Chapter One
Shewas supposed to be the one that had her act together, Maxi Stevens thought as she picked at her bran muffin and pretended to pay attention to the conversation she was having with her two best friends, Jane Miller and Claire Turner. They were at Sandcastles, the bakery and café that Claire owned, seated outside at a cozy café table with steaming mugs of coffee, a plate of Claire’s delicious pastries on the table, and Jane’s golden retriever, Cooper, at their feet.
The summer morning was bright with sunshine, the warm air spiced with the salty scent of the ocean just one street over, the café abuzz with the murmur of conversation from patrons.
But Maxi didn’t notice any of that. Not the vibrant purple, red, and pink flowers that overflowed the large planters separating the café area from the foot traffic, not the colorful awnings hanging above the windows of the quaint shops in the seaside town, and not even the familiar bitter, earthy taste of the dark roast coffee that Claire had brewed just the way Maxi liked it.
Her mind was too busy trying to process the horrible revelation about her husband, James, to notice the everyday things in her hometown that usually brought her comfort and happiness.
How could she have been so stupid? Sure, things had been strained between them, but Maxi had assumed it was a natural adjustment, since their youngest had just moved away to college.
But that was before she’d found the card with the woman’s number in his pocket.
And not just any woman either. The number and name were those of Sandee Harris, the very womenClaire’shusband had cheated on her with years ago. Sandee was a realtor in town, so at first blush, it might make sense that James had her card—except she and James weren’t in the market for any real estate. And the number was handwritten. Sandee had herbusinessnumber printed on the front of the card, so what was up with the handwritten one on the back?
“...and she wants us to make the floral arrangements with ribbons to match the exact shade of the bridesmaid dresses.” Jane turned to Maxi, her side-swept silver bangs fluttering in the breeze, blue eyes inquisitive. “Don’t you think that’s a little too matchy-matchy?”
Maxi’s heart swelled at her friend’s confidence in her design abilities. The wedding at Jane’s family’s inn, Tides, was very important to Jane. It was part of her initiative to get the family business back on track and the very first wedding she’d ever hosted there. The reviews and referrals from this one wedding could have a profound impact on the future of Tides. Jane was gambling everything on that future, not only because the inn had been in her family for four generations but also because she needed the money to pay for her mother’s care at Tall Pines, the area’s foremost memory care facility.
Maxi considered the question carefully. “I think it could be okay as long as everything that has to do with the wedding isn’t that same shade and you don’t mind finding more ribbon. Have you already bought some?”
“We were going to do it all in white. White roses, baby’s breath, white ribbon, a white tea candle inside clear glass. So we bought the supplies, I made one up and sent a picture, and she complained about the white.” Jane rolled her eyes.
Maxi wrinkled her nose. “Sounds like she wasn’t too nice about it.”
“Andie called her a bridezilla.” Jane pulled a piece of fabric out of the pocket of her jean shorts. “She sent me this swatch of the bridesmaids’ gowns so I could match.”
Maxi took the small piece of sky-blue fabric. “Pretty color. Sounds like it wouldn’t be too bad to just get some ribbon over at the fabric store.”
Jane nodded. “She also wanted tall candles with stripes to match a lighthouse but in this same blue color.”
Maxi pressed her lips together. “Oh. That sounds like a bit more work.”
“And she’s demanded that I make the frosting of the sandcastle cake the same shade.” Claire cut into a chocolate croissant that was on the platter. A thick blob of chocolate oozed out of the middle as she put half on her plate. Cooper’s ears perked up at the sound of the knife on the plate, but he didn’t move from his spot. “How am I going to make an exact match? It’s not like I have a full palette of colors to work with when mixing frosting.”
Claire’s pride and joy were the cakes she made that were shaped like sandcastles and covered with sugar-coated fondant that resembled beach sand. She was probably regretting agreeing to provide them as wedding cakes for the beach-themed weddings at Tides right about now.
“Oh no. Surely she doesn’t expect the shade to be exact.” Maxi looked down at the fabric swatch in her hand. “I mean, a ribbon is one thing, but painting the candles and the frosting is another.”
“She’s very specific, and when we talked on the phone, I could hear her mother in the background making things worse,” Jane said. “I need this wedding, but I almost wish I’d never gotten myself into this. Hopefully all brides don’t act like this.”
“It’s almost as if she’s making it as difficult as possible to pull off the wedding of her dreams.” Claire stuffed an auburn lock back into the barrette at the back of her head where she secured her thick shoulder-length hair.
“Maybe that’s what she is doing. Subconsciously, I mean. Who could blame her? Being married isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Maxi blurted out.
Ooops... Now why had she said that? Too late to take it back now. Claire and Jane had stopped talking and were staring at her, so she’d have to come clean. But not all the way—she didn’t actually have solid proof that James was cheating, and she owed it to him not to accuse him until she did.
“Is there something you’re not telling us?” Jane asked.
Maxi felt bad. Usually the three of them told each othereverything. But Claire’s new relationship with Rob Bradford was going so well, and Jane had her own problems with her mother, plus a budding romance of her own. Maxi hadn’t wanted to bring them down with her problems. Besides, she didn’t have anything concrete to say. Still, she supposed she had to say something now.
“Not really. It’s just that things have been weird between James and me for a while now.”
Claire put her hand lightly over Maxi’s. “I’ve noticed you mentioned a few things over the past weeks, but I didn’t want to pry. Tell us what’s wrong. You know we have your back no matter what.”
The comfort of her friends’ support buoyed her, and Maxi took a deep breath. “It’s just that he’s never home anymore. I can’t tell you how many cold dinners I’ve thrown in the trash.”
“Where is he? At work?” Jane peeled the wrapper off a corn muffin and slathered it with butter.
