“I think it will be a great way to expand business.” Sally’s voice drifted up from the floor. Jane hadn’t seen her crouched there, painting the baseboard. “Tides is a beautiful venue for a wedding. I can just picture the back porch set up with tables, flower vases, candlelight, white linen cloths.”
Jane smiled at her. “That’s part of the plan. Of course, I’m also going to need some other things, like a dance floor.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Sally balanced the brush on the top of the can and stood, wiping paint off her fingers with a cloth. “I can whip something up. You’ll probably need an arbor for the happy couple to get married under. And I think we need to spruce up the common areas for guests to mingle inside. Well, with Shane helping, all that will be no problem.”
“Great. I knew I could count on you.” Jane warmed with the support of everyone, and now the task didn’t feel so monumental.
“What’s this I hear about a wedding?” The grating voice came from behind Jane. Sally’s smile slipped.
Jane turned, and her own smile faded when she saw it was Sandee Harris. She hadn’t even noticed her in here, the place had been so crowded. Why had she even come here? Was it to rub it in that she’d stolen Claire’s husband? It was mean—just the sort of thing Sandee would do. Though Jane doubted Claire cared about that anymore. She had Rob now, and he was way better than Peter. So Sandee was the loser in this one.
“I’m thinking about having a wedding venue at Tides,” Jane said.
“Oh?” Sandee’s brows rose. “So you aren’t going to sell the place? I’m surprised.”
“No, we’re going to try to revive it, bring it back to the way it was before my mom got sick,” Jane said, the snooty look in Sandee’s eyes only adding to her determination.
“Good luck. The place needs a lot, but I’m sure you can handle it.” Sandee gave her a fake smile, her tone implying that she wasn’t sure of that at all. She turned and left.
Jane turned back to Claire and Sally in time to see Sally stick her tongue out.
“That woman is bad news.” Sally crouched again and picked up the brush then glanced at Jane over her shoulder. “I’ll be out tomorrow, and we can talk about specifics.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Jane helped Claire put the cake back. Once it was safely in the case, Claire leaned against the side and crossed her arms over her chest. “Weddings are going to work out great. You’ll see.”
Jane held up crossed fingers. “Let’s hope.”
Claire’s expression turned serious. “That’s going to be a lot of work. If you need help, just shout. I know you’ll be there all alone, and trying to run the inn and set up weddings could be a lot to take on by yourself.”
“Thanks, but I won’t exactly be all alone, at least not for the next few days. I just found out that Andie is coming.”
“Oh, that’s great. I’m sure she’ll be a big help.”
Jane held up crossed fingers again. “Again, let’s hope.”
Jane wasn’t sure if Andie would be any help. She usually just breezed in and left quickly, but she had to admit that she would love it if her sister did help. Somewhere deep inside sprouted a seed of hope that their mother’s illness and resurrecting Tides could bring her and Andie close again.
As she left Sandcastles, she called Maxi. If she was going to pull off this wedding venture, she was going to need some help decorating.
Maxi fluffed the pillow on her couch for the fifth time that morning. She stood back, arms crossed over her chest, surveying the arrangement.
Maybe if she put the two white pillows on the ends and the gray-and-black striped in the middle.
She turned away with a sigh. What did it matter? Rearranging the decor in the house was like taking a grain of sand from one side of the beach and putting it on the other. The house already looked great, but she was bored and didn’t have much to do.
Her gaze fell on a family photo on the whitewashed hutch next to the stairs. She and James stood in the back, the three kids lined up in front of them. The kids had been small, ages five through ten. The picture brought up happy memories. She missed the sounds of kids running through the house, but this was the course of life, wasn’t it? She cocked her head and looked toward the kitchen, picturing a dog or cat padding toward her. Not quite the same as a toddler, but a lot less work. Perfect for the stage of life she was at. Now if only she could get James on board.
She’d expected that the kids would eventually leave home, but what she hadn’t expected was the way her relationship with James would change. She never anticipated that they would grow apart.
Maybe it was normal to go through some growing pains once the kids left the nest? She supposed she should give it more thought before she started to worry that something was wrong in their marriage.
She didn’t get a chance to think about it too much because then her phone rang. It was Jane.
“Hi, Jane. What’s up?” Jane rarely called. They usually texted. Maxi’s heart fluttered. The last time Jane had called was when Addie had wandered away from Tides and gotten lost. Hopefully nothing was wrong.
“I hope I’m not bothering you, but I wanted to call and talk instead of texting.”
