“Can you pay for her to stay at Tall Pines?” Claire knew that business had been down at Tides. Jane had staff to pay, and if no one was staying there, how could she make enough?
“Well, that’s what I need your help for. I need to figure out how to bring in more money at Tides. The place is in disrepair, and I have no idea how to attract customers.” She stuffed another piece of muffin into her mouth, drowning out whatever else she had been about to say.
Maxi started clucking and cooing under her breath. With a frown, Claire twisted to look behind her. She spotted a shy tabby in the shadow of one of the potted plants, looking wary. Maxi waved a piece of her blueberry muffin, trying to entice the feline closer.
“Do cats even like blueberry muffins?” She might have better luck with a salmon muffin. Not that Claire thought she’d be able to sell one of those to anyone but a cat. And cats only paid in glares and disdainful flicks of their tails. At least that was what her own cat, Urchin, did.
“I guess we’ll find out.” Maxi wiggled the piece of muffin, but the cat continued to stare at her with uncertainty.
Jane swallowed the last of her chocolate chip muffin and chased it down with a sip of coffee. “This is really good, Claire. I missed these.”
“I have my own kitchen back now, so I can bake the way I’m used to. It was nice of Rob to let me use his, but things just didn’t seem to come out as good over there.”
Jane teased, “You mean you weren’t holding back out of fear that Rob would steal the recipe?”
“No, I’ve made them for Rob before.”
Her two friendsooohed like they were back in high school again. Maxi resumed waggling her fingers at the wary cat.
Claire willed the heat warming her cheeks away. She knew her friends were happy that she and Rob had connected, but the relationship still felt too new to talk about much. Claire steered away from the topic of her and Rob. “We were talking about Tides.What are you doing to get more customers?”
The teasing twinkle in Jane’s eye flattened beneath the weight of the situation. “Not much, if I’m honest. Mom never did anything. Tourists always seemed to flock to the inn on their own. I know it’s a bit run-down and that’s part of the problem, but I’ll have Sally do some fixes. The truth is I’m not sure what to do to get more people to stay there.”
Maxi broke off another piece of muffin and waved it under the table. Absently, she said, “Why don’t you do some of the things Claire was doing when she thought Bradford Breads was going to run her out of business?”
“I can text Tammi. She’s an expert.” As Claire spoke, she was already pulling her phone out of the pocket of her apron. “You probably can’t have a three-for-one sale like I did, but you could put out some newspaper ads or get in touch with the radio station for an ad there. Awareness is half the battle. Maybe you aren’t getting as many bookings because more people are using Airbnb. You have to do something to make Tides stand out.”
Hope sparked in Jane’s eyes. “It would be great if things picked up with ads. I mean, Tides is in a premium location on the beach. That would make it stand out, wouldn’t it?”
Claire nodded as she typed a quick message into her phone and hit Send. “There. Tammi is probably sleeping right now, but I’ll let you know what she says, and we can go from there.”
Maxi cooed and clucked her tongue. “That’s it, I’m not so scary.”
Claire glanced over her shoulder to see that the tabby had tentatively emerged from the shadow of the potted plant. She tucked away her phone and frowned as she tried to think. “From what I remembered from when I asked her, she told me ads were big in the paper, but you also want to do things online. Have you kept the inn’s website up to date?”
Jane opened her mouth then shut it again. She reached for the chocolate croissant on the plate in the center of the table. Her voice emerged as a squeak. “Website?”
“You must have a website,” Claire said. “I had to update mine. It only had one page with some pictures, but Tammi convinced me to have someone revamp it. It’s not that expensive, but she said it’s necessary.”
Jane frowned. “I guess we have an old one too. Honestly, I haven’t even looked at it in ages.”
Claire whipped out her phone again, this time texting Jane. “I’m passing along the names of three web designers I got for mine. I ended up using Rachel Sanders. She was booked a few months out, so you might not want to wait for her. The others seemed good too.”
“Great, thanks.” Jane was trying to sound in control but looked overwhelmed.
“Aha! There you are, you handsome fellow.” Triumphant, Maxi leaned down and scooped the cat into her lap. For a moment, it stood stiff and wary, but as she started to pet it, the cat settled into her and started to purr. Maxi smiled as she stroked the tabby’s fur.
Claire couldn’t help but smile too. “He knows how much you like cats.” Maxi was forever monopolizing Urchin’s attention whenever she came to visit Claire at her cottage, but Claire didn’t mind. Maxi was clearly a cat lover. “You should get one of your own.”
Although she continued to pander to the feline, Maxi made a face. “James didn’t seem too keen on that when I broached the subject before.”
Claire seemed to remember something about James not wanting to get animal hair on his expensive suits.
“Sometimes you have to think about whatyouwant, Maxi. I used to think only about what Peter wanted, and look where it got me. A big fat divorce and an ex with a snarky younger wife! I’m much better off now.”
“Yes, but Peter never treated you right,” Maxi pointed out. “It isn’t the same with James at all. He’s thinking about his career, a career he has used to keep us comfortable enough so that I could stay home and raise the kids. Other parents both had to work.”
She had a point about the differences. James wasn’t a bad guy, but at some point, one had to live their dream, and she was certain Maxi wasn’t living hers.
