Well, I’m not looking for him.” Not really. Well, maybe a few times she had.
“Oh, then you must be really interested in my clientele,” Mary teased as they walked to the front room.
“I just like to look outside.” Andie handed over her mug and glanced at her watch. “Well, guess I better go.”
Mary chuckled. “Okay, I’ll stop teasing, but remember what I said about your purpose. Don’t give up.”
“I won’t.”
Andie stopped at the front desk to make an appointment with Jules for a trim before heading across the street to her shop.
Mary watched Andie cross the street. It was nice to have someone in the old antiques store, which had been dark for years. Now the storefront, which had been deteriorating, had a new black-and-white striped awning, flower boxes under the windows brimming with color, and a fresh coat of paint on the trim.
Funny it would be Andie Miller who moved in there. Mary remembered Andie from way back when she’d dated Shane. She hadn’t known Andie well back then, but Shane was her favorite nephew, and she knew how much he’d adored Andie. What had happened to break them up? Shane never said, though Mary knew he’d been crushed when Andie moved away.
Maybe even then she’d been seeking a purpose. Guess she never found it, but then maybe she wasn’t looking in the right places. She’d said she always wanted a big historical find, but physical “things” never really satisfy.
Mary had told Andie her purpose was cutting hair, but it was really much more than that. It was about making people feel good about themselves. It sounded like a small thing, but it could make a big difference to people when they could start the day with a boost of self-confidence because a new hairstyle made them like what they saw in the mirror each morning.
Maybe Andie had never found her purpose because she was looking at it the wrong way. That was something Andie would have to find out for herself.
The girl always had been too ambitious for her own good. Mary hoped that ambition didn’t drive her out of town like before. She knew Shane had never gotten over Andie and wanted to see the two of them together. She had a sneaking suspicion Andie wanted that too… now if only Mary could come up with some way to help them out. She’d become close to Andie, closer than to her own daughter, whom she’d only spoken to sporadically over the last several years.
Thoughts of Caroline made her heart ache, and Mary pushed them away. Best not to think of that betrayal. It was better to focus on what she did have, like her lovely grand-niece and now a new neighbor ready to fill the gap Caroline had left.
“When’s your next appointment?” Jules’s client was under the dryer, and she’d come to the window, draping her arm around Mary’s shoulders, almost as if sensing she needed some comfort.
Mary glanced at the clock. “Ten minutes.” She looked back at Jules. A young woman as pretty as Jules shouldn’t have the defeated look that Mary saw in her grand-niece’s eyes all too often. At thirty-six Jules had grown into a fine woman and was a decent hairstylist. Mary knew that hair styling wasn’t Jules’s passion. It was only temporary because Jules had lost her way. Would she ever find it again? Mary hoped so, though after what happened she wouldn’t blame Jules for losing her nerve and ambition.
“I saw Andie blush when you mentioned Uncle Shane. I’ve seen him looking over at her shop when he’s here.” Jules looked amused. “The two of them really had a thing when they were in high school?”
“Yeah. Andie never got married, either. And Shane needs to find love again after his divorce. Too bad we can’t do something to get them together.” Mary shrugged and turned from the window.
“Who says we can’t? Andie has an appointment this afternoon at three. Don’t you need Shane to look at some repairs in the shop?”
Mary looked at her niece. The girl had a mischievous glint in her eye. “Now that you mention it, I do think I need him to look at that plug over by the sink.”