Damien had taken a dislike to Andie ever since he’d discovered that she’d been paying top dollar to the senior citizens who wanted to sell their antiques. Her fair prices had ruined the little scam he had had going to pay them a pittance. Well, too bad. Andie wasn’t about to let people get ripped off, even if it meant that she would make less.
“Damien! Welcome!” Chandler apparently didn’t know of Damien’s unscrupulous practices.
Damien smiled at Chandler, then his eyes drifted to the painting in Andie’s hands. “What a lovely folk art painting. Is it an important artist?”
“It’s a fine Statler from the Thompson estate.” Chandler rushed on before Andie could stop him. She didn’t really want Damien to know anything about her business.
Damien scowled. “Thompson? You mean the old Thompson estate on the cliff?”
“Yes.” Chandler’s hesitant tone and confused look indicated that he was starting to realize that something more was going on.
Damien turned to Andie. “You’rehandling that estate?”
Andie smiled smugly. “Yes. My mother and Sadie Thompson are old friends.”
“I was supposed to get that.” He sounded like a spoiled school boy. Andie expected him to stamp his feet and throw a tantrum. But she couldn’t help but feel smug. That’s what he got for ripping people off.
Chandler cleared his throat uncomfortably.
Andie clutched the painting to her chest. “Sorry, I guess the Thompsons decided to go with me instead. Now if you will excuse me, I must get to Tides.”
Andie rushed out, feeling the weight of Damien’s stare on her back as she hurried past the bronze sculpture to her car.
Andie could feel the weight of Damien’s stare as she drove away. The encounter hadn’t been totally unpleasant, and she’d felt a satisfaction at his surprise that the Thompsons had secured her services and not his. But it worried her too. Something in his dark, beady eyes promised he might take revenge.
She called Emily, who was surprised and pleased at the value of the painting. She mentioned her worry about the dilapidated steps on the porch of the house. It was a liability for the auction. When Andie pointed out that she could have Sally Littlefield, the town handy-woman, who had done a lot of work at Tides, fix them and bill her for after she had the auction money, Emily agreed.
Next, Andie called Frank, her auctioneer friend. Luckily Frank had a cancellation for the coming weekend, so Andie secured the date then stopped by the town offices. She had a lot of experience with the permitting department when they’d had to do some renovations to Tides in order to hold weddings, so it was an easy task to get the permit for the auction. All that remained was for someone to come out and inspect the area. She hoped Sally would be able to fit the porch repair in between now and then.
The sight of the family inn nestled on the beach soothed her. The house had been in her family for four generations, and her great-grandparents had started Tides as the first inn in Lobster Bay.
The foyer was clean and smelled of lemon Pledge mixed with sugar and chocolate. Either Jane or their part-time cook, Brenda, had made a batch of oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and they were still warm on the sideboard. The aroma added to the experience of the new guests.
“I’m here!” she yelled out, putting her purse under the tall podium desk they used to check people in.
“Woof!”
Cooper came trotting out to greet her, and Andie crouched down to pet him. “Are you the only one here?”
“I’m cleaning the parlor! Come out on the porch after!” Jane yelled, proving she’d do just about anything to avoid dealing with the guests.
A car pulled up, and Andie spent the next forty minutes checking in the guests, who all came one after the other. The close check-in times were on purpose. They tried to arrange guests into a small check-in window whenever possible so Andie could be there to get them settled. She was much better with people than Jane.
Cooper stuck with her, wagging his tail and tilting his head endearingly as the guests gushed over him. They’d been afraid a resident dog would put guests off, but the opposite had happened. People were calling and asking if this was the inn with the “nice golden retriever” now.
Once the guests were settled in their rooms, Andie snagged a cookie for herself and headed to the back porch, where Jane was seated at one of the tables they’d set up for outdoor dining. Her turquoise half-moon glasses had slid far down her nose as she studied some of the new promotional material for the inn.
“Which do you like better, this view of the living room that shows the ocean through the windows or the one that shows the fireplace?” Jane slid two glossy photos over to Andie.
“Ocean, definitely.” Andie plopped into a chair and took a bite of cookie. The back porch wrapped around one side of the house, and the steps led right to the beach. Andie could practically feel the sand between her toes. Maybe she’d go for a walk at the water’s edge after. The beach was wide here and the ocean a hundred feet away at low tide, but she could still smell the sea air and hear the waves. Cooper must have been able to too. He sat on the top of the stairs looking out, ears cocked toward the ocean, nose sniffing.
“Yeah, I agree.” Jane took her glasses off and folded them over the paper. “Is that the last cookie?”
“Yeah. Sorry. Want half?”
Jane pressed her lips together then shook her head. “Better not. I ate three while I was making them.”
“They’re delicious.” Sally Littlefield peered around the corner of the porch. She’d been working on painting the window trim and looked like she’d gotten most of the gray paint on her overalls. Today, her long silver braid was coiled around the top of her head. Sally had to be near seventy, but that didn’t stop her from performing painting and maintenance for most of Lobster Bay. Recently she’d teamed up with Shane Flannery, who’d just retired from the navy. Shane did the more demanding tasks.
