Jen slept like a log, the breeze billowing through the open windows and the waves lapping at the shore. Daisy had slept all night long, but as soon as the sun began to stream in, Daisy was up, too. Jen woke to a panting dog right in her face and knew from experience that it was in everybody’s best interest for her to take the dog out right away.
They’d been at the beach house for almost a week, and they’d only had two accidents which weren’t really Daisy’s fault at all. Overall, she’d been a good influence, forcing regular walks on the beach morning and evening. Jen felt like she was even getting in a little better shape—walking on sand was tough on the legs, and she’d felt it for the first few days.
She checked the gate to make sure it was secure and let Daisy find her way around the patio to do what she needed to do. She waved at Mrs. Grover, who was looking out of her window, and Jen smiled when the older lady looked startled that Jen could see her. Jen was sure that she thought she was invisible, but there was no way to miss the twitching curtains. There’d been quite a bit of activity at the house the past few days, so Jen wasn’t surprised she’d be curious.
She hadn’t heard Faith stir yet, and glancing at the clock, Jen realized she might not see her friend for a while. She started the coffee, turned on the oven and took out the batter she’d made the night before for Nana’s muffins. She’d called the basic recipe her “endless” muffins—a delicious white muffin base and she was always changing what she added to it. One day, it would be blueberries, another chocolate chips. Jen’s personal favorite was cinnamon with crumbly topping, which was what she was making today.
Grabbing Nana’s apron, she looped it over her neck and tied it behind her. Hands of Gold, it said in embroidery, and it was one of the things she remembered most about her grandmother—anything she cooked was fantastic, and she never cooked without her apron. Jen didn’t think she was quite as good, as it was a pretty high bar, but when she’d found Nana’s muffin recipe while she and Faith were going through every inch of the house, she thought she’d give it a try.
As she sipped her coffee, she flipped through the two pages of things she, Faith and Carrie had found that they needed to do at the house over the weekend. They’d searched every square inch. Jen had no idea how things had gotten so bad, but she guessed Joe was right. Wind, rain, sun and sand were tough on houses, especially wooden ones. And after years of her family objecting to repairs, it had caught up with them.
She looked up as Faith descended the steep, narrow stairs, both hands on the railing. They’d both learned from the first night that they were a good thing to use if you wanted to make it all the way down still on your feet.
Faith yawned and poured herself a cup of coffee.
“How’s the list coming? Need any help?”
Jen pushed the legal pad in Faith’s direction and swept her hand through her hair.
“In addition to the actual things we really need to fix, I listed out the stuff we’d need to buy for each project. The total has too many numbers in it.”
Faith’s eyebrows rose and she reached for her reading glasses. She whistled slowly when she took a look at the total.
“That’s not very good. I mean, really not very good at all.”
Jen nodded. “No kidding. And that’s just fixing things that are already broken. It’d be more if we fixed things that were also ready to break.”
Jen pulled on the oven mitts with seahorses embroidered on them and took the muffins out of the oven. She set them on the counter beside a stick of butter and sat back down, her chin resting on her hands.
“What are all these?” Faith waved a stack of something she’d picked up from the counter.
“What are what?” Jen replied as she reached for napkins and set them on the table.
“All these postcards. Did you get stuck in a chain mail thing again?”
Jen laughed. “No. I don’t know what they are. I got the mail, but I didn’t look at anything.”
Faith flipped through them. “They’re all from realtors, wanting to represent you with the sale of the house. Man, there are a ton.”
“What?”
Jen pulled off the oven mitts and took the stack of postcards Faith held out to her. She flipped through them and groaned.
“Oh, my gosh. Look at these. These are some of the realtors who have signs everywhere down here. Look at this one—Dirk Crabtree. What a name.”
Faith took a look at the postcard. “Kind of handsome, though, don’t you think?”
“What? I didn’t even notice. I’m just glad Greg and my dad didn’t see those. That wouldn’t work in our favor.”
“Oh, I suppose not,” Faith said as she reached for a muffin and slathered butter on it. She groaned with pleasure, her eyes closed.
“Man, your grandmother’s muffin recipe is memorable. I’m going to have to walk ten times more if you’re going to make these all the time.”
“Uh-huh,” Jen said, distracted by the stack of postcards.
“So, where do we start?” Faith asked.
Jen plopped on the sofa, giving Daisy a pat on the head when she ran in the door and rested her head on Jen’s knee.
“I guess I have to call my dad or Greg. I don’t have that kind of money to spare.”
Faith poured another cup of coffee and handed it to Jen, then leaned against the sofa.
“Haven’t you guys been sharing expenses? You and your dad and Greg?”
Jen nodded. “Yeah, but these are kind of in a different category. It’s one thing to make new curtains for a bedroom or fix a leaky faucet. This list is pretty long, and I’ll need everybody to agree.”
Faith filled up Daisy’s water bowl and got a wildly wagging tail as thanks. She patted Daisy before sitting down beside Jen.
“Well, I guess we’ll just have to see what they have to say.”