“It is not.” Maddie glared at her cousin.
“Okay.” Dex held up his hands, still smiling. “Sorry, but this will cheer you up. Come check it out. The hole is fixed.”
On the porch, rows of new boards had been placed where the rotted ones had been. The porch looked usable again, which was good, considering they might have guests sooner than they thought.
“Wow, nice work,” Jules said.
“Thanks. I can start on that siding tomorrow.” Dex picked up the hammer Maddie had tripped over.
“Actually, we have something else,” Maddie said. “We might have some guests soon and need to assess the rooms to see if they have any structural issues. I mean, they look okay, but I’d like someone to take a closer look.”
“Guests?” Dex asked.
“Yeah.” Maddie told him about the event that could be coming to town.
“Wow, cool,” he said. “But how are you going to get the town spruced up before Monday?”
“Good question.” Maddie sounded nervous about the project for the first time. “I’m hoping that’s something your grandmother can help me with.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Pearl frowned at the crumbled balls of dough in the trash. “What is this mess?”
“Dough.” Gina’s expression was glum as she looked into the garbage.
They were in the kitchen of the Beachcomber and the welcome-wagon ladies had just arrived to discuss how they could pull off the opportunity of bringing theGreat New England Baking Contestshow to the town.
“Looks too dry. It needs some water.” Pearl pushed her glasses up on her nose and squinted at Gina. “Were you making pie?”
Gina flushed. “I thought I’d try because Gram taught me, but it turns out I’m no good at it.”
“Nonsense!” Pearl said. “You just need some practice. Your grandmother had recipes somewhere. That’s what made her pies special.”
“She wouldn’t tell us what she put in the crust. She guarded them like state secrets,” Leena said.
“Which was fine by me. I’d rather have her cook them and me eat them.” Rose’s joke got a chuckle from everyone.
“Did you guys see any recipes?” Maddie had looked around the kitchen to familiarize herself with what they had, and she hadn’t seen any cookbooks or recipe files.
“Nope,” Jules and Gina answered.
“But she hasn’t been here in decades. If she had recipes, she probably took them with her. They might be in her house,” Jules said.
“Cousin Tina is still sorting through Gram’s things. I can message her if the recipes are important.” Maddie glanced at Gina to see if they were.
“Oh no, I was just messing around.” Gina tried to sound disinterested, but Maddie got the feeling that somehow those pies had become important to her. She made a mental note to message Tina anyway.
“Okay, so.” Rose rubbed her hands together. “About this baking contest. I agree it’s a perfect opportunity, and Cassie mentioned the donut shop would be the perfect place to host it.”
The ladies had already heard all about the contest downtown. News spread fast in a small town.
“And what about the motel?” Leena asked. “These people will need someplace to stay.”
Jules sighed. “We thought of that, but it turns out the loan might not go through, so we’re not exactly sure what to do about that.”
“Sure we are,” Maddie cut in. “We have some money saved and are going to spruce up the rooms. Dex finished the porch, so it’s safe, and we had him look over the rooms to make sure there was nothing that needed immediate attention.”
Rose smiled. “And how are you girls getting along with Dex?”
