“Good. Let’s get outta here. I need a corn muffin.” They said their goodbyes, and Sally led the way to the truck.
Andie and Emily stood in the yard next to the passenger side as Shane started the truck. Sally rolled down her window and smirked at Andie.
“Good thing you and Shane are old friends. Looks like you’re going to be spending a lot of time together.” She winked as they drove off.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Andie arrived at Tides a little late. She rushed into the foyer and grabbed one of the oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies Jane had just set on the side table.
It was still warm and gooey. Cooper padded out and turned his soulful brown eyes on her then flicked his gaze to the cookie in her hand. She broke off a small piece and fed it to him.
“Those are for guests, you know.” Jane peeked in from the kitchen, her tone teasing.
“Sorry!” Andie mumbled around a mouthful of cookie. “I didn’t get a chance to eat—busy morning.”
“You seem chipper. Good news?” Jane stepped into the room.
“Yes, things seem to be going good for Emily Thompson, but I wanted your advice on something for her.”
“I’d love to help.”
A car pulled up, and Jane glanced out the screen door into the driveway. Andie could tell she wanted to get out of there before she had to deal with the guests. “We can talk later, after I do the check-ins.”
Jane was already halfway to door that led to the kitchen. “Great. Meet you in the garden?”
“Yep.” Andie had planned to check on the garden today, anyway. The garden had been her mother’s pride and joy, but Addie had let it go in the past few years.
Andie had the fondest memories of working in the garden with her mother when she was little and had restored it since she’d been in Lobster Bay. Now it was lush with blossoms and greenery, but she had been neglecting it as she’d been so busy with the Thompson project. She wanted to fill the hummingbird feeders, do some weeding, and cut some flowers to bring to Addie.
The new guests were the Ryders, a young couple from Ohio, who had never been to the east coast. They fawned over Cooper and stared wide-eyed at the ocean when Andie detoured them to the back deck on the way to their room. Was she ever that young and enthusiastic? Maybe she had been, but decades of city living and stress had dulled her enthusiasm, though over the past week she’d felt some of that coming back.
After the Ryders, she checked in an older man and then two middle-aged sisters here on their first vacation together since they’d both been divorced. Once the guests were settled in their rooms, she made a batch of hummingbird nectar and headed to the garden.
The feeders were empty, and Andie made a mental note to come by at least every other day. It wouldn’t be long before the colorful birds were gone for the winter, but she knew they needed nectar now more than ever to store up for the long flight south.
“I’ve been weeding and trying to deadhead the flowers.” Jane gestured toward the edging of pink impatiens. “I don’t know as much as you and Mom.”
“Looks like you’re doing a great job. I’ll try to get over here more once we get on a schedule at the Thompsons’.” Andie had finished the garden a few weeks ago, and it didn’t require much maintenance. She’d told Jane if you cut the roses right before they started to fade, the plant would bloom all summer, and Jane had done a good job of that, as the red blooms were all over the vine. The rest of the small area was colorful with a variety of annuals and perennials in orange, purple, red, pink, and white.
“I could fill the feeders for you if you can’t get over as often.” Jane sat on the stone bench. “Tell me about the Thompson project.”
Andie started cutting flowers. Cooper made himself busy sniffing a hydrangea that was bustling with butterflies. Andie was sure there were bees there, too, and hoped he didn’t get stung.
Andie brought her up to speed on the loan acceptance, Shane and Sally’s generous offer to defer the bill, and their idea for boutique Airbnb rental units. “She needs to get income coming in, and I was hoping you’d have some advice on how she can advertise the units.”
“I advertised in specialty magazines for coastal weddings. And I advertised in the nearby cities—Boston and New York—thinking people might need a vacation at the coast.”
A ruby-throated hummingbird buzzed to the feeder and hovered in the air while it drank from one of the red-and-yellow petal-shaped spouts. Soon another came, and Andie watched them swoop in circles around each other.
A coastal wedding magazine wouldn’t help Emily much, but the niche coastal weddings part gave her an idea. “Jules down at Curlz told me her grandmother had boutique motels. I wonder if there is a niche magazine for those?”
Cooper flopped down in front of them, his heavy paw on Andie’s foot. It felt warm and comforting.
“I don’t know about that, but it’s worth looking into,” Jane said.
“Definitely. I’ll ask Jules. Maybe I’ll even run into her at Tall Pines when I bring Mom these flowers.”
Addie loved the flowers, a bouquet of black-eyed Susans, purple coneflowers, and Queen Anne’s lace, which Andie presented to her in one of her grandmother’s old glass vases with a bow of rough twine around the rim.
