Apparently Claire wasn’t quite convinced. “What about when you pretended that you didn’t see her downtown?”
James looked sheepish. “I panicked. That was another one of her surprises. I got her a kitten.”
“You did?” Jane was incredulous. Maxi had mentioned many times that James didn’t want animal hair on his suits, and he’d gotten a kitten?
“She’s been acting down in the dumps lately, and I knew she wanted one.” James brushed a few white hairs off his shirt and sighed. “I bought a lot of those sticky tape rollers, too, but they don’t work very good.”
Jane glanced at Claire. Her expression was a mix of skepticism and dawning realization that there had been a big misunderstanding. Had they misjudged James? He looked so lost and forlorn and eager for them to believe him. He’d adopted a kitten, for crying out loud! He’d clearly been very nervous coming here. A man who had been cheating wouldn’t bother to put himself in that position. She’d made a big mistake, and now she needed to make up for it.
“We’re seeing Maxi tonight. We’ll talk to her,” Jane said.
James’s tight expression dissolved with relief. “I’d really appreciate that.”
“She’s not gonna just go back that easy,” Sally piped in from atop the ladder.
James frowned and turned in his chair. “But if she left because she thought I was cheating...”
“Yeah, I know.” Sally descended the ladder. “But now she’s doing things she couldn’t do before. She’s got a little freedom. And she’s probably gonna feel silly for thinking that of you. You might meet a little resistance.”
“But surely she won’t be mad still. Maxi is quite reasonable, and I know she loves James,” Jane said.
“I know. But I have an idea. One that could work out better in the long run. I should know. I’ve seen this happen with lots of couples once they get to empty-nester age. They grow apart. But if you play this right, you could bring the two of you back together and solidify your marriage for the long haul,” Sally said.
“Seems like Maxi coming back to the house would help with that,” James said.
“Ayuh. And she might do just that, but...” Sally scrutinized James’s outfit with a scowl. “Then you’d fall back into your old ways. Your relationship needs a shake-up. Maxi’s already changing, and now you need to follow suit.”
“She might be right. Things get stale when you’ve been together a long time, and Maxi’s been antsy for a while, I think,” Claire said.
“This would be the perfect time for a new start,” Jane added.
“Ayuh,” Sally said. “It’s the perfect opportunity. Now you don’t want to push Maxi. She’s likely all worked up and will tend to think you are lying if you start pushing about how you didn’t cheat. You’ll put her on the defensive, and you don’t want that. Let Jane and Claire clear the path. They can vouch for you, and that will go a long way to her believing it.”
“Okay, that sounds easy. And then what?”
Sally cocked her head to look at his outfit again and shook her head. “Then... I think you’re going to need a makeover.”
Andie loved taking flowers from the gardens at Tides to her mother. It was fitting, too, since her mother had been the one to foster her interest in gardening in the first place.
Today she’d picked a small bouquet of black-eyed Susans and purple cone flowers and put them in one of her grandmother’s vases to bring for Addie. The flowers always cheered her mother, and it felt like she was keeping her in touch with the gardens she’d cherished so much.
“These are lovely, dear!” Addie’s face lit up as she took the vase from Andie. She sniffed the flowers, closing her eyes, her smile widening. Then she examined the vase. “Don’t tell Nona you are using one of her good vases. She’ll scold you.”
“It will be our secret.” Andie wasn’t worried. Nona had died decades ago.
Andie reached for the Sandcastles bakery bag on the small desk under the window. She’d seen Jane grab the bag on her way out with Mike to visit Tall Pines and figured Claire had supplied her with a few fresh muffins for Addie. Too bad the bag was empty. She was hungry and could have used one of those chocolate chip muffins.
When she’d been picking the flowers, she’d seen Jane and Claire talking to Maxi’s husband on the back porch at Tides. Looked like they were in quite the conversation. Andie wondered what that was about. Maxi and James were going through a hard time. Was he trying to weasel his way back in? Andie didn’t need to worry about him pulling any shenanigans, though. She’d seen Sally join the conversation, and the old woman was sharp. She wouldn’t let James pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, if, in fact, that was what he was doing.
A knock on the door drew Andie from her thoughts.
Standing in the doorway was a tiny woman with wispy white hair. She had a thick maroon cardigan wrapped around her despite the fact that it was summer and the air conditioning was barely on. She had an intricate silver box clutched to her chest.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Her voice was timid. “Are you the girl that knows about antiques?”
The question took her by surprise. Had Rita mentioned her to the woman? “Yes, I am.”
“I’m Gloria Farnsworth. I was hoping you could look at this box for me.” The woman held the box out. Even from eight feet away, Andie could see it was a high-quality piece with an intricate raised design.
