The problem was she didn’t have much family left. Her husband and son had passed on from this world. Her mother was fading away. Her sister didn’t return her calls. All she had was this ramshackle inn and the memories it contained. But those memories still warmed her at night, and that was something.
She couldn’t give it up, wouldn’t give it up, without a fight. Somehow she had to bring more business to Tides. Then maybe she’d be able to scrape together enough money to pay for Addie’s care and eke out a modest living for herself. One thing was for sure, she had to make the effort or she wouldn’t be able to live with herself.
But even though she didn’t have much in the way of family, she wasn’t in this all alone. She had the two best friends in the world waiting for her, and between the three of them she was sure they’d figure something out.
Chapter 4
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.
“Janeiscoming, 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.
Thankfullythatdidn’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.”
